Life
Back in high school, I got up extra early every morning to wash, condition, dry, and straighten my waist-length hair. It was the sort of Herculean styling effort that did not follow me into adulthood. These days, when adulting takes up most of my time, I’m happy to go to bed with wet hair and take five minutes (max) to style it in the mornings. Although this is a great way to t save time in the mornings, there are a few things to know about going to bed with wet hair.
There are a few precautions you might want to take so as not to ruin your locks or waking up with an unmanageable mess. For starters, not all hair types respond well to sleeping on it damp. By knowing your hair type and your own routine, you can learn how to successfully sleep on a head of wet hair without doing much damage.
To learn more about going to bed with wet hair, I contacted Brooke Jordan Hunt, the owner and head stylist at Brooklyn-based salon, The Bird House. She reassured me that sleeping on damp hair is a fantastic time-saver as long as you take a few steps to create the best end result.
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Throwing Wet Hair In A Bun Adds Waves
"I often suggest to people to put their hair in a series of small twisty buns to get a more consistent wave,"she says, adding that you can use a wand in the morning to make the waves pop. She does , however, caution against putting in the elastic too tightly, which can increase the risk of breakage in fragile hair.
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Braiding Wet Hair Adds Texture
As Today demonstrates, sleeping in different types of braids can give your hair cool textures. And adding a bit of oil before you braid can help keep those strands extra-smooth.
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Sleeping With Wet Hair Isn't For Every One
"For those with straight hair, it can also be really useful, because you can get some curl out of it that you might not otherwise have," Hunt says. She also notes that the technique works for women with wavy hair, but that if they wake up with an unrily mane they should dampen it and add some product. The only people Hunt would advise against sleeping on wet hair is those with curls. "Often times, the hair can turn out pretty flattened and frizzy," she says. "You'll need to fully wet it again in the morning."
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Sleeping With Wet Hair Can Lead To Better Zs
As explained by Glamour, sleeping with wet hair may help release body heat. Because most people sleep more easily as their internal body temperature drops, you may hasten the cooling effect, and drop off to sleep more quickly, with damp hair.
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Sleeping With Wet Hair Won't Make You Sick
If you're worried that wet hair will make you catch a cold, rest easy: colds are caused by a virus, so just damp hair won't increase your odds of sickness, as Health explains. As long as the temperatures in your bedroom aren't low enough to induce hypothermia, you should be fine.
Images: Stephenie Schukraft / Flickr; Giphy (5)
