Protective styles that don't make hair unmanageably wavy/curly

[qvbit]

I have relatively straight hair (a bit of wave) and all the styles I've tried to put it up to sleep in, I always wake up with it ridiculously kinky and curly and not in a good way, and I have to wet it and comb it out which really bothers me. Does anyone have any styles they use that are minimally wave-inducing? :lol: I've thought about a silk bonnet/wrap but my head is oily so I feel like laying my hair flat to my head like that will make me need to wash it much more often.

[Bri-Chan]

Not actually a no-wave method, but did you try the pineapple method (https://content.naturallycurly.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/07/how-to-pineapple.jpg)? I do it to preserve my natural waves. Obviously my (and probably your) hair is longer then that girl in the pictures, so I put that kind of ponytail on the higher part of my pillow.

[qvbit]

Not actually a no-wave method, but did you try the pineapple method (https://content.naturallycurly.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/07/how-to-pineapple.jpg)? I do it to preserve my natural waves. Obviously my (and probably your) hair is longer then that girl in the pictures, so I put that kind of ponytail on the higher part of my pillow.

Thanks! I'll give it a go. It looks like it's just a very high ponytail, almost at forehead level?

[Bri-Chan]

Thanks! I'll give it a go. It looks like it's just a very high ponytail, almost at forehead level?

I do it exactly on the center of my head. And it's very gently, I suggest if not the scrunchie, the invisibboble or something similar instead of a regular hair tie.

[shelomit]

My hair is wurly verging on curly at the ends, and I prefer not to let it get curlier than it has to. One of the best ways I've found to "put it to sleep" is to dampen it a little, comb it, and put it in two fairly tight Dutch braids. It has braid wave in the morning, of course, but those tend to relax pretty quickly and kind of cancel out whatever wave pattern I have going on naturally. Plus, the double braids gather enough of the hair up that there aren't a lot of escapee ends let loose to frizz or tangle up.

More recently, I've been trying sleeping in stick-held buns. I don't know the common bun names. . . I think it is or is similar to what people call a nautilus bun? I stick it right at the top of my head (one friend said it looked like I was balancing a particularly plump bagel up there!). I find that if, again, I spritz a little water on (and/or do this on a washing day) and give it a quick comb) it helps. I don't bun it tightly per se, but rather try and keep the tension when I'm putting the bun in, if that makes sense? It comes out in the morning with a couple of really loose rolling waves throughout the lengths and one big one at the very tips, much less than I get with the English braids.

When I'm in a humid place I find that a sleeping cap helps with frizz, but not really with how curly my hair is in the morning.

[imalda]

I used to do that pineapple hairstyle and dropped my hair over the side of my bed and it would just hang there all night. My bed doesn't have a solid headboard though so it was fine going over the top. My hair is too long for that now so I wear it in a loose English braid. I suppose I could just double my hair up when I tie it in the pineapple, but because I only do a loose braid, the waves come right out of my hair in about half an hour. My hair is thick and heavy though so the weight of it will pull it straight pretty quickly too. You could try a loose rope braid? Less twists/kinks in the hair than a traditional English one, which might help with the kinks. Or a loose cinnabun right on top the head, almost on your forehead in a wrap of some kind? That way you're not actually sleeping on the hair and smooshing it into your oily scalp.

[HaMalka]

For me a single English braid gives me waves some order, but doesn't make my hair more or less wavy unless I do it wet. Rope braids and any sort of twisted bun add bits of curl to my hair which is a pain to deal with. Untwisted LWBs work on wet hair for me without adding the curl or wave.

[BleachedBerry]

You could try wrapping it. Circularly close to the scalp, brushing smoothly around the head and then maybe if needed, if your a side sleeper, put one extra large jumbo Velcro roller at the crown only (section the crown first before wrapping all the hair) and wrap tightly in silk scarf or hair wrap.
When I use to give myself smooth blowouts or flat iron I would do this to maintain until a wash day. I also found this to straiten out my natural waves/curls if brushed extremely smooth on clean, dry hair.

[Simsy]

A lightly coiled cinnibun or Nautalis might help. It should come out with a large loose wave instead of tighter curls. It would depend on the curl pattern though. On the whole, buns would offer loose, even waves while braids are a tighter curl pattern.

[florenonite]

I've been braiding my hair for sleep for so long that I don't really find it makes it unmanageable anymore (if anything, braid waves add some grippiness to my fine and slippery hair), and my natural hair is less wavy than yours. It might just be a case of adjusting for you, and maybe doing a different kind of bun on freshly washed hair than you do on sleep braided hair.

I just do a single English braid for bed, so there's no waves around the crown of the head but just in the length.