How do you keep hair overnight?

[coscass]

Okay, obviously I know a lot of you braid. A lot of the time, my hair is still somewhat damp when I go to bed, since it takes 4+ hours to dry on a good day. So when I do braid it, and wear my silk cap, all the natural curl I tried to put in turns into "braid curls", which are great, but I like variety you know?

I'm not that great at buns, but I can learn. What can I do to make sure my hair stays natural-looking (I want to keep my curls the way they look when they naturally dry)? Ponytail the length, or will that leave a ring indentation around it?

[anneisanne]

I leave mine in a gentle side-ponytail, tied with a fabric scrunchie. It does leave a little bit of a mark, but if you get a little spray bottle of water and spritz and scrunch it in the morning, it doesn't take too long for it to dry and it looks nice and natural.

[hoosiermama]

I don't know if I can be much help here since you are trying to keep the naturally dried curls going. My hair isn't very long at all, just past shoulder length but I HATE sleeping on hair. It's itchy and sweaty on the neck! I usually put it up in a loose high on the top of my head ponytail with a big soft scrunchy. My curl usually isn't affected because it's only curly on the bottom 2 or 3 inches. I do like the natural lift having my hair up all night the pony gives it. So far, it's not long enough for the pony to really be a problem migrating down under my head while I sleep. I'm a tosser and turner so I'm sure it will get in the way as it grows. I think if you do a very loose twisty bun on top of the head you should be able to keep most of your curls intact. Perhaps other ladies can give you better advice on this one!

[Stormy1]

I am not comfortable wearing a braid or bun. Luckily, I don't toss much and sleep on my back... I push all of my hair up and over my pillow.

If my hair is damp at night, I wake with lift at the roots but no marks on the length. I have poker straight hair but I would assume you'd get the same results.

[coscass]

I put my hair in a loose, low ponytail and twisted the ends around it like I would a bun. Then I threw on a durag. Maybe this'll work. I knew I bought that durag for a reason :D

[Ryanne]

Maybe you can pineapple it? (A very high ponytail) Or a sleep cap. Those probably won't destroy curls.

[Olde Soul]

I usually just put it in whatever bun I can at the top of my head if I don't want braid waves. *shrug*

[Kamustermann]

I'm wearing a bun at night to sleep, but the first day after I washed them, they're really
oversoft and the bun will be open over the night. Then I wear a braid.

[JamieLeigh]

Lately, I've been piling into the bottom shelf of my headboard, so I guess that's the same thing as flipping it over the top of my head to keep it out of the way. :p

[paperwhite]

I've finally learned to sleep comfortably with my hair in a bun at the back of my head. It definitely took some getting used to, but it was worth it. Braids keep my hair mostly together but there's still enough of it exposed to get roughed up during the night--I'm better off leaving it loose. I've found that keeping it in a bun keeps it all together, minimally exposed, and it usually holds through the night :)

ETA: Also, sleeping in a damp bun gives my straight hair great bun waves when i take it down :)

[Carolyn]

If I want soft waves I wash in the evening and air dry to just damp and then do a high scrunchie bun. I get a decent wave pattern in the morning. The only time I braid before bed is when it has been braided for the day and I'm too lazy to do something else with it or I've done a heavy oiling at bedtime. I don't like braid waves so I'd never braid freshly washed hair with the intention of wearing it down the next day. Keeping it down at night is the easiest. It can be a pain now and then but :shrug: I can deal with it.

[Madame J]

I'm not a curly, but can one plop overnight? That seems like it might be a very curl-friendly way of sleeping. Maybe if you plopped damp hair instead of soaking wet, or changing the covering right before bed so you're not sleeping on soaking wet hair.

[GoddesJourney]

I think your best bet would be to just flip all of your hair above your head as much as possible and hope for the best. Have you ever just made a really loose braid above your head. A loos braid probably won't give you braid waves anyway.

[*girlypearl*]

:DHi! Now that my hair is a bob and I am growing it out, I haven't done this in a while... I usually comb it smooth and then twist it up tight in a clip. I leave it like this for a good 4~5 hours or longer depending on wether or not I am leaving the house. Then, when I am ready to go to bed I take the clip out and re~twist my hair so it is now down, but one long twist over my shoulder. I wake up in the morning and run my fingers through it... and... voila!! I have nice, soft waves with no scrunchie marks. I know that may have sounded a little confusing and if so I'm sorry. Hope this helped a little :D
*Happy Growing*

[jojo]

I just sleep in my sleep cap and my texture is the very same next morning plus not one tangle!

[Anje]

Mine is usually loose inside my sleep cap, other than being wound around my hand a few times to shorten it to stick it in. I don't get any tangles overnight this way (compared to anything not in a sleep cap). If I go to bed with my hair damp (still goes in the sleep cap), this also gives some awesome waves to my barely-wavy hair, so I imagine it would do even more for real waves and curls.

My scalp seems to prefer my hair to be loose at night, and I appreciate not getting a demarcation line from where the hair was gathered in a bun or what have you.

[missmagoo]

I pineapple my hair (high ponytail with a scrunchie). Now that my hair is getting longer I don't pull the ponytail through all the way on the last twist of the scruncie- that seems to preserve my curls more than if I leave the ponytail loose

I only bun or braid my hair to sleep if I'm washing the next day- it makes my hair look funky otherwise.

[Lexibeth]

I wash my hair and bun it for a few hours. Once its mostly dry, i'll take it down, finger comb, then lay it out beside me. I rarely have issues unless I toss and turn. Then I look like medusa.

[RoseRedDead]

Where do I keep my hair? On top of my head, of course!! :p

In all seriousness, though, it's either loose and hanging off the bed (between the bed and the wall), or braided, or in a very loose clipped bun on the top of my head.

[BranwenWolf]

Loose. I turn over a lot and I can't stand the knot of a ponytail on my head. It tangles more when I braid. It's wet and my hair dries overnight.
I just oil it a bit when I comb in the morning.

[diane w.]

I twist mine into a loose topknot with a fabric scrunchie.