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How To Sleep With Curly Hair: 3 Top Easy Ways To Protect Curls Overnight

how to sleep with curly hair - protect curly hair while you sleep. how to sleep with curly hair without ruining it

If you have curly or wavy hair, learn how to sleep with curly hair to wake up with defined curls, hydrated and little to no frizz. As a curly girl, you know that it can be a challenge to keep your curls looking their best when you’re trying to get some shut-eye.

You’ve taken your time and styled your curls to perfection and you want it to last long after you’ve slept on them. This is easy to achieve if you follow good curly girl nighttime practices.

If you don’t, you risk getting up to dry, knotted, messy and frizzy curls or waves that need more than a quick refresh.

When you sleep with your hair unprotected, you’re likely going to wake up to a change in your curl pattern, more frizz, less curl definition, and have more hair breakage from the friction caused by your hair rubbing against your cotton pillows and sheets.

For your curl definition to last beyond wash day, you need to learn the best way to sleep with curly hair to protect your curly hair at night while you sleep.

When it’s bedtime, you may be wondering:

  • Should I wrap my curls overnight?
  • How can I protect my short curly hair while sleeping?
  • What is the best way to protect my long curly hair for bed?

But don’t worry – we’ve got three easy ways for curly girls to sleep with their curly and wavy hair that will help minimize damage and keep your curls healthy, defined and hydrated until the next morning! Keep reading to learn more.

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3 Best Ways For Sleeping With Curly Hair Without Ruining It

If you have natural curls, it’s important to take extra care of your hair when bedtime rolls around. There are a few things that can help with this and ensure those beautiful waves stay in place all night long!

To protect your curls while you sleep, there are a few things that you can do with your nighttime routine. Textured strands are often more sensitive and need extra care when it comes time for bedtime so try one of these ways to sleep with waves and curls:

  1. Secure your curls in a pineapple
  2. Sleep on a silk or satin pillowcase
  3. Put your curls in a silk or satin bonnet, scarf, buff

Protecting your hair while you sleep helps to keep curls defined the next morning so that wash day results last longer and all you need to do is a simple refresh in the morning.

how to protect your curls while you sleep

Sleeping with curly hair is easy when you add these to your curly girl nighttime routine and wake up to less frizzy and more defined curls.

You may still need to refresh your curly hair in the morning but quick refreshes are much easier to handle on a morning than a full curly hair routine.

1. Use A Protective Curly Hairstyle

Wearing your hair in a pineapple hairstyle or loose bun is a great way to protect your curls while you sleep. This method minimizes friction and keeps your curls from becoming a tangled mess.

In addition, wearing your hair in a pineapple or bun will help keep your curls hydrated and prevent them from drying out overnight.

To pineapple your hair, simply gather your curls into a high ponytail on top of your head. Then, use as, fabric covered hair tie to secure your curls in place. The best soft hair tie to use is one made of satin or silk as they are very gentle on your strands.

If you have shorter hair, you can also put your curls in a loose bun. Simply twist your hair into a bun and secure it with bobby pins.

This is one of the best and easiest ways to sleep with curly hair as your curls will not really be disturbed as you sleep leading to less frizz and hair damage overnight.

There are a few ways to put your curls in a pineapple, depending on your hair length.

How to sleep with short curly hair

Put up your short curly hair in a pineapple ponytail. To do this:

  • Flip all your hair forward
  • Place a satin scrunchy once at the very top of your head
  • You can also pineapple only the top of your hair and leave the bottom out if your hair is too short

How to sleep with long curly hair

To protect textured hair at night, secure long curls in a pineapple. Simply:

  • Start by flipping all your hair forward
  • Loosely secure curls in a satin scrunchie at the very top of your head
  • To do a loose pineapple – pull the length almost all the way through but stopping just before you reach the ends of your hair

If your scrunchie is too big, pull all your hair through the scrunchie once and then again almost all the way through.

If you have curly bangs or shorter front pieces, then leave those out of your pineapple and use a tiny clamp to clip it back.

2. Sleep on a Silk or Satin Pillowcase

If you’re looking for a super easy, no fuss way to protect your curls while you sleep, consider using a satin or silk pillowcase.

Unlike cotton pillowcases, which can absorb your hair’s natural oils and moisture, silk and satin pillowcases don’t strip your hair of its natural oils, which can help minimize frizz and keep your curls looking hydrated.

In addition, silk and satin pillowcases are gentle on your hair and allow your hair to glide over the material creating fewer opportunities for frizz and hair damage.

