Protective Styles : How you sleep may hinder your curls!

Until I really started doing research about how to best handle naturally curly hair, I had never ONE TIME thought about a protective styling. This is a term largely referring to something that protects hair during the transition process from chemical straightening to natural and protective styles are often used on ethnic hair. Twist outs, locks, braids, etc. are some examples of protective styles.

For those of us who have fully transitioned, our sleep habits can make all the difference when it comes to the health of our curls. There are a few simple techniques that may help preserve natural curls while you sleep that are easy to implement.


1) THE PINEAPPLE

It is what it says it is: gather all of your hair on top of your head as high as you can and let the curls stay in place. When your head hits the pillow, curls get crushed. This leads to a lot more effort in the morning when it comes to refreshing for work, or on 2nd or 3rd day curls. Pineappling helps keep volume in hair by bringing curls upward AND keeps them from being crushed while you sleep. Just be sure to very loosely gather your curls. They need to stay in place, but they don't need to be squeezed too tightly. Also, never pineapple wet hair. This technique works only on dry curls.

2) THE SATIN PILLOWCASE

This is a super cheap way to keep curls in tact. Satin pillowcases are usually less than $10 and protect curls from the static and moisture-drain caused by cotton. You can Pineapple and sleep on a satin pillowcase or leave hair as-is and there will be a marked difference in the health of your hair almost immediately. I recommend EVERY curly girl ditches cotton pillowcases immediately.

Betty Dain Satin Pillowcase

3) SATIN CAPS

I don't personally use this method, but it is successful for many. Satin caps can be bought at Sally and keep curls close to the head while sleeping. If you use a cap, there's no need to swap out your pillowcase, but this may not be the most comfortable method for you. Worth a try if you're not crazy about the Pineapple approach.

Jumbo Satin Sleep Cap

4) BRAIDING

This method works best for type 3-4 curls, as the curl pattern is so tight a braid won't pull it apart. Two pig-tail style braids are very effective for these curl types, depending on length. This allows curls to stay in one place and not have the curl pattern effected by tossing and turning on your pillow at night.

I can't go anywhere anymore without my precious satin pillowcase, and I Pineapple when I can. Sometimes I doze off without planning to doze off and forget. My satin pillowcase keeps my curls from looking horrible in the morning regardless.


What do you do to protect your style overnight?



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