If anyone else struggles with sleeping on long hair

This is "way" off topic with cycling - but I think I just solved a longstanding problem and thought I'd share in case there are fellow sufferers.

I'm kinda new to having longish hair. And now that I'm 40+, and I color the grey, my longish hair is pretty dry and brittle. Each morning I wake up to a tangled mess, and typically have to condition it in the shower to detangle it and then restyle it with hot tools.

I just searched some "long hair" websites for solutions, and they recommended using a satin sleep cap (I even found one with a tie in the back, so its adjustable for fit, unlike the "shower cap" kind with elastic that would be uncomfortable.) They said I would wake up tangle-free and it would diminish nightime breakage.

Anyhoo - if anyone else is struggling with tangled, matted hair in the AM (and at my age it doesn't help to wash and restyle it daily), this may be the answer. I can't wait for it to arrive, the testimonials made me hopeful that maybe I can stop all this breakage that I've been attributing to perimenopuase. The problem, these women tell me, may actually be caused by the friction against cotton linens as I toss and turn all night.

my hair is so crummy that i can't get it very long anymore, but my great grandmother :D braided her hair every night of her life. It puts a nice wave in your hair and there's no knots.

Do you have a link for the satin cap? that sounds nice.

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Originally Posted by Biciclista

Do you have a link for the satin cap? that sounds nice.

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Here ya go:
http://www.maverickwear.com/

If you click on 'order form', you'll see it's $11.95 I think. Not the most sophisticated website, but the women on this "long hair" board were raving about it. And lots of them had photos with waist length hair (far longer than me).

I just braid mine at night--keeps it out of the way and tangle free. I only wash it every other day. If I tried washing daily I'd end up with a mildewy scalp--it takes my hair forever to dry!

My daughter might like something like that satin cap, though--she refuses to braid her hair but hates the tangled mess she wakes up with every morning.

Sarah

I have hair that can get a knot in it when I'm sitting stationary not leaning against anything. It's fine, is curly, and is long - it and I mostly have reached a happy compromise.

Alright - things that I've found that helps.

Braid your hair when you go to sleep, ride a bike, a convertible, kayak, or are around a lot of wind. A couple of years ago, I went kayaking in a salt marsh for about 14 hours with my hair in a bun... the repeated wet/dry salt water cycles combined with the sun, the wind, and me spraying bug spray made my bun fuse into a knot... I spent a week trying to get it out, with all the mothers at work telling me, oh yeah, we can help you get that out, we're mothers... Nope. finally my Mom drove up 'cause she couldn't believe I couldn't get a knot at, she fussed with it for a few seconds and cut off about a foot and a half of hair.

Make sure the air in your house is not too dry, it makes things worse.

There are spray in conditioners that you can spray your hair with before you sleep in the braid - shikai makes a nice one.

Use daily shampoos... they have much less harsh detergents... Any shampoo with sodium laureth sulfate in it will not be as harsh as shampoos with sodium lauryl sulfate in them. A good daily shampoo will have neither.

I alternate which shampoo & conditioner I'm using daily - so I don't get build up.

Deep condition your hair every so often - revlon makes one for color treated hair, I can look up the name of it when I get home (My mom gets free samples of it, and I use it even though I don't have color treated hair), also burts bees makes a really nice avocado one... Or you can make your own using olive oil, eggs, and avocado (recipes should be easily found online)

The best conditioners/and or shampoos I've found are - nexxus humectress, bedhead by tigi ... self absorbed... I also like the brunette goddess by bedhead /tigi. Every so often, I'll use some pantene pro v.

I don't use anything hot on my hair and I just let it air dry... I'm not sure what to tell you about using hot tools on your hair to style it other than to moisturize it more.

Do not brush your hair when wet... your hair is more fragile when wet and it's more prone to breakage. So you can comb it when wet, but do it very gently and support your roots. I brush my hair before I get into the shower, wash & dry it, and that's it. Combing it/brushing it when wet doesn't help, and brushing it after it is dry just makes it tangle. Don't bunch your hair up on your head and swish it around when you shampoo it or anything like that.

I'm not sure what kind of coloring you're doing to your hair - but consider using henna colors, they'll moisturize your hair while coloring it and are a lot gentler.

Satin sleep caps reminded me of two elderly aunts of mine. They have slept on satin pillow cases since they were young ladies. Might be another option.

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Originally Posted by Catriona

Deep condition your hair every so often ...you can make your own using olive oil, eggs, and avocado (recipes should be easily found online)

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And whatever is leftover makes a great salad dressing ;)

If there's an avacado in my house i'm sure not putting it on my head

Yeah, what I was thinking of was satin pillow cases. Those are from the days when women "set" their hair once a WEEK.

:)

Karen

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Originally Posted by Zen

And whatever is leftover makes a great salad dressing ;)

If there's an avacado in my house i'm sure not putting it on my head

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I don't like avocado's, so I only use them for my hair :)

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Originally Posted by Tuckervill

Yeah, what I was thinking of was satin pillow cases. Those are from the days when women "set" their hair once a WEEK.

:)

Karen

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There's still a bunch of those women... My Mom owns a beauty shop, she's got a ton of old ladies who come once or twice a week to get their hair set, then hairsprayed into a hard helmet...

Most of them roll up a towel into a pillow and put that under their neck to support it so that their hair doesn't actually touch the bed/pillow or get flattened.

Better than a less harsh shampoo is a less harsh shampoo and using it little as possible.... I resisted for years - I have dry curly hair, but I still thought my hair would be oily and unruly if I did not wash it every day. Turned out to be far from reality. Now that I only wash it a few times/week it stays in so much better shape - no more split ends! It used to split so bad one hair would have 5 or 6 splits up the hair shaft. I still shower every day, and I condition every day, but I only shampoo when it truly needs it and I try to keep the shampoo off the ends as much as possible. I can't use a super heavy conditioner... or it does look oily quickly, but without so much shampoo I don't need to. I also don't ever rub with a towel or use heat on my hair - turns into a big poof if I do.

My experience has been that once your hair gets long enough it just hangs off the bed and stays there by it's own weight. :)

For mid-lengths of hair (say between shoulder and buttlength) you can just make a loose comfortable braid to sleep in.

Wow, I guess I should consider myself lucky that my hair (mid back length) doesn't seem to tangle that much. If it did I'd probably end up cutting it short again (and getting mistaken for a boy...). I wonder what it is that makes some people's hair more prone to getting into knots than others.

I mostly just have problems with my husband sleeping on it.

When mine was long (mine is a heavy curly mess), I would just put the hair above my head hanging off the top of the pillow. If I didn't, it would be hot on my neck anyway. Plus, I used to wake up by pulling it when I rolled over or when my H would roll over on it! Putting it above the pillow really helped. I never brushed it (no brush would go through it), so I don't know if I had more tangles in the morning or not!

And even better than using shampoo with no SLS... no shampoo at all. I went two years with out shampoo. My hair was gorgeous. I don't do it now (I use a non-SLS shampoo once a week) because my hair is shorter, but as it gets longer, I'll reduce my shampoo routine.

I also agree that a satin pillow case helps with breakage.

Have had short hair for past 3 decades. But I did have long hair past my armpits.

I never knew that naturally curly hair had these problems!

Several sisters who have had thick long straight hair, longer than myself , occasionally put their hair up in 1 large loose pony tail...I mean it was super loose pony tail often with a hair band covered with cloth outer liner so that hair didn't get caught in thin elastic band while sleeping on hair.

Somehow I think my hair would be an oily mess if I went without shampoo.. it usually is within 24 hours. But I suppose I'd have to train it after years of shampooing almost every day.

I think my hair is tangly because of the fine-ness in combination with the slight natural curl (not that you could tell because my hair's heavy enough to pull what curls I have out)... My Mom & sister have thicker coarser straight hair - neither of them have any problems with knotting, even when they had long hair... My bf also comments that a former gf of his that had long straight hair, never had knots, and couldn't manage to make her hair do anything, put it in a bun or whatever, because it would just fall down straight.

My sister's daughter has hair that's more similar to mine - she ends up with a lot of knots as well.

I generally have the beginnings of a mat/knot at the base of my neck, I try to undo it every day or so, but it always comes back.

For the perimenopause, the hair does certainly change. There are special conditioning txs you can get at the salon that help. The washing every other day is said to help. I read in a mag that one woman used to put "Shower to Shower" powder on her scalp on the off washing day to absorb oil. I've never tried it. Maybe she was a blonde too?

Any heat tools will make the hair dry. Gray hair has a different texture than non. Even if colored. Even at a good salon and product, the chemicals can be so harsh. I am going today to get a chunk of my hair hacked off to get rid of the coloring dry mess. It's gotten pretty long too. I have a few grays. But, I have resolved I think I will just let mine come on in.

For any thinning, try Nixon shampoo and conditioner. When I went to every other day washing, my hair got thinner. I realized it was lack of the Nixon shampoo drug. So, I started back daily and it's thickening up. A very wide tooth comb too helps with getting out the bed time tangles. In the car, I side sweep mine to not lean on it. I think that makes less tangles overall. Buffs are great too for a restraint that's no breakage.

I twist mine into a bun on top of my head, just as I'm laying down. If it unrolls at night, the hair just ends up on top of the pillow. hate the feeling of it around my neck.

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Originally Posted by Catriona

My bf also comments that a former gf of his that had long straight hair, never had knots, and couldn't manage to make her hair do anything, put it in a bun or whatever, because it would just fall down straight.

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This is me. I really don't get knots, but I can't style it either. Put in curlers? Hair is straight again within 30 minutes of taking them out, even with heat and styling products. Give it a little body? Not a chance. I've tried everything - if I don't wash it for a day to get extra body it still hangs flat, but looks greasy and stringy. If I use products, nada.

I've always been jealous of people who don't have to wash and condition their hair every day. I have dry hair and an oily scalp. If I don't wash it every day it looks really greasy and stringy and if I don't condition it every day it feels like straw. :( I suppose the grass is always greener...

