Sleeping hairstyles

[Buttercup1223]

I'm sure this has been asked before but what are the best protective hairstyles to sleep in? I toss and turn a lot! I used to have a satin pillow case, but I need a new one. Would sleeping in a low ponytail be okay or a loose braid better or just loose so nothing is pulling on it?

Thanks for any advice :)

~D

[Frankenstein]

I like to do a bun or braid in a satin bonnet. It keeps hair contained and totally out of the way.

[gthlvrmx]

A loose braided bun on top of your head held by spin pins, or just a regular bun on top of your head held by spin pins, will work just fine. The bun will be cushioned by the pillow.

[meteor]

How do you secure your ponytail, Buttercup1223 ? :) If you use a silky ribbon or narrow silky scarf or nylon pantyhose or a silky scrunchie, it might work. Though to be perfectly honest, it's not super-protective for length. A good thing I'd recommend if you sleep with your hair loose or in a pony is to line with silky fabric (a scarf can work) the area above the pillow and that groove between the mattress and the headboard, and place your length (straightened out, not bunched up) into that silky groove. If you are not a restless sleeper, it should work well. I certainly recommend sleeping on silky smooth materials to reduce frizz and tangling: silk fabric and satin weave are great, but anything silky smooth should work, as long as it feels comfortable and doesn't create static. Special pillowcases and bonnets aren't necessary, because you can just wrap your head and pillow in silk scarves. And some people sew their own, which is great! :thumbsup:

Another thing I'd recommend looking into if you like ponytails for the night is a method called Kardoune (http://www.edelweiss-cheveux.com/2014/05/kardoune-lisser-ses-cheveux-sans.html): wrapping the whole length overnight with a tight ribbon or pantyhose. It's a traditional North African method of heatless straightening, and what's cool about it is that it keeps the length completely covered and protected overnight and unlike "hair wraps" ("doobie" wraps), which use head as a giant roller, it can be easily done on very long hair without any pinning, overlapping on different areas or making head feel hot, and you can start the wrapping lower to keep scalp feeling comfortable.

Personally, I prefer buns and braids for sleep, because I find them the most protective: 2 side braids for sleeping on the back, but 1 braid for sleeping on the stomach or on the sides. Though I know some people's scalps don't like this and prefer loose hair at the nape - then you can always start braiding really low. ;)
Nowadays, I just take out my hairstick and keep my loosened daily braided bun for the night, keeping the coiled up braid intact. I never secure it with anything (to avoid extra friction) and I just cover it with a silky scarf for the night. It gets a bit loosened by the morning, of course, but I don't really get any tangles this way.
Braids and buns can also create effortless texture overnight: braidwaves and bunwaves. Just choose the type, positioning and number of braids/buns you need for the look you are going for (the more braids/buns, the tighter the wave/curl, of course).

My biggest recommendation would be to keep the style pretty simple, never tight, the tools (if any) minimal, comfy and smooth and the surface touching your hair slippy.

I hope you'll find an ideal method for yourself, Buttercup1223 ! :cheer:

[RebekahE]

I sleep with my hair loose and occasionally braided. I just flip my hair up and behind me on the pillow that way I'm not laying on it.
I sleep on my sides most of the time and I find side braids annoying, so if I do braid it I just do a single braid down my back.

[TrapperCreekD]

You might find this thread (http://forums.longhaircommunity.com/showthread.php?t=5171) helpful. Lots of ideas there! Me, I put mine in a loose English braid, and because it's long enough to do so, I drape it over my (satin) pillow and gently tuck the tassel under the pillow. I'm not a very active sleeper so this works for me.

[Cassilicious]

I do an inversion braid and wrap it up on top of my head like a crown and pin it on all sides with a few bobby pins and bam! Holds like a rock! I also made a paranda with ribbon that I ALWAYS use when I braid my hair. I made sure that it was longer than my hair so that I can put the elastic on the ribbon and not my hair. Works wonderfully!

[Buttercup1223]

I usually just use one of those Goody brand hair elastics that are coated. I usually sleep on my sides but I do toss and turn back and forth to the sides. I would probably braid it. I might try a bun and see if that bothers me at night or pulls my hair. Thank you guys for the links that will give me some ideas.

[lucifera]

Personally, I prefer buns and braids for sleep, because I find them the most protective: 2 side braids for sleeping on the back, but 1 braid for sleeping on the stomach or on the sides. Though I know some people's scalps don't like this and prefer loose hair at the nape - then you can always start braiding really low. ;)


I've been putting in a rope braid (sometimes one, sometimes two) which has been working really well. Some days, I got into leaving the braid in place, because I liked the look and found it more convenient. However, I was surprised to find that after a day or two that my hair was still getting somewhat tangled. I am therefore wondering: should a braid always be redone at least every 12/24 hours or if done more tightly, can they be left in place for longer.

[meteor]

I've been putting in a rope braid (sometimes one, sometimes two) which has been working really well. Some days, I got into leaving the braid in place, because I liked the look and found it more convenient. However, I was surprised to find that after a day or two that my hair was still getting somewhat tangled. I am therefore wondering: should a braid always be redone at least every 12/24 hours or if done more tightly, can they be left in place for longer.

