It happens to all of us at some point in our lives.  We wake up with tresses which look like we were sleeping with our fingers plugged into an electric outlet.

How severe your bed head is can be directly related to the length of your hair as well as the type and texture.

If you have a short crop or chop, bedhead can be smoothed into place quickly.  If your hair is medium to thick, naturally wavy and curly or shoulder length or longer, you may have more of a challenge.

What can you do when Bed Head Hair strikes?

1.  Use your fingers to gently smooth some of the wildest pieces from sticking straight up in the air. Do not just jump into the shower (unless your hair is super short) because water can make tangles worse.
2.  Take a 100% boar bristle brush and work the brush carefully from the ends up to the roots.  Take a small section of hair and carefully brush it out to detangle.  If you prefer, use a wide tooth comb.  The key is to prevent any damage to your strands.
3.  If you prefer, you can spritz some detangler on your fingertips and fingerpick through some of the knots and tangles in combo with your brush.
4.  When time is of the essence, smooth your hair down the best you can and if it’s long, wrap it into a hair knot and pin with “hair friendly” bobby pins.  The first chance you get, take the time to properly detangle.

Avoiding Bed Head Tangled Hair

There are many things you can do before you go to bed to prevent morning bed head tangles.  Of course a lot depends on your willingness to do the hair prep.

1.  Start your pre-bed process by using a wide tooth comb or 100% boar bristle brush to slowly and carefully detangle your strands.  Remember to start at the bottom of your hair and work up.  This is especially true if your hair is medium length or longer, thick and either naturally wavy or curly.
2.  Optionally you may wish to apply a light conditioning/non-staining oil to your fingertips and lightly fingerpick your hair to add a little moisture to the ends and driest areas of your hair to make sure there is less damage of breakage.
3.  If your hair is long enough, consider either braiding it or rolling it into a loose bun to help prevent tangles.  Keep in mind that a braid may add natural waves to your hair by morning, especially if your hair has added oils or conditioners or is damp.
4.  Sleep on a silk or satin pillow case.  This keeps the friction from your hair and the pillowcase to a minimum.  Cotton pillowcases or cases with a heavy nap may actually cause more tangling.

Other tips include:

If your hair is waist length or longer you may wish to position your hair so that it flows back and up behind your pillow.  Many people with extremely long hair have learned how to drape their hair to minimize any slumbertime tangling.

Regardless of your hair’s length, type, texture or condition, if you know it has a tendency to tangle, even when you’re not sleeping, prevention is the key.  Other methods of prevention you can use to keep tangles and morning bedhead to a minimum include:

1.  Limiting the number of times you shampoo per week or cleansing with diluted shampoo (1 teaspoon to 1 quart of luke warm water) or do a conditioning only (CO) cleanse.
2.  Keeping hair moisturized with rinse out conditioners, leave-in conditioners and regular deep treatments and/or oil applications.
3.  Wearing appropriate caps and hats, or securing your hair, during windy weather or keeping hair pinned up in situations that are more likely to lead to tangling and or bed head.
4.  When hair is short, medium or shoulder length the type of hair cut and hairstyle you wear can either minimize or maximize bed head.  If your hair tends to easily tangle or matt, discuss the appropriate best and worst styles with your hairdresser.  You will be amazed how much difference various hairstyles might make.

Bed Head On Purpose

Of course its important to mention the fact that some people want to create Bed Head on purpose.  Whether they are going for the messy tousled and slightly tangled look, are cultivating a full head of dreadlocks or love the spikey Bed Head look of the past, different styling products, styling steps and hairstyles will need to be evaluated and considered.

It’s also important to note that when I discuss Bed Head as a tangled or early morning excessively tousled look, I’m not specifically referring to the Toni and Guy (TIGI) product line known as Bed Head.  Personally I have used many of the Bed Head products and like several of them.

Finally, if you have tips and feedback on your own experiences with early morning or during-the-day bedhead I would love to hear them.  I would especially love any feedback on how your cured your own bedhead challenges.

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This entry was posted on Monday, January 19th, 2009 at 7:37 am and is filed under Braids, Hair, Hairstyling Tips. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.