Let me paint you a picture. It’s Friday night, you’re going out to dinner and you spend 45 minutes with a curling wand getting the perfect wavy curls in your hair. You know it’s a long time to spend on a hairstyle, but you justify it to yourself because you look super cute and you will just use some dry shampoo in the morning for the next few days and ride this style into the ground. You go out to dinner, have a great time, come home, take off your makeup and pass out in bed. The next morning you wake up and your curls are flat at the top, frizzy in the middle, straight in random places and completely unsalvageable. What was it all for!?

We’ve all been there, but this doesn’t have to be you. You deserve better than this! There are a few things you can do that will help you keep hair curled overnight. If you follow these little tricks you SHOULD wake up in the morning with your curly or wavy style pretty much intact.

PREPARATION IS EVERYTHING:

If you want your style to last, you need to start with using the right products during styling. Product is everything, and using the right things can really increase the amount of time your hair stays looking fresh.

I recommend a styling cream applied to damp hair, a heat protectant with hold and a QUALITY hair spray that will add even more hold, but still allow some movement. You should also look for a hairspray that doesn’t make your hair feel gritty and dirty the next day. I am really loving the moroccan oil hairspray at the moment, but L’oreal Elnett is a really good option as well.

IN THE LOOP:

The most important part of this is tying it up before going to sleep. Leaving it down where it can flow around and get all mushed up is the enemy, and a nice loose bun is the knight in shining armor. But not all top knots were created equal. I find that the best type of bun to keep hair curly overnight is a simple “not pulled all the way through the ponytail” bun . . .is there a name for that? I don’t know how else to describe it, but use the picture above picture to see what I mean.

First and foremost you want this bun to be loose enough that it isn’t slicking your hair down to your head and causing flatness, but tight enough that it isn’t falling out while you sleep. For me looping it once normally and then not pulling the hair all the way though on the second loop works, but I have abnormally thick hair so for a lot of folks you may need two full loops and then the one that’s not pulled through. I also think its important that the front of the hair isn’t pulled too tight. Leaving a little volume at the front will make it so the roots of your hair still have some shape in the morning.

Another key piece of the puzzle is that the hair tie should sit in the concave part of the last wave in your hair. Again that’s so hard to describe, but pictures help! See in the picture above how the tie is sitting in what is basically the middle of the last wave, and just the little flippy ends are left out? The will ensure that you don’t add an extra dent into the hair because it’s sorta sitting in an already existing dent. Who knew hair advice could be so abstract.

LOAD IT UP:

Before putting it in the bun here’s what you need to do. Load your hair up with dry shampoo. I mean LOAD it up. You know when you spray too much in and it looks white and weird like you’re wearing a little old lady costume? That’s what you want. You can even see the whiteness in the photo above after I’ve already pulled it into the bun.

Maybe it’s not something we all like to talk about because it’s icky, but most people sweat during the night. Some more than others, because your body is a unique little wonderland, but almost everyone does at least a little. Loading your hair with dry shampoo before going to bed will significantly reduce the greasy flat-at-the-top effect that tends to happen in the morning. It will also give you some texture and volume at the root, which will make it easier to touch up your style and keep it in place.

To show you guys that this is what works for me, and because we’re super tight internet friends now and I trust you not to make fun of me, I took a quick selfie first thing in the morning after using these tips to show you how my waves stayed in. Also . . .I SUCK at mirror selfies. Like I really just . . .I can’t. It took like 75 tries to get this one where I’m not scrunching up my face like a weirdo. Any tips would be greatly appreciated 😉

There you have it, the waves are a tiny bit looser, and could maybe stand to be brushed a bit, but overall the style is pretty much intact. It’s not even flat on the top! Usually I can use this trick a few days in a row and keep my wavy or curly style in for a pretty long time, which is awesome because it saves time and it means I don’t have to torture my hair with heat tools as often.

Give it a try, and let me know if it helps!