If you’re a minimalist like me, you aim to keep your curl care simple yet effective.
There are multiple methods to choose from when it comes to maintaining healthy hair while you sleep. Below, I provide 3 tips on how to care for fine curly hair at night.
Tip 1: Don’t treat or deep condition overnight.
While some choose to deep condition their curls while they sleep, for me, it’s too heavy for my curl texture. Furthermore, there is research arguing against deep conditioning while you sleep as it can actually cause more harm than good to your curls by over moisturizing them. Additionally, I find that I get the best results by keeping my regular treatments short, sweet, but effective. When I do a protein or deep conditioning treatment, I leave it in for 20 to 30 minutes, but no more than one hour. That is the key to ensuring that you maintain healthy hair, whether it is day or night.
Tip 2: Apply treatments or style in the late afternoon or early evenings.
As a general rule, I always treat and style my curls in the late afternoon to early evenings to allow my treatments to soak in and work their magic with time left over to wash it out. In addition, I find that the treatments and styling products work better when I don’t have to worry about being on the go and exposing my curls to the sun, wind, or the pollution of NYC. I can just relax after a long day, and let my curls treat themselves by spending the night in.
I feel that my curls are their healthiest when I go to bed with curls that have been dried, treated, styled, and are ready to go. They smell great, are moisturized, and look amazing and healthy! Furthermore, it makes for a quicker stress-free morning routine where I can simply do a quick refresh and be ready to go out the door!
For styling, as always, I have been loving Light crème gel by Bouncecurl and following up with a light finishing oil like Ouidad Mongongo Oil. For deep treatments, I have been using SheaMoisture Tahitian and Monoi Weekly Scalp Therapy. When I do my protein treatment, I use a ratio of 1 raw egg and 1 large spoonful of coconut oil.
Tip 3: Protect your curls while you sleep!
To ensure that your curls have lasting definition, doing either of these simple methods can make all the difference in regard to keeping your curls protected while you sleep, as well as help prevent them from giving you a crazy case of bedhead.
- Sleeping on a satin pillowcase.
While the pineapple method can be a bit tricky for us shorter haired curly folks, lately, this is the method that I have been doing to protect my curls overnight and it couldn’t get any easier. I sleep with my hair down on my favorite satin pillowcase and that’s it. If you have curly hair, then you have probably heard that using cotton pillow cases aren’t the best as they can cause unnecessary friction, frizz, and damage. Satin pillowcases are easily affordable and can be purchased right off of amazon. They are so worth it, and your curls will thank you. I find that even though this method is simple, it defines and protects my hair enough to my satisfaction while I sleep.
2. Wear a silk scarf.
For even more protection and fuller coverage, you can also wrap your curls up in a silk scarf. If you don’t have a silk scarf, you can always flip your satin pillowcase inside out. With the satin side surrounding your hair, you can wrap it up in that and sleep with it that way.
To see a curl sleep method in action refer to my video tutorial here.
Watch another great video from Gabriella Gatehouse here
Ultimately, it’s up to you to experiment and find the sleeping method that works best for your fine curls.
What do you do to keep your curls healthy at night? Let me know in the comment section below.