That's a great question, lucifera! :) I think it depends on a few things, actually: how active you are, does the style rub on things, the hair texture, the number and type of braids... For me, I find that if I do an English braid that incorporates a couple well-placed English accent braids into it, and I braid tightly to the very end, that braid will hold pretty well, if I wear it bunned up during daytime and coil it carefully and cover with silk at night. Same goes to that 9-strand braid (where you braid 3 English braids together into 1 English braid). These braids can hold 2 or even 3 days nicely for me without any tangles, though they'll get fuzzy over time. The more accent braids or small-ish braids braided together, the lower the chance of tangles, because braids act like a sectioning technique, keeping strands separate. When I choose which sections to accent-braid, I choose the most tangle-prone areas, because the mini-braid will keep them isolated from the rest of the hair. But the manipulation involved there is definitely a downside, so I only do this if, for example, I will be doing active sports or need a style that can last a couple days without redoing.

Rope braids do not hold well for me, because they require pretty tight twisting on my hairtype and they loosen up right away, and I'm a bit afraid of doing that style tightly because I suspect twisting to be not too hair-friendly. If a rope braid doesn't hold too well for you, try a 3-strand or maybe even a 5-strand braid. They might hold better for you. ;) If you prefer rope braids anyway but they unravel and don't prevent tangles, then you could try a Hawser braid (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BxEmuhz0Ews) - which is just 2 rope braids twisted (rope-braided) together. Looks cool, but easy to do and holds way better than a rope braid (since the 2 braids grip onto each other).

I think it's pretty YMMV and it requires a bit of experimentation for everyone, as texture, length, density, condition and of course hairstyling skills and preferences and other factors all play a role. What can hold beautifully for days on end for someone may need to be redone within hours on someone else. But covering a hairstyle in a silk scarf/bonnet at night or even using a wave cap (if there is braiding along the scalp) and covering hairstyle when it's windy can definitely help. ;)

Happy experimentation! :cheer:

[bjt]

I find any braid or bun tends to cause stress damage on my hair so I leave it loose to sleep. I push it up over my pillow and it flows back between the bars of my headboard and down the back of of the bed. It hangs there and allows me to spin to different positions without hair getting in the way. It works for me!
If I'm in a hotel or something I use one loose braid and try not to move too much. I don't find it real comfortable though.

[Zesty]

I will forever recommend the silk bonnet + silk pillowcase combo. I just put my hair into the bonnet loose. Not the cutest look, but I think it's the easiest and most protective.

[lucifera]

Happy experimentation! :cheer:

Hi meteor! thankyou for such an interesting & useful response! Some of those braid types really are beautiful and real works of art.
As you write, I now have lots to be experimenting with! :)

[Circe Invidiosa]

I'm so glad someone posted this, I was about to ask the same question.
What are your opinions on the following?
I used to wear a side rope or English braid, but that became increasingly annoying with my partner laying on it or it getting stuck under myself, and braid waves make my hair fuzzy, so I switched to a vortexbun, held with 3 pins. I find it comfortable to sleep in, as I'm a side sleeper. It holds well (it loosens a bit obviously), but my problem is that it makes my hair quite tangly: the twists remain in my hair and even with untwisting them, the hairs seem to stick together, making detangling quite a challenge. Using a looser twist doesn't work as the bun won't hold.

[Buttercup1223]

I could only imagine my husbands face with me wearing a bonnet to bed. He might think he was in an episode of Little House on the Prarie. :D

[Saldana]

I am a very mobile sleeper with a finicky scalp - if ANYTHING (even ONE hair) is pulling in whatever restraint I put my hair in, there will be no sleeping for me until I fix it. That being said....

Until my hair got to about 27 inches, I was putting it in twin braids for the night. That was working well until they got long enough that I'd inevitably roll over on one in the middle of the night, and get trapped. So I switched to a single French braid, which has been my go-to for bedtime hair for awhile now. A couple of weeks ago, though, I tried a loose braid coiled on the top of my head and secured with spin pins. Once I settled all the little 'pulling' parts, it was great! Very comfy.

I've used satin pillow cases for years - you can get the nylon 'satin' ones for cheap at Sally's, but I watch for the heavy satin ones at thrift stores, and get mine there. I also suspect I'm getting a 'satin' sleepcap for Christmas - I'm looking forward to trying it.

[LoneStarfruit]

I could only imagine my husbands face with me wearing a bonnet to bed. He might think he was in an episode of Little House on the Prarie. :D

Ditto, my GF already puts up with me batting her hands away from my hair when I've just washed it and getting stabbed with hairsticks when she goes in for a hug, this might just end in me sleeping on the couch! Does get me thinking, though, of what slightly more 'partner-palatable' sleep styles there might be? I can't stand the feeling of silk/satin pillowcases (I use a very soft, fine-woven cotton) and I do tend to roll onto my hair in the night. I try to keep it up and above the pillow but we seem to migrate around the bed a lot so it's a bit of a mess by morning. GF's very frizz-prone 2c/3a hair is even worse off than mine... Wouldn't loose braids/buns be more likely to cause breakage at the crown with more movement? (I'm sure they're excellent if you're lucky enough to be a 'still' vs 'migratory' sleeper!)

[cosmic crusader]

I have a satin pillowcase, and I roll my length into a big pincurl and lay it near my crown. I have experimented with securing my hair with a stick or ficcare, and while it's sometimes fine, I have found it contributes to frazzled ends.

[calmyogi]

I make two braids on either side and sleep with them inside of a satin cap.