How to sleep with curly hair on a satin pillowcase:

This is how to prepare your curls to sleep on a silk or satin pillowcase:

  • if necessary, apply a small amount of sealing oil or leave in conditioner – this will help to keep your curls hydrated as you sleep.
  • Finger coil or shape pieces for more definition
  • leave curls loose, secure in a loose bun, or loosel braids

If you leave your curls loose, flip all of your hair forward before you lay down. This will ensure you don’t wake up with flattened curls. Even though you sleep on a satin pillowcase if you leave your hair loose while you sleep you will likely experience frizz the next morning.

While you will experience less frizz than if you slept on a cotton pillowcase, the better way to protect your hair overnight is by securing them in a loose bun and then sleeping on your satin or silk pillowcase.

3. Secure Curly Hair In A Silk Or Satin Scarf, Bonnet Or Hair Buff

Hair accessories like silk or satin scarves, bonnets, and hair buffets can be a great way to protect your locks from damage when you sleep.

They will help keep the moisture in so hair doesn’t get dry overnight which could lead not only do breakage but also tangling hassle! They should also help prevent split ends because they limit movement overnight- preserving curl definition!

How To Sleep With Curly Hair In A Silk Or Satin Bonnet:

  • Flip your hair over and put on the silk bonnet
  • Place your curls in the satin bonnet or scarf with your head upright – perfect for short curly hair
  • For long curly hair, secure your curls in a pineapple hairstyle with a soft satin hair tie, then put on your satin bonnet

To protect your hair from the friction is to sleep with a satin bonnet or scarf. This will create a barrier between your hair and your pillow and restrict your curls from moving too much while you sleep. This will help reduce frizz and preserve your curl shape.

That is if you can keep it on. I’ve tried to keep a bonnet on a few times and it always comes off.

So, if I choose to sleep with a bonnet, I always sleep on a silk or satin pillowcase for added security for my curls.

How To Sleep With Curly & Wavy Hair In A Satin Scarf:

Sleeping with a satin or silk scarf is also one of the best ways to protect your curls at night.

The smooth fabric helps to minimize friction and prevent your hair from tangling or breaking while you sleep. Plus, it helps to keep your hair hydrated and can even help reduce frizz.

Sleeping with your curly hair in a satin or silk scarf is very similar to the bonnet. The main difference is that it can be more secure because you’re tying the scarf.

This is how to put on and secure a scarf on your head:

  • Fold the scarf in half to create a bandanna.
  • Flip over your hair if you have short hair or secure long curls in a pineapple
  • Tie the scarf around your head, making sure that it’s tight enough to stay in place, but not so tight that it gives you a headache.
  • take the loose ends of the scarf and tie them in a knot at the nape of your neck.
  • tuck any loose ends into the scarf.

You can also use a headband or bobby pins to secure your scarf. Just make sure that the headband is lined with silk or satin so that it doesn’t damage your hair.

How To Put Curls & Waves In Hair Buff:

Using a buff will restrict hair movement and keep your curl pattern intact.

This is how to put curls in a hair buff:

  • pull the buff over your head until it’s around your neck
  • gently pull hair bull over the length of your curls
  • make sure all of your hair is in the buff, if your hair is too long, scrunch down the ends to fit it into the buff
  • gently shake out waves and curls in the morning.

Sleeping With Curly Hair – Do’s & Don’ts

To wrap up, let’s recap what you want to do and what you definitely want to avoid when you sleep with curly hair.

Curly Girl Do’s:

Curly Girl Don’ts:

  • Sleep without hair protection
  • Use cotton bedsheets
  • Secure your hair using hair ties that will damage your hair

SLEEPING WITH CURLY HAIR PRO TIP: When you get up the next morning, give your hair a shake and refresh using your favorite curly products

how to sleep with curly hair

Bringing It All Together

So, if you’re one of the millions of people with textured hair, learning how to sleep with curly hair can make all the difference in whether you wake up with defined, hydrated curls or a frizzy mess.

But by using the right techniques you won’t wake up to frizzy curls. Be sure to secure your curls in a pineapple, sleep on a satin or silk pillowcase, and put your curls in a bonnet or scarf made from silk or satin – you can wake up with bouncy curls that are defined and hydrated.

Have you tried any of these methods? What works best for you? Let us know in the comments below!

Before You Go, You Will Love These Other Posts For Curly Hair:

Product recommendations
Product Reviews
Important Information To Care For Curls & Waves
Dyeing Textured Hair At Home Without Damaging It
Wavy & Curly Hair Routines & hairstyles
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