When I used relaxers I made certain to either wrap my hair each night to protect my hair from breakage, as well as keep my ends “bent” the length of my hair flat and straight. If I didn’t wrap my hair, I slept on a satin pillow case which allows hair to “slide” over it instead of “snag” on it like cotton does. The result of taking this precaution was always smooth and tangle free hair, less breakage and virtually no split ends. When I made the switch to the naptural side of life, I foolishly ditched the wrap because I naively assumed my natural tresses were much stronger than when they were chemically altered, and as long as I treated them with loving care and proper products, my adopted night time protective routine could go the way of the buffalo. I mean, the purpose of wrapping your hair at night was simply to keep it sleek, right? And aint nothing non-sleeker than my hair in its natural state so… no need for the wrap, right? I could not have been more wrong!
Although tightly coiled hair may give the appearance of being strong and less susceptible to damage, this assumption couldn’t be further from the truth. In actuality, Black hair in its natural state (coiled and/or kinky) is actually very fragile because it has less medulla and cortex protecting cuticles than straight hair (the more coiled, the more fragile). So while it may appear rough or coarse when the strands are densely packed, each individual strand itself is actually more prone to breakage and damage than any other hair type. For this reason, importance is always stressed on proper conditioning, moisturization and the use of protective styles such as braids, twists or locs to keep the hair healthy when being natural by day, but very little is said about what to do with your hair, even while it is in these protective styles, when it’s time to call it a night. Well after a couple of months going by with me noticing an abundance of frayed ends, frizzy shafts and a large amount of shedding (way more than what my hair normally does), and knowing I’ve done everything I possibly can to keep my hair healthy (regular end trims, keeping it clean and well nourished), the only logical explanation for my malady was sleeping “open headed” on cotton pillow cases every night. Eureka!
What most of us don’t realize is, it is not the shaft of the hair that needs the most attention, its the root and the ends that do. Dry and damaged roots cause hair loss at the scalp and frayed, dry ends cause the shaft of the hair to unravel, split and break all the way up its length. We all know keeping a moisturized and healthy scalp contributes to strong roots, and that keeping your ends trimmed and moisturized prevents splits, but because I wear Puffs most often when I sleep, the constant rubbing of my ends against the pillowcase encouraged fraying and dryness (remember, cotton is absorbent) was undoing all my good care intentions. In addition to those rough looking ends which required constant trimming, because the cuticle of the hair gets snagged on the material of the cotton pillowcase, there was very little I could do about the frizzy appearance of the strands, no matter my day time routine. With all that going on, it only seemed logical that a return to wrapping my hair at night was the only solution, and so it has been my mission to do so every night… or as often as I can remember. *lol*
Wrapping the hair at night is especially important for the transitioner, who is working with two hair types and a line of demarcation where those two types meet, because even those protective styles (short of full weaves or wigs) can’t fully protect your hair from the effects of sleep damage. Satin wraps, bonnets and pillowcases are relative inexpensive to procure from your friendly neighbourhood beauty supply store, or if you’re handy, you can purchase the materials from your local craft store and manufacture your own! It’s the perfect way to build healthy hair… in your sleep!
Healthy Hair Wishes,
