French Braid Your Hair For Sleep

So, one of my coworkers at Sally Beauty Supply enlightened me to a cool new idea the other night. She said that I should wear your hair in a French braid while sleeping. It’s supposed to keep your hair really healthy and help it grow longer, which seemed a little weird at first until she explained it. I decided to write a post about why French braiding your hair for sleep is a good idea.

1. Scalp Stimulation

When you braid your hair, you are gently pulling your hair tight and this stimulates the scalp. Stimulating your scalp circulates blood flow to your hair follicles, which, in turn, promotes a  healthier scalp. A healthier scalp equals faster hair growth. While hair is in the Anagen phase (the growing phase), growth cells in the papilla rapidly divide and produce the hair shaft which becomes keratinized as it pushes up and out the follicle, into the pore. At the same time, the follicle grows down into the deeper levels of the dermis (skin) to get nourishment. It makes sense that increased blood flow would help speed this process up a little. I’m not saying that you are going to wake up the next morning with hair down to your butt, but it may add a little boost.

2. Hair Protection

I’m the type of person that moves around a lot at night. As you can imagine, this wreaks havoc on my hair. When I wake up in the morning, I have the craziest hair; it sticks up everywhere, and the only way to salvage it is to wash it. This situation is not really ideal since I am not a morning person. I would prefer to shower at night and save myself the extra time in the morning. Keeping your hair in a tight braid prevents your hair from getting all out of control while sleeping.

It also protects your hair from any damage that may be caused by moving around. If you think about it, maybe you are sleeping on your hair. If you try to move, you may rip part of your hair (especially if it is damaged). That may be a bad example for many people, but it is feasible for me, as I share a bed with my boyfriend husband, two dogs and a cat. My space is pretty limited, so there’s always a chance that someone is sleeping on my hair. Not to mention, my cat loves to attack my hair, which can’t be good. Keeping my hair in a braid will keep it safe from the potential damage.

3. Eliminate Hair-Tie Breakage

I really hate having my hair in my face while I sleep, so I usually put my hair up in a ponytail. The problem with ponytails, is that the hair-tie can cause breakage if placed in the same section every day. Therefore, if I wear my hair in the exact same ponytail every night, the hair-tie will cause breakage over time.

Braiding your hair will eliminate the breakage from the ponytail. Although, you do need to use a hair-tie to tie off your braid, you can vary where you wear it. Some nights you can braid your hair further down, and others you can tie it off at the nape of your neck.

The last thing I want to mention is that it is better to braid your hair when it is dry. Wet hair might be too tight, causing strain on your hair, which leads to more breakage.

Do you braid your hair at night? Do you have any more tips to add? I’d love to read your feedback in the comments section below.