For years I would go to bed, laying directly on my hair without a second thought of what it would look like in the morning. When I woke up the next day, I’d have what’s commonly referred to as “bed head”- – tangles galore and hair so dry that it could double for a pot cleaner. What’s that called again? A brillo pad! Whenever I went to bed without attending to my hair, I’d tell myself, “I’ll deal with it in the morning.” I was either too tired or too lazy to take the few extra minutes needed to deal with my hair. Not good.
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You’d think I’d learn from the day in and day out experience right? Well, why should I? My hair was relaxed and I never really cared if it got long. It was a decent length (although stuck at that length) and as long as it wasn’t frizzy when I was done un-bedheading, it was all good.
Sound familiar?
The problem with that train of thought, is the bad habit of going to bed on naked, unprotected hair is a habit that’s hard to break. Then, bed head occurs and you’re stuck with a tangled, matted mess. A vicious bed head cycle!
After going natural over 7 years ago, I also decided I wanted to see how long my hair would grow. When you do decide you want to gain some length, you can’t just go to sleep on your hair without securing and protecting it. You’ll get bed head and thwart all of your efforts for long luxurious progress. Here’s why-
- Going to bed with uncovered hair leads to bed head which leads to moisture deprivation. Whatever moisture is in your hair is rapidly sucked out and depleted throughout the night (with all of that tossing and turning on your cotton pillowcase) leaving you with dry hair that’s prone to breakage.
- Bed head hair is tangled hair. Tangled hair needs to be untangled. If detangling is something you have to do daily, you’re also over-manipulating your hair. This increases the likelihood of mechanical damage and thus, breakage.
The reason you aren’t retaining length is breakage. Your hair is breaking as fast as it’s growing (and in some cases, more). Hair breakage is caused by many reasons: illness, medication, over-manipulating the hair, dryness and damage.
Allowing yourself to get bed head results in over-manipulation, dryness, and/or damage. These can be prevented. All that’s required is a little time, diligence and some TLC for your hair!
