How to protect curly hair while you sleep (so day-two curls actually exist)
You spent forty minutes on wash day. Here's how to stop your pillow from undoing it.
Wash day is a commitment. The detangling, the layering, the diffusing, the patience. Then you wake up and half your definition is gone, replaced by a frizzy halo on the side you slept on. Rude.
What's actually happening
Curly and coily hair is naturally drier, and its outer layer lifts more easily. A night spent rubbing against cotton roughs up that layer, pulls moisture out and breaks curl clumps apart. Hello, frizz and flat spots.
Your nighttime game plan
- Pineapple it. Gather curls loosely at the very top of your head with a soft scrunchie, so you're sleeping on your ends less.
- Add a little moisture. A light leave-in or a couple of drops of oil on the ends before bed.
- Choose your surface. A silk pillowcase lets curls glide instead of catch, which keeps clumps together.
- Refresh, don't restart. In the morning, mist with water or a curl refresher and scrunch. Put the brush down.
Your curls aren't the problem. Your pillowcase might be.
Bonnet, pillowcase or both?
Both, honestly. A bonnet holds everything in place. A silk pillowcase is the backup for the many, many nights the bonnet migrates to the floor. It also looks after your skin while it's at it.
The short version
Pineapple your curls, keep the ends moisturized and sleep on silk so curls slide instead of catching.
