messy unkempt hair & I still haven't found a good overnight routine

[sarahthegemini]

This is more of a rant but any advice or tips would of course be appreciated! I can't seem to find a good overnight method of securing my hair - bunning makes my hair frizzy, loose makes it look dull, braids seem to preserve the glossy-ness but my ends look straggly and pineappling makes my hair frizzy and dull. With or without a sleeping cap, nothing seems to give me great results. I would like to preserve my waves but mostly I want to preserve my shine and prevent my hair from looking unkempt. Every overnight method leaves me with messy, stringy hair that looks like I've been head-banging or something. If I comb, it neatens up my hair for what, 30 seconds then the next time I look in the mirror, the messy-ness is back. Combing also dulls my hair. I am getting extremely frustrated, my hair only looks good once it's washed until I sleep on it. It feels great, it just looks so wild . I am running out of ideas!

eta: I wash x2 a week, and I absolutely do not want to wash daily/saturate my hair daily (worried about hydral fatigue, hair takes ages to dry etc) I have tried just spritzing my hair but it creates even more stringyness. I am happy with the products I use, they do a great job, it's just sleeping that seems to destroy my hair! I have a satin pillow case.

[stachelbeere]

sorry to hear that you're having problems finding a sleep style :(

my first thought was that maybe you could protect your ends by wrapping then into a piece of silk when you sleep in a braid? I used to do that when I was doing a sleep braid.
Or... you could make a paranda made out of silk fabric and braid it in?

I hope what I wrote will be at least a bit useful. I hope you'll find your ideal routine soon :)

[Stormynights]

I am new and I haven't read all the threads here by a long shot, but I have a pair of socks that I only use for my hair. I put my hair in a loose pony and fold the sock heal to toe over the ends of my hair. Then I roll it up and turn the top of the sock over the whole thing. This keeps everything neat and tidy.

[sarahthegemini]

sorry to hear that you're having problems finding a sleep style :(

my first thought was that maybe you could protect your ends by wrapping then into a piece of silk when you sleep in a braid? I used to do that when I was doing a sleep braid.
Or... you could make a paranda made out of silk fabric and braid it in?

I hope what I wrote will be at least a bit useful. I hope you'll find your ideal routine soon :)

I have tried using ribbons and things to tie the braid off with no luck :( It seems however I secure the braid, the tassle will end up straggly looking. It's a pain because all other aspects of my routine are working well for me. Thank you for the kind words though :)


I am new and I haven't read all the threads here by a long shot, but I have a pair of socks that I only use for my hair. I put my hair in a loose pony and fold the sock heal to toe over the ends of my hair. Then I roll it up and turn the top of the sock over the whole thing. This keeps everything neat and tidy.

This sounds really intriguing!

[alexis917]

I like a high cinnabun secured with clips. Cinnas with hairties always come loose!

[Amygirl8]

If you're looking to preserve your waves, perhaps split your hair into two sections, twist them and pin them up around your head?
You can cover them with a sleeping cap too. I've seen this method gain a lot of popularity lately, it makes really nice waves/curls.

[alexis917]

If you're looking to preserve your waves, perhaps split your hair into two sections, twist them and pin them up around your head?
You can cover them with a sleeping cap too. I've seen this method gain a lot of popularity lately, it makes really nice waves/curls.

Ooh. That sounds better than my idea, mine might stretch out your waves a bit.

[sarahthegemini]

I like a high cinnabun secured with clips. Cinnas with hairties always come loose!

Unfortunately buns make my hair straight with frizzy matted-looking ends.

[stachelbeere]

I am new and I haven't read all the threads here by a long shot, but I have a pair of socks that I only use for my hair. I put my hair in a loose pony and fold the sock heal to toe over the ends of my hair. Then I roll it up and turn the top of the sock over the whole thing. This keeps everything neat and tidy.

sounds like a great idea!! thanks :)

[hikarilu]

Ties also seem to make my ends look straggly and kinda dry.
I use a wool paranda that's way longer than my hair. This way the ends are protected and the part that is secured with the scrunchie is only the paranda.

[Stormynights]

You can make sections of hair twist and roll in the socks and have soft bouncy curls. For smaller sections and fine hair use children's socks. This method is nice for vacations. The socks are easy to pack.

[QMacrocarpa]

You might try braiding your hair and just leaving the end unsecured. I routinely do that overnight, and my braid doesn't undo itself much by the time I'm ready to take the braid out and put my hair up the next day. Won't work for slippy hair, but if your waves have grip it's worth a try.

[ravenheather]

I get good second day hair by Dutch braiding. I secure with a terry cloth children's hair tie. In the morning I shake it out a little and spritz and scrunch the ends. For me this gets rid of stringy ends.

[ErinLeigh]

Have you tried bantu knots? You could do 4 knots and get some nice loose waves maybe.
Spritz hair with water lightly, just misted, not damp or wet..add a drop of favorite leave in and twist into knots.
That could work depending on you hair type.

I have same issue. My hair is beyond wild when I wake. Nothing fixes it for me except washing unfortunately.
I may try the knots myself and see I can make it work with my layers.

I like the paranda idea also, get the hair braided all the way to the tip so you don't have those flat ends.

[tigereye]

I have tried using ribbons and things to tie the braid off with no luck :( It seems however I secure the braid, the tassle will end up straggly looking. It's a pain because all other aspects of my routine are working well for me. Thank you for the kind words though

I stop straggly ends by wrapping the whole tassel (so nothing is showing), sprayed lightly with my leave-in, in a silk ribbon, then wrap the whole thing around a soft roller. Got my soft rollers in the pound shop.

[synchrostatic]

I've found that different buns give me frizz. So far the only one I've been able to make work is this weird scrunchie bun, where you put up like you're doing a ponytail, then before you secure the last bit, you wrap the ends around and tuck the ends in, then pull the rest of the scrunchie over. I usually get very little frizz when I do it, and it keeps my waves intact.

[Nesoi]

I scrunch my hair with a little AVG in the morning and just kind bodge/shake it with my hands. I am very lazy and embrace the messiness as boho chic (that's my story anyway) or I wear it up. We're at that length, you and I, where wavy is sometimes going to look messy whatever we do!

[Zebra Fish]

You might try braiding your hair and just leaving the end unsecured. I routinely do that overnight, and my braid doesn't undo itself much by the time I'm ready to take the braid out and put my hair up the next day. Won't work for slippy hair, but if your waves have grip it's worth a try.

This! I make a loose braid at the top of my head, which tightens a bit towards the ends. I put a drop (literally a drop) of oil on the last few cm (whatever oil I'm using usually at the time), put the braid over the pillow and it is still good in the morning. I wash my hair once a week and it is pretty slippy, but this works fine (and I toss and turn during the night).