A common thing I hear and see others say on the internet is that it is impossible to wash your wavy hair at night. This is simply not true. In fact, my best hair days tend to be when I shower at night! So if you’re wanting to know how to get great results when you shower at night….listen up!
but first, a quick disclaimer
I have fairly thick wavy hair. It’s not as thick as before having two kids, but it is still definitely “thick wavy hair.” My hair takes a very long time to dry, and I think that’s why my method works so well for me. Because when I wash my hair in the morning, it takes until evening to be dry….or even the next morning still! So that is to say, if your hair dries really fast, this method probably won’t work the same (but PLEASE let us know if you try it with finer hair!)
okay, and one more quick thing before we begin….I do not advise doing this every night. That may cause scalp irritation and other issues. I only do this on wash days (well, wash nights) which is approximately every 4 nights.
tip 1: rinse your hair with cool water at the end
This is really helpful anytime, but I find it helps keep frizz at bay overnight. The cool water helps close up the hair shaft, which prevents that frizz.
tip 2: Use only a light product before putting it up
My go to is a leave in spray like this one, or Devacurl B’Leave in.
I simply spray in 3-4 sprays (focus on the mid lengths to ends) or a couple of pumps and then wrap my hair up in a microfiber turbie twist.
tip 3: wrap your hair tight to your head
by keeping your hair tighter, you maintain some of the moisture. In my experience, you do not want to wake up with dry hair. You need a bit of dampness to maintain any clumps of waves. Again, a microfiber turbie twist is seriously the easiest thing for this! This also helps with the next item…
tip 4: sleep still
okay, this may be the most challenging part. I am a fairly still sleeper by nature, but the more still you sleep, the less frizz you’ll get. Keeping your hair wrapped tight in that turbie twist or t-shirt should help with this too!
tip 5: Work with hair damp
If you wake up with dry hair, you’ll need to get it a bit damp. I suggest a spray bottle, but wetting your hands and very lightly scrunching can work too. Adding in products dry can leave you crunchy.
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tip 6: Clip in the morning (if you do that)
If you prefer to clip your roots (I’ll have a post on how I do that soon!). Do that immediately after adding product. If you diffuse, that will get you on your way faster. Otherwise, my triceratops root clipping is a simple way to get volume.
tip 7: treat the morning like a simple refresh day
My favorite part about showering at night is that is makes my product routine nearly identical every day. So please go read my 2 minute refresh to see exactly how I apply products in the morning. The difference for me after washing is that I have established clumps, but the definition isn’t set (because there is no product in the hair!). The method is the same though!
tip 8: if new, keep mousse handy
As with all things wavy hair, the key is to find what works best for you. So as you work with this new technique, I suggest keeping a mousse with you (this travel sized option is great to keep in a purse). Then if you find yourself getting frizzy, simply add a little water and mousse to your hair. Again, the technique in the 2 minute refresh should help with this. At my office, I kept a bottle of mousse in a drawer. Here are 7 great ones to try!
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Do you put any products in your hair or just your leave-in? I need to put my product in when my hair is saturated to maintain my clumps (bc they’re only there when they’re full of water & lots of conditioner). So I can’t add mousse or gel once it’s damp because those clumps are typically gone. (Admittedly, I’ve never plopped overnight, so can’t say if the clumps would be gone. But if plopping without products, my hair loses its clumps and goes stringy.)
Hey Rachel! I’d encourage you to give it a try! Maybe on a day where you have have a backup hair plan though in case it’s not your fave. This way helps me keep my clumps the best, regardless of if I start off product free, only a leave in, or add a gel etc. I change things up constantly, but most often I will plop overnight with a leave in like B’Leave in or NYMN Tonic … hope that helps! 🙂 -Rachel
I actually love what happens to my hair when I wash it at night! I have high porosity/fine/high density/2A-2B hair. I do a full on CG wash and style 1-2 hours before I tuck in for the night and let it air dry. I cover my pillow with a satin scarf and go to sleep. I move a bit in my sleep which seems to do a great job of scrunching out the crunch. In the morning all I have to do is flip my head over, fluff my roots, et voila! Soft beachy waves! I’m still pretty new to the CG method so there might be a better routine out there but I love the results!
Hooray!! I personally love my waves best at night too! Satin scarfs are lovely and glad you love yours. Do you use a gel to style? If you like your method, definitely stick with it! I started writing out mine because it seemed like there were too many “rules” that didn’t work well for me. Thanks for sharing your routine! -Rachel
I use Pantene’s curl mousse! I would love to experiment with the LA Looks Gel since it’s so cheap and I hear awesome things about it (and it doesn’t have polyquats – which I think are building up on my hair) but the curl mousse was the first thing I grabbed and it works very well! Thanks for your encouragement – this hair journey is so fun. And I’m so glad you started this blog! I DEFINITELY have wavy hair, but I’m not sure I’ll ever get past a 2B and I was starting to be frustrated by all the wavy posts and insta accounts out there showing gals with 2C/3A patterns. I mean, they have gorgeous hair and all but I wanted a little more variety, you know? 😀
I used that stuff about 12 years ago! I remember it being very crunchy with very strong hold. That’s great to hear about Pantene’s mousse because I’m almost completely out! Definitely know what you mean, all the wavy hair types need some love! -Rachel
Thank you so much for your tips and explanations wavy hair! I’m a 2a/b who always loved how my hair looked when wet, but my hair would go mostly straight when it dried. I also like to was my hair at night. I really appreciate the turbie twist step; I have one but really didn’t know how to use it for waves. I’m going to purchase the mouses you recommended (thanks for the low cost options!)To use what I already have, I’d like to ask a couple of questions:
I’m allergic to chamomile so can’t use Deva Curl. I’ve been using Kenra curl defining creme, but wonder if that will be too heavy to sleep in. And I really needed your refresh tips. Would John Frieda curl defining mouse or dream curls wave enhancer work for the refresher or in the turbie twist? Thank you?
Hi there! So glad this could be helpful 🙂 I need to update this post to reflect that allwavyhair does not support Devacurl at this time due to the alleged hair loss and alleged damaged wave patterns experienced by Devacurl users. The Kenra curl define cream does contain a lot of silicones, so I wouldn’t recommend using it for awhile as you try these night routines. Since some wavies are fine with cones, don’t throw it away just yet! I’m not sure about the other two products you’ve mentioned, but typically a wave enhancer can’t be used alone to refresh. You want a product with a bit of hold. Depending on how fine/coarse your hair is you may want to use both! IF just one of the two you’ve listed, start with just the mousse. Hope that helps too! -Rachel
I have used a turbie twist literally my entire life, but I have only recently discovered that I have wavy hair and am just getting into the CG method (or a hybrid really, since I have extremely oily scalp but very healthy non-frizzy hair). When you say you sleep in yours, do you mean the conventional way with your hair twisted up in it? Or do you mean you plop it all up in the top of it?
Exciting! Welcome to the wavy hair community 🙂 I do sleep with it in the twist as they are “normally” used (just be sure it’s microfiber!), OR plopping in a cotton tshirt 🙂
-Rachel