The further I get into my ShamPHree journey, the more I understand the importance of protection to healthy hair. Especially since I am growing out my hair.

While we sleep, our hair is at the whim of our restless dream induced thrashings. You may not believe it, but this is a lot of wear and tear! With protective overnight styles, we can both protect our hair, and encourage it to act right when we wake up in the morning!

Lately, I have been experimenting more with letting my hair be it’s wild curly self. Generally, it looks great the first day, but by the 2nd day it is a huge mess unless I re-wet and style it. This is where I learned the art of Pineapple-ing. And yes, It works. So well, in fact, that it inspired this post;)

These techniques are designed for all hair types. Let me show you my 4 favorite ways to protect my hair while I sleep.

How to wake up with happy hair

First one is a simple, loose braid. This is great for soft styles and waves. It is nice on finer hair because it protects it from overnight breakage, and leaves you with some movement and body. It can be used on medium to long hair. Just do a loose braid and secure the end with a tear-free elastic. You can do this one on wet or dry hair.

The second one is the Pineapple. This one is perfect for curly hair or all lengths. All it is is a very loose ponytail on top of the head with a scrunchy! Then, fan all the hair out around the scrunchy so it looks like the top of a pineapple and hit the hay. Wake up to relatively intact curls! This one is best done on dry hair.

Next one is my personal favorite, the high twisted bun. I use this one when my hair is damp and I want it to dry while I sleep without getting all crazy on me. I take all my hair on top of my head and loosely twist it into a bun and secure it with a scrunchy, not too tight. I wake up with surprisingly polished waves and body in my hair. This one is great for all lengths and textures.

The last one is a good old head scarf. This one is great for shorter curly and wavy hair textures and allows you to wear your hair curly for days on end without re-wetting or re-styling! I take a large square scarf and fold it in half diagonally. Then, I arrange my hair how I like it, and wrap the two long ends of the scarf gently around my head and tie them in the front. Then I flip the point of the triangle over the top of my hair and tie or tuck it in the front with the first tie. It makes a nice secure but not-too tight bonnet.

Try these methods out and I think you will find that it takes time out of your morning hair routine, and keeps your ends from breaking. What are your tricks for protective overnight styling?  Please share!

XOXO, HTHG