It's essential to ensure your braids aren't too tight before sleeping with them. Tight braids can cause irreplaceable damage to your hair because they put undue stress on your roots. This tension can take a toll on your hair strands and scalp.
Pick a Braid, any Braid
This old trick works every time and is one of the best ways to wear your hair when sleeping. It not only protects your hair – stopping it from tangling and breaking – but also gives you gorgeous beachy waves the next day and cuts down on frizz. It's easy, peasy totally pleasy hair.
Improper hair care routines before sleeping in the night can ruin the health of your hair. While you are asleep, your hair undergoes different processes such as repairing, reinforcement, and growth. So always tie your hair in a loose bun or braid while sleeping at night.
Ponytails and braids -- "Ponytails and braids can cause hair to break, especially if your style is pulled tightly," Mirmirani says. "If you wear it that way every day, permanent hair damage can occur."
Your Hair Might Get Superficial Breakage
On the hair that is exposed, you might get frizzy and broken hair. Use a frizz taming product to tame fly away, and you'll forget about this problem. Don't do your braid too tightly or you might get breakage too.
Don't Wear Your Braids for Too Long
While it is a protective style, it's not a good idea to wear it for too long, especially if you don't want to go bald.
While braiding can be a great protective measure for your hair, Shah recommends not keeping your hair tied into them for more than 7-8 hours a day. Additionally, he warns against tying the hair into tight braids as doing so can put strain on the hair follicle and lead to hair loss.
Don't Leave Your Braids in for Too Long
You should never keep braids for longer than eight weeks. Any longer than that, your new growth will stretch and damage and eventually break, causing significant damage to your hair. Keeping your braids for longer than eight weeks will likely leave you with hair loss.
Stylists often recommend that you let your natural hair and scalp relax and breathe before putting another protective style in. If you can allow at least one week between styles, then you'll have time to see the state of your hair. You can tell if you need a trim or a protein treatment and how to best take care of it.
Wrap box braids and cornrows in a silk or satin scarf to prevent frizz and breakage. Sleep on a silk or satin pillowcase to prevent friction and keep braids secure. Moisturize your scalp and prevent itching with grapeseed, castor, or tea tree oil.
However, it is important to protect your hair strands from friction while sleeping. This can be done by putting your hair back into a loose ponytail, loose braid or loose bun with silk or satin scrunchies — or by sleeping with hair in a satin or silk hair bonnet.
Protective Hairstyles For Sleeping: The Twisted Top Bun. Another fairly easy hairstyle: the length of your hair is twisted together and tucked in a bun sitting on top of your head. Quick and easy, it usually doesn't require the aid of any type of barrettes or bobby pins. Twisted Top Knot Bun Hack!
Good news—there are protective sleep hairstyles for your every natural hair wish. Overnight braids for long or short curly hair will both elongate your hair strands and give you full, voluminous waves without the hassle of washing your hair every morning.
"Simply put, hair is at its most vulnerable when wet. Sleeping with wet hair can lead to a host of problems for the scalp: unwanted bacteria, fungal infections, skin irritation, itchiness, dryness, redness, and dandruff," says hairstylist Miko Branch, co-founder of hair care brand Miss Jessie's.
A general observation across experiments was that straight hair was perceived as younger, healthier, and more attractive than wavy hair and darker shades (medium copper and brown) were perceived more positively than blonde hair.
In the case of long hair, both sexes prefer it because it is allegedly perceived as more attractive. This supposedly means that both males and females find women with long hair more attractive than those with short hair.
Go Free-Style
Your hair can break if you pull it back regularly in a tight ponytail, bun, or cornrows or wear extensions. Pull it back loosely instead. Or try hairstyles that put less tension on the roots. A great cut goes a long way.
Talk to your stylist to determine how long your specific braids should be in to maintain the health of your hair and scalp, but as a general rule try to keep your braids in for no longer than 8 weeks at a time for optimal scalp and hair health.
Mythbusting: Braids & Hair Growth
But unfortunately, braiding hair does not speed up growth rate. Your hair grows at a rate determined by genetics, while lifestyle factors like your diet and stress levels can cause thinning and breakage. But the way you wear your hair is not a factor in your hair growth rate.
To keep your hair healthy, Harris says you should wash your braids every two to three weeks.
Remember that tight or heavy braids can cause tension on your scalp and hair, leading to breakage or discomfort. Additionally, braids can become frizzy or lose their shape overnight if you're not careful.