As you're tossing and turning at night, your hair is rubbing against the cotton fibers of your pillowcase, which can cause your hair to break. Repeated breakage can ultimately make your hair look thinner overall.
An average pillowcase will grab onto your hair strands and hold tight, even as you're moving around during sleep. This results in pulling and pressing that results in those unflattering locks the next morning and also encourages breakage and split ends.
Upgrade Your Pillow Case
Your cotton pillow case can cause pulling on your hair. The best pillow cover for your hair is silk or satin. If your budget does not have room for silk or satin pillow cases, you can get the same effect by wrapping your hair in a silk or satin scarf, says Rascon.
Pearl and other beauty experts agree the best pillowcases are made of silk. Hairstylist Bobby Eliot says a good silk pillowcase can help keep hair healthy long-term and preserve hairstyles overnight.
The benefits of sleeping on a silk pillowcase are most pronounced for hair, experts say, because the smooth surface reduces friction and thus breakage.
Without proper overnight protection, hair can weaken and sometimes even break during sleep. “While you are asleep, your hair may be subjected to unintentional friction and pulling caused by tossing and turning,” explains Dr Ophelia Veraitch, who leads the hair clinic at Cranley Clinic, London.
Satin pillowcases offer a variety of potential benefits. The glossy, smooth texture of the weave allows the head to move easily, reducing the friction that could otherwise cause wrinkles, hair frizzing, and breakage.
It is best to sleep with your hair down if your hair length is short. This also lets the air flow freely through your hair, which makes you sleep more comfortably. On the other hand, if you have long hair, it is recommended to tie your hair loosely to prevent knots and breakage.
Using a hair cap, bonnet, or wrapping your hair with a silk or satin scarf at night will shield your hair from rubbing against your pillowcase. This will also help you protect your ends at night and make your hairstyle last longer, and you don't have to worry about any friction or loss of moisture as you rest.
Harsh chemicals like bleach or relaxers can break down the bonds of the hair, making it weaker and thus more prone to breakage. Heat styling can also put enough stