Maintaining my natural hair overnight was another difficult hump in my natural hair journey. It sounds like a simple thing to do, which it is, but you need the right routine in place. It wasn’t enough for me to just throw a bonnet on at night because most time I still lost moisture, shape, and even my curl pattern. Your nighttime routine depends on your hair needs and length. Personally, I like as little manipulation in the morning so I tend to do what I have to do the night before.
My major hair concern is keeping my hair moisturized. Once my hair is moisturized, it allows me to wear the style longer, keep my curls intact, and minimize breakage. With that being said, here is my nighttime routine for my three go-to styles and why it’s important.
Wash n’ Go’s
The typical nighttime routine for a wash n’ go style is to put your hair in a pineapple. Basically, bringing all your hair to the top middle portion of your head and securing it with a silk/satin ponytail holder. If you’re like me then your hair isn’t long enough to achieve the pineapple style, so what do you do?
I section my hair naturally into 4-6 sections. When separating your hair you want to separate it without tension or any forced parts. Regardless of the style, you should see natural breaks/parts in your hair. Follow that and create your sections. Next, I take my satin/silk scrunchies and proceed to the banding method. The banding method is a simple way to stretch your hair and can somewhat serve as an overnight protective style. When using the banding method, all you have to do is use ponytail holders to gently stretch the hair by holding the curls in an elongated position as they dry. So as you wrap the ponytail holder around your hair you should start at the root and carry the hair tie all the way to the end of your hair. It doesn’t have to super tight or neat, that is completely up to you.
This not only stretches your hair, but it protects it and makes it easier to manage the next day. All you have to do is remove your hair ties, fluff, and go.
Tip: Band your hair the way you want your hair to look. So if you want a side or a middle part, do it that way at night. If you don’t want any parts, band a portion of your hair towards the front of your head. After that, tie-down your hair with a satin/silk scarf, bonnet, or both.
Braid And Twist Outs
When it comes to twist and braid outs, I like to either retwist or rebraid my hair at night. I know some of you reading this is saying girl, no. Honestly, this is the best way for me to protect and maintain moisture in my hair overnight.
If my hair needs remoisturizing then I’ll do that first, check out my video on How I Re-moisturize My Hair At Night. Then, I create 4-6 medium-sized braids/twists —it’s really simple. Doing this will help your style last longer, minimize breakage, and keep moisture locked in.
Tip: If you need to remoisturize your hair water is optional. Also, doing bigger braids/twists will save more time. After that, tie-down your hair with a satin/silk scarf, bonnet, or both.
Watch my video on How I Maintain My Hair At Night: