The most protective hairstyle for the night

[Madora]

Madora, I have to try your protective style. My hair is just past hip length. I hope my hair grows a little more. You are truly blessed, having hair that long!

Thanks, catamonica. I was able to reach this length due, in part, to being proactive in keeping it up and detangling gently..and of course my daily brushing..but you know how I am about brushing!

Just have patience and continue to gently care for your hair...and you can grow long too!

[Madora]

I have a lot of breakage ( at all levels) on the underside of my hair! I always blamed my gold chain that holds my cross, which I never remove. the chain does cause some tangles and breakage, but now I am wondering if actually braiding my hair causes all the breakage on the underside...... up to now i always did a low simple braid for sleeping, and rarely two braids.... since a couple of month ago I added a silk bonnet to my sleep routine, and I have to say it helped with tangles, but it mostly helped to protect me from my 9 month old breastfeeding baby who tries to scalp me alive.
anyway, back to sleeping, so in the end the braid is not so protective..... btw, my hair is past hip length now

Am at a loss to understand why braiding would not be protective (unless, of course, you braided to tightly, which is a no no). I've been braiding my hair and wearing it up in braids for a good part of my life, with no harm.

If you think that your gold chain is the culprit, then why don't you try wrapping it with a thin material (at least at night) so it doesn't catch/interfer with your hair.

That breakage might be connected with how you detangle your hair. That's the only thing I can think of that would cause the damage you describe.

What you might do to help protect your hair at night is to detangle it gently, then make a horizontal part from the top of one ear, around the back of the head, to the top of the other ear.

Take all the hair ABOVE the part, detangle it, then divide in 3 sections and LOOSELY braid it down to the ends
Take all the remaining hair BELOW the part and do the same. Since your hair is long, you could just braid it 3/4ths of the way down and not bother with tieing off with a hair friendly elastic.

You could even take the braids and wear them milkmaid fashion around your hair (pinning in place with crimped hairpins).

.

[jacqueline101]

I apologize---I now realize there are so many, and I didn't describe mine well. I use a 'horse lycra tail bag'. It is a soft, rectangular, lycra sack with either self ties or a separate tie of lycra running through a turn of fabric at the top; about 7 x 27". Here is an example:

http://www.ebay.com/itm/PRETTY-Light...3D121321010127

I love that. Like another person suggested I might try to make one.

[Robot Ninja]

What's wrong with sleeping on your face and satin? Hmmm...

It tends to be made out of polyester and I'm prone to breakouts. I imagine polyester would only make it worse.

[MsPharaohMoan]

It tends to be made out of polyester and I'm prone to breakouts. I imagine polyester would only make it worse.

Interesting! I too am prone to breakouts and have been suspicious of my satin pillow… Does anyone else have any thoughts or info on this correlation?

[Larki]

Interesting! I too am prone to breakouts and have been suspicious of my satin pillow… Does anyone else have any thoughts or info on this correlation?

I dunno, I've been using a satin pillowcase for a month and my face is still very clear, like it has been for the last four months (ever since I started using argan oil on my face). Before four months ago, I was very prone to acne.

[DarleneH]

Those sports tubes and motorcycle hair protectors might work. I can't remember the exact name of the sports ones to tell you what to google and the motorcycle ones I got at a Harley shop. I have thought about making the sports ones out of stretchy fabric but had forgot about them until this post reminded me.

[Eastbound&Down]

Is there a difference between satin and silk sleep caps? I found a satin cap at the store and it was pretty cheap so I bought it but would a silk one be better?

[Remi]

I have found satin will contribute to a sweaty face (on a pillowcase) and a satin sleep cap doesn't breathe for the hair and scalp. Silk is a natural fiber and has made a big difference in my hair (sleep cap). Most time I leave it loose in the sleep cap. Make sure to get one that does not have exposed elastic to rub off smaller hairline strands.