Wake up with your best hair day ever thanks to these nighttime routines

February 25, 2020 at 12:00AM by CWC

Prepping your skin at night can help you wake up looking and feeling rejuvenated and hydrated, and the same can be said for your hair. I have super dry, coarse, and kinky hair that I wear straight. At night, I apply a leave-in conditioner and oils so my hair is moisturized and ready for heat styling. Lindsay Victoria, stylist at Spoke&Weal hair salon in Los Angeles, says establishing a nighttime hair routine creates a healthier foundation for styling the next day.

“To create the style you’re looking for, or to help control your hair texture, having a nighttime styling ritual will help create a more efficient morning,” says Victoria. “You’re able to touch up your style that has been setting over night, verses spending too much time in front of the mirror the next day.”

What you include in your nighttime hair routine is dependent on your hair type. Someone with oily hair is not going to want to sleep with the oils and lotions someone with dry, coarse hair uses. To help you tailor your nighttime hair routine, read through the expert tips below.

What you should incorporate into your nighttime hair routine, depending on your hair type

1. Coarse kinky hair

ADVERTISEMENT

“Coarse, kinky hair is always seeking moisture from the atmosphere,” says Brian Zinno, stylist and educator at Antonio Prieto Salon. “During these cold winter months, the air is already dry and the heat in your apartment exacerbates dryness.” He recommends using the Oribe Moisture and Control Deep Treatment Masque ($63). It contains coconut and almond oils, which moisturize your hair while preventing breakage and repairing damage.

Victoria says any kind of conditioner or treatment will do, and to be sure to sleep in a silk scarf or bonnet, to protect your hair overnight. if you’d like to to stretch out your roots to lengthen your curl, Victoria says to tie your hair into four buns before wrapping your hair.

2. Curly or Wavy hair

To maintain your curls, Victoria recommends braiding your hair at night. “You could either do sections of braids, or even like a rope braid where you’re just wrapping it around itself in smaller sections,” she says.” You’re keeping your hair tight, and just setting it for the next morning.” Bigger braids loosen your curls while smaller braids tighten it.

If you have tight or dense curls, she recommends prepping your hair with oils and/or hair lotions. If your hair is medium-to-fine, use a volumizing product like a salt spray or texture cream. Zinno says to sleep on a silk pillow case to avoid excess friction, and to use a daily refreshing mist, like the Oribe Run-Through Detangling Primer ($37) in the morning to revive your curls.

3. Fine straight hair

Dry shampoo powder is your best friend. Brush the powder through your hair with a brush, and then tie you hair into a low pony with a silk or velvet scrunchy.” Putting in dry shampoo will help control the oil overnight,” Victoria says.

If you’re in need of some moisture, Zinno recommends shampooing, and then applying the Kérastase Densifique Bodifying Mask ($62), which contains hyaluronic acid to strengthen, plump, and swell the hair to prevent future breakage. “For fine, straight hair you’ll want a product that works all night to supercharge your hair with fullness,” says Zinno. “It’s very concentrated and a little goes a long way. If you see the color of the masque visibly in your hair, you’re using too much.” Rinse your hair in the morning and style accordingly.

4. Frizzy hair

“The thing with frizzy hair is that people always try to treat it with oil. You still need an oil or lotion to help hydrate your hair—that’s all it’s doing is hydrating,” says Victoria. “You need something to hold down your cuticle.” Anything with a grip, like a beach spray, a light-hold gel, a mousse, or styling foam will help. To hydrate this hair type, Zinno recommends applying the Kérastase Discipline Oleo Relax Anti-Frizz Oil Serum ($37) to damp or dry hair at night.

This is what it’s like to get a deep cleansing scalp treatment:

5. Dry hair

For dry hair, it’s all about finding ways to lock in moisture. “I’m a big fan of the Kérastase Nutritive 8hr Night Serum ($55),” says Zinno. “It works all night to deliver soft, detangled supple hair. It does not weigh the hair down or make it feel greasy in anyway.” Apply it before on freshly shampooed hair before bed, and wakeup and style as usual.

Victoria says to do a deep conditioning hair mask two-to-three times a week. The longer you leave them in the better, so put one on before bed, and cover your hair with a silk or plastic cap to lock it in, and rinse it out in the morning.

6. Oily hair

Zinno says he like the Kérastase Spécifique Shampoo for Oily Scalp ($35). He says it helps slow down oil production over time. Shampoo at night, and follow with the Kérastase Spécifique Masque Hydra-Apaisant ($26). “This is perfect to leave on for oily hair,” he says. It includes L-Carnosine, which he says is a concentrated antioxidant that protects against external aggressors like pollution, and vitamin E that moisturizes lightly.

ADVERTISEMENT

Even on days you shampoo, Victoria says to sleep with a powder dry shampoo in your hair. “Sometimes even the aerosols can get too heavy because it includes a tad bit of oil,” she says. “So throughout the day if you feel like you’re getting oily from aerosol dry shampoo, you need to switch to a powder dry shampoo, because that actually helps soak up the oil.”

7. Damaged hair

Victoria says to baby your hair as much as possible. “Don’t pull it back when it’s wet, try not brush it too much when it’s wet,” she says. “Braid it to sleep, also, so it doesn’t mat or tangle.” She also recommends using a deep conditioning mask three to four times a week.

Zinno recommends the Oribe Gold Lust Transformative Masque ($66) “because it’s effective, but your hair still feels like your hair—it doesn’t make your hair feel coated, or stiff, or brittle.” Use it in the evening, and wrap a steamy, moist towel around your head for 5 to 10 minutes to get it to sink in deeper. Follow up with the Oribe Power Drops for Damage and Repair ($58) on damp hair. Sleep on a silk pillowcase to avoid friction, which he says can cause more splits and damage.

What one Well+Good writer learned when going from brunette to blond and back, and this $7 conditioner mist tackles dry, damaged hair. 

Author Kara Jillian Brown | Well and Good
Selected by CWC