You know when your hair looks like you’ve been wrestling with your pillow all night? Well, turns out you actually have been. But while you’re dreaming away, your hair is going through a lot of friction with your pillow.
What if you are deep in REM sleep, and your hair follicles are working overtime? Your hair follicles follow a circadian rhythm just like the rest of your body. During nighttime, cell division in hair follicles peaks between 1-3 AM.
This means your hair grows faster while you sleep, but only if you give it the right environment to thrive. Let’s see here what environment your hair needs during the night.
What’s Happening At Midnight
Every single night, you are unknowingly subjecting your precious strands. The friction from cotton pillowcases creates microscopic tears in the hair cuticle.
But wait, it gets worse. If you sleep with wet hair, you’re asking for trouble. Wet hair is in its most vulnerable state – the hydrogen bonds that give hair its structure are temporarily broken. So when you toss and turn with damp hair, you’re stretching and snapping strands.
Women who regularly sleep with tight hairstyles show signs of hair thinning around the hairline within just six months.
Your Scalp’s Production During Night
While you’re counting sheep, your scalp is busy producing natural oil that either makes your hair look gorgeous or greasy. This isn’t necessarily bad news for people who do hair care at night. Sebum is nature’s conditioner, packed with essential fatty acids and antioxidants.
However, if you don’t distribute it properly, it will start making your hair look oily by morning, leaving your ends parched and brittle.
The temperature fluctuations during sleep also play a massive role. As your body temperature drops during deep sleep stages, blood circulation to your scalp decreases.
The Night Hair Care Routine You Should Start
Let’s talk about the night hair care routine you need.
Step 1: Pre-Sleep Scalp Massage
A few minutes of scalp massage before bed increased hair thickness over weeks.
For night time hair care, use your fingertips and work in small circles from your hairline to the nape of your neck. You can also add a few drops of rosemary oil mixed with jojoba oil.
Step 2: Brush Out
Check one of the best night hair care tips that you can brush to distribute. Start with a boar bristle brush and brush from roots to ends in long, smooth strokes.
This redistributes that sebum from your scalp down the hair shaft. Gentle strokes, and always work from the bottom up if you get into tangles.
Step 3: Protection
Forget everything you’ve heard about sleeping with your hair down. Loose braids or a silk scrunchie positioned high on your head can reduce friction. This is one of the simplest overnight hair care methods to prevent tangles.
Take small sections of hair and twist them loosely, then clip them up with small claw clips all over your head. Maybe it won’t look good, but it keeps your hair off your face, reduces tangling, and maintains volume at the roots.
Step 4: Silk Pillows Use
Silk pillowcases reduce friction if we compare them with cotton. Anything lighter than silk won’t benefit you, and anything heavier can trap heat and moisture.
The Weekly Treatments You Need In Your Night Hair Care Routine
A protein treatment if your hair feels mushy when wet, or a deep moisture mask if it feels straw-like. You can also apply treatments 2 hours before bed allows for better penetration as your scalp temperature rises during the initial sleep stages.
Your hair cuticles will naturally open slightly during the temperature fluctuations if you have done the right night hair routine.
The Bottom Line
Your night hair care routine is more than just a beauty ritual- it’s an investment in healthier, stronger, and shinier hair. While you rest, the right steps like gentle detangling, nourishing oils, protective hairstyles, and even switching to a silk or satin pillowcase can work wonders.
Eight hours of friction, tossing and turning, cotton pillowcases stealing moisture, all these can ruin your natural texture. The right night hair care routine shared above can be used to avoid this.
