Best Protective Hairstyles For Sleeping 2023

Are you tired of waking up to messy, tangled hair every morning? Do you want to protect your hair while you sleep and wake up with perfect locks? Look no further than protective hairstyles for sleeping! Whether you’re wearing hair extensions – clip-in hair extensions or permanent extensions for example – you should know that you will need to pay a little more attention to anything that happens to your hair in order to preserve them. Protective hairstyles not only keep your hair in place while you toss and turn, but they also prevent breakage and damage caused by friction against your pillowcase. In this blog, we’ll discuss the best protective hairstyles for sleeping in 2023 that will keep your hair looking healthy and beautiful.

I. Protective Hairstyles For Sleeping: What Is A Protective Hairstyle?

A protective hairstyle is a style that is designed to minimize the amount of manipulation, friction, and tension that your hair is subjected to, in order to prevent damage and breakage. These styles are typically low-maintenance and long-lasting, and they can be worn for several days at a time. Protective hairstyles can include braids, twists, buns, and other styles that keep the ends of your hair tucked away and protected from the elements. By keeping your hair in a protective style, you can reduce the risk of split ends, breakage, and other types of damage that can occur from everyday wear and tear. Additionally, protective styles can help your hair retain moisture, which can prevent dryness and breakage.

Read Now: How To Sleep With Hair Extensions

II. How To Prep Your Hair For A Protective Sleep Hairstyle?

First things first, never ever sleep with wet hair when possible: sleeping with wet hair can lead to many problems for your scalp, such as fungal infections, skin irritation, itchiness, dryness, and dandruff.

As if this was not enough to convince you to stop sleeping with wet hair, I should also mention that it promotes hair breakage. Ideally, you should let your hair air-dry (to avoid heat damage), then apply your overnight hair serum or hair oil, massage your scalp, and go to bed.

Now, let’s talk about your bed: have you ever thought of investing in a new pillowcase?

Silk or satin pillowcases not only feel heavenly on your hair and skin: the smooth texture prevents hair breakage caused by friction (something that can happen with cotton pillowcases, which are rougher in texture). What’s more? Ah, yes, sleeping on a silk pillowcase can also help prevent wrinkles and the build-up of dust mites, fungus, mold, and a whole lot of other common allergens.

Last but not least, using a sleep cap is also a good investment. Not everyone feels comfortable sleeping with something covering their head, but if you’re not bothered by the idea or simply would like to try it, a silk or satin sleep cap could be that extra measure that completely changes your hair game whilst you get your beauty sleep. If your hair goes from wavy to curly, a sleeping satin cap will help you minimize frizz too. Find out more about what frizzy hair is in our blog“What Causes Frizzy Hair & How To Prevent Frizzy Hair?” and how to tame it in our blog “8 Ways To Tame And Get Rid Of Frizzy Hair”.

III. The Best Protective Hairstyle For Sleeping

Did you know that many protective hairstyles for sleeping are also heatless overnight styling methods? When tucking your hair in or braiding always remember to avoid wearing hairstyles too tightly as that may cause traction alopecia if worn for extended periods of time, and the pulling may irritate your scalp – leading to flaky scalp and itchiness. Ready to go? Let’s explore the best protective hairstyles for straight-to-wavy hair.

1. Protective Hairstyles For Sleeping: The Classic Plait

This is the most basic braid you could imagine, obtained by intertwining three separate strands of hair and tying at the end with a hair tie or, in some cases, a ribbon. The classic plait is a great protective hairstyle for sleeping. Not only is it easy to do, but it also helps to keep your hair in place while you sleep, preventing tangles and breakage.

Here’s how to create a classic plait:

Start by brushing your hair to remove any tangles.
Divide your hair into three equal sections.
Cross the right section over the middle section, then cross the left section over the middle section. Continue this pattern until you reach the end of your hair.
Secure the end of the plait with a hair tie.

2. Protective Hairstyles For Sleeping: Two French Braids

Two French braids are another great protective hairstyle for sleeping. Similar to the classic plait, the French braid starts closer to your scalp and goes down adding pieces of hair to its body on its way to the nape of your neck. This hairstyle helps to keep your hair in place and prevent tangles and breakage, while also creating a beautiful and effortless look.

Here’s how to create two French braids:

3. Protective Hairstyles For Sleeping: The Low Ponytail

Probably the easiest, most effortless protective hairstyle for sleeping of them all. A low ponytail is a simple hairstyle to keep your locks all in one place, although this doesn’t offer much protection to your ends unless you tuck them in with a second hair tie. It helps to keep your hair in place and prevent tangles and breakage, while also being easy to create.

4. Protective Hairstyles For Sleeping: Space Buns

Space buns are a cute and fun protective hairstyle for sleeping. This hairstyle helps to keep your hair in place and prevent tangles and breakage, while also creating a trendy and playful look. Space buns are usually two smaller buns sitting on top of your head. They are often worn with tendrils hanging down the one’s cheekbones.

Here’s how to create space buns:

5. Protective Hairstyles For Sleeping: Fishtail Braids

This is not the easiest hairstyle to do at home, and it honestly looks so pretty that it almost hurts doing it just for the sake of going to bed (I mean, obviously you can use it for a night out too, but you know what I mean!). The fishtail braid resembles a French braid in its smoothly woven appearance – however, it only divides the hair into two sections instead of three.

Here, Kayley Melissa shows us her technique to achieve a loose but elegant fishtail braid.

6. Protective Hairstyles For Sleeping: Rope Twisted Braid

This is the ideal protective hairstyle for long hair, as it allows you to have control not only on your ends but along the whole length of your tresses. On top of that, it will leave you with soft, textured, wavy hair in the morning. What’s not to love?

To create a twisted rope braid, all you need to do is first separate your hair into two sections – then grab one section of hair and twist. Repeat the process with the other section: once you’re done, grab your two sections and twist them together – forming a rope of hair.

IV. Conclusion

We hope you found this guide entertaining, informative, and – most importantly, useful! Which one was your favorite? Have you tried these protective hairstyles before? If you post your results on Instagram do not hesitate in tagging us. We love seeing your results!

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