Going to sleep with your curls without having a protective head wrap equals waking up to a head of unruly and frizzy curls. Wrapping your beautiful curls prevents that and keeps the curls looking cute! There are various ways and techniques to wrap curly hair at night.
How to Wrap Curly Hair at Night
Prepare your curls for wrapping by spritzing water or leave-in conditioner on the hair to keep it moisturized and minimize frizz. Here are a few practical ways to wrap your curls:
1. Wrapping with a Silk or Satin Scarf
There’s not one way to wrap your curls with a silk or satin scarf; the first and most common technique to look at is the pineapple method.
This method is pretty easy; to do this, take the satin or silk scarf, stretch it out and connect the opposite ends forming a triangle; now that’s done, flip your hair upside down.
Give your hair a shake, and ensure the short hairs at the back are not sticking out. Next, drape the silk or satin scarf over your head with the ends pointed out, take the ends and secure a knot at the front; take those ends to the nape of the neck and make a knot. You would find that your curls are sticking out in the front like a very high ponytail
If you aren’t comfortable with that or your curls getting in your face, you could tuck it either putting it in a loose bun and clip or twisting the satin or silk piece hanging over the curls and tucking it underneath the side of the wrap or the knot at the front.
And, if you are wondering why silk or satin, that’s because of the soft and smooth surface they possess; it allows for curls to retain moisture and prevent hair breakage and damage that could occur from the tossing and turning or laying on the hair because the hair strands glide through the surface, theses no pulling or tugging as would be in a cotton sheet or surface.
Another technique would be to spread out a silk scarf at the nape of your neck, take the two sides resting on your shoulder and make a knot at the front of your head. Take the scarf, ensuring it covers your hair, and loop the top piece in and tighten; take the ends to the back and secure by making a knot.
Here’s another technique to try out; first, put your hair in a loose bun at the crown of your head or lower. Take a scarf, and bring the two ends together, forming a triangle. Place the scarf over your head, making sure the triangular point is at the center; take the two sides at the back and make a knot over the middle piece; next, bring the side pieces to the front and knot again.
2. Wrapping with a Silk or Satin Bonnet
Wrapping your hair up in a silk or satin bonnet will preserve your curls and keep them looking fresh. To wrap your hair up in a bonnet, flip your hair forward and slide the bonnet through the nape of your neck; gently tuck your curls to get them all in.
For longer-haired, use a larger bonnet; you could also split your hair into two sections, loosely twist and place it on the crown of your head and position your bonnet over it. If you are worried about finding the bonnet on the bed floor when you wave, you could clip the sides with a bobby pin or drape a silk or satin scarf over it.
3. Wrapping with a T-shirt
Get a long-sleeved light t-shirt, position it on a bed or a comfortable surface area, and when that’s done. Flip your hair forward; this method can be done on wet and dry curls; plopping your curls minimizes frizz and gives curls more volume and definition.
Place the t-shirts at the nape of the neck, same as the pineapple method with the long sleeves at the sides; take those sleeves and make a knot at the front over the middle pieces, go over to the back with the sleeves and secure with a knot.
This process gives the curls enough room to move around, and using softer clothing reduces friction done to the strands translating to less frizz and a beautiful head of curls.
4. Wrapping Braids in a Silk or Satin Bonnet
Doing some braids before going off to bed protects the curls at night, and you wake up with more volume and defined curls.
The braids or twists don’t have to be anything profound; start by dividing your hair into four parts, take a section, split it into three, and begin braiding by putting one piece over the other.
For a twist, take a section and divide it into two, and twist by placing one piece over the other. You could also do some Bantu knots, which is a pretty straightforward process; take a section, twist, and wrap it on the scalp creating a knot or small bun secured with a bobby pin.
After this braiding process, wrap braids in a silk or satin bonnet. This would help prevent moisture loss and frizziness because our cotton sheets absorb moisture due to their rough surface area.
5. Pin Curls in a Silk Wrap
To begin this process, sectioning your hair into smaller bits would be best. Take a section, and wrap it around your fingers; take your fingers out, flatten the section on your head, and secure it with a clip or bobby pins. This process keeps your curls intact; drape a silk scarf or bonnet over the pinned curls using the above techniques.
Benefits of Wrapping Hair at Night
There are so many advantages to wrapping your curls before going to sleep. One of which is it keeps hair hydrated. Curly hair is textured and naturally prone to dryness due to the oval-shaped cuticle; the strands find it challenging to stay hydrated.
So, after preparing and caring for our hair at night, giving it some love with treatments and products. It would all go to waste without a head wrap because of the tossing and turning throughout the night; the cotton sheet would sap out the moisture, but a silk or satin head wrap prevents that from happening while keeping hair healthy.
Another benefit is it keeps your style intact; wrapping your hair helps to keep your hairstyle looking good. Not after spending time and money getting a sleek hairdo, it becomes messy and not so cute the next day; none of us curlies want that.
Due to the reduced friction between the silk or satin wrap and the hair, there’s reduced tangling, which could have been present if it were a cotton sheet, where the hair strands brush and collide.
You might wonder what’s the difference between a silk and satin scarf or bonnet; they both have a smoother surface area. The only difference is silk is much more expensive, and satin is what you go for when you want cheap. Silk has a luxury feel and is a natural fiber, and satin is a synthetic fiber.