For as long as I can remember, I’ve struggled with persistent bedhead. Every morning, without fail, my hair is a mess of uneven waves, tangles, and frizz. Despite my best efforts to painstakingly blow-dry and flatiron after washing my hair, sleeping with my tresses in every type of hair paraphernalia from scrunchies to clips, I eventually resigned myself to the fact that I’d have to spare at least a half hour each morning to restyle my locks. After consulting everyone from my hair stylist to my friends, and, of course, the internet, I decided to purchase a silk pillowcase, buying into the promise of being able to wake up and walk out the door with a confident flip of my still silky hair. After two weeks of sleeping on silk, here’s what I found.
After my usual routine of showering and blow-drying my hair, I typically sleep with my hair in a high ponytail loosely secured by a retro scrunchie. Yet, in the morning, I usually have to re-straighten a wavy head of hair. As I laid down on my fresh and luxuriously smooth silk pillowcase, I crossed my fingers that I’d be able to get away with a quick brush-and-go the following morning. When I saw my reflection the next day after rolling out of bed, I was definitely disappointed to see that my hair had once again tangled itself into a creased and wavy mess.
Not willing to abandon my experiment in overnight hair care, I decided to test the silk pillowcase again, this time, sleeping with my long hair down, and bracing for a potentially heinous hairdo in the morning. The results? As usual, my bedhead made its daily appearance, frizz, tangles, and all.
So, was it just my hair’s texture that I was battling? Or was the silk pillowcase not worth the hype? I decided to give it one more chance, and have my roommate, Nicole, test drive it for the night as well. Nicole has similarly wavy hair like mine but doesn’t usually suffer the same severe bedhead I deal with on a daily basis. After a night sleeping on the silk pillowcase, though, Nicole was already ready to switch back to cotton.
“When I woke up I went to the mirror and my hair was knotted in the back with a crease in the middle of my hair. It took me a half hour to re-straighten my hair,” Nicole said, claiming that the pillowcase had actually increased the time she had to dedicate to her morning hair routine.
All in all, while I enjoyed the smooth texture of the silk pillowcase, I definitely think I’ll be switching back to classic cotton. As for my hair, I’ll just have to keep searching for the miracle cure to my chronic case of bedhead.
What are your tips for waking up with runway ready hair? Let us know in the comments below.
Featured photo by Jordyn Wissert.