I used to get tangles at the base of my head by my neck, but a little extra conditioner there has taken care of that. For sleeping, I usually just throw it up over the pillow to keep it out of the way. That way I'm not rolling around on it while I sleep.

When my hair was very long (in the middle of my back) I always slept with it in a bun or braid. I could never sleep with it loose as it would be too hot and messy. Almost 10 years ago, I sacrificed length for a practical bob after it became a hassle to try and cover the grey as it was easier to blend short grey vs long grey. Finally last week I admitted defeat and chopped off my hair after almost 20 years of trying to hide my prematurely greying hair! This, after having to color almost every 2.5 weeks. Now it's super funky short and white!! Trying to get used to the new look. White hair on a young face. Strangely the guys are digging it!!

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Originally Posted by denny

When my hair was very long (in the middle of my back) I always slept with it in a bun or braid. I could never sleep with it loose as it would be too hot and messy. Almost 10 years ago, I sacrificed length for a practical bob after it became a hassle to try and cover the grey as it was easier to blend short grey vs long grey. Finally last week I admitted defeat and chopped off my hair after almost 20 years of trying to hide my prematurely greying hair! This, after having to color almost every 2.5 weeks. Now it's super funky short and white!! Trying to get used to the new look. White hair on a young face. Strangely the guys are digging it!!

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I soooo want to do this myself! May I ask...how old are you?

I'm afraid I'm too old for it to look 'novel' and too young for it to look 'hip'. I think I'll just look lazy if I let it go all grey. ;)

I have hair about 3" past my shoulder, and I can't stand to sleep with my hair loose. So I just put a ponytail at the top of my head. I find that if my hair's loose, I end up breaking out on my face.

I've been growing my hair out for so long that yesterday when I got it cut, I found out my stylist had another baby since my last haircut. I didn't even know she was pregnant! I had about an inch taken off, and the longest layers just about touch my bra.

I leave it down at night. My cat likes to sleep on it. Talk about bedhead.

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Originally Posted by GLC1968

I soooo want to do this myself! May I ask...how old are you?

I'm afraid I'm too old for it to look 'novel' and too young for it to look 'hip'. I think I'll just look lazy if I let it go all grey. ;)

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I turned 41 in November. I have to say it's been interesting. Some mornings I wake up and freak out at the white; then I walk out the door grinning because I didn't have to make sure "my poverty line" was showing in the midst of the dark stuff. Better yet, I didn't have to worry about washing out the dye after shampooing. I went to the mall for lunch and I had to laugh a few times. I had on my workout gear for the gym and a bunch of young guys looked at me a bit puzzled at first when they saw it was obviously a young face with the hair; then they started turning their heads to watch me walk away. I was wondering if they thought I was a pretty hot granny or a crazy woman who was completely unconcerned.:D

Next stop Target. The security guard who must have been 65 or 70 almost fell off his chair trying to take a look. Hmmm. Did he just meet the granny of his dreams? Older men are now following me around (more than usual). Strange thing is you do become sort of invisible with your own age group. Females have complimented me on the look. The male friends I have think "It's rockin". I'm sure it's lowered the pool of men who may give me a second glance, but the way I look at is, if Mr.Right didn't come along with long dark flowing hair what do I have to lose with this?

It's sad that guys can just go grey and be called distinguished. ALA CNN's Anderson Cooper and Phil Donahue (although he needs to lower that shag on his head.) Women get judged a lot more harshly for doing the same thing.
Maybe I ought to give Oprah a call and issue a challenge for us chicks who just want to be free of dyes and stains and still be considered "Rocking anyway":D

BTW_ this could all change as I'm job hunting. You know how youth obsessed this country is and I don't want to diminish my chances for not looking "energetic" enough against non-pigment follicular challenged people.

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Originally Posted by Pedal Wench

I twist mine into a bun on top of my head, just as I'm laying down. If it unrolls at night, the hair just ends up on top of the pillow. hate the feeling of it around my neck.

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Same for me.

Mine is to my bra strap, thick, fine and curly. :D

Denny, you sound fabulous with that hair and cut. I have a short bob, but only two or three strands of grey (I'm also 41). Your post and some other women I know who are wonderful in their silver hair has me thinking that I'll just let it be when it does decide to turn. If I was in my twenties or thirties, I'd probably dye it, but now I like being older and wiser. Thanks for the post.

When I was 27 I had hair down to my butt. Never had any trouble sleeping on it. Then I got my first grey hair and I was d*mned if they were going to be three feet long. I had it chin length for several years (enormous PITA) and then cut it short, where it's been for over 15 years now.

I'm trying to work up the nerve for a buzz cut.

Denny, I'm trying to build courage to go your way, thanks for the story. I'd prefer to be happily grey (turning 40 and 60% grey I guess) instead of the kinda complicated semi-dye semi-natural curly mess I have at the moment, but I'm not quite there yet. Weaning myself off dye ;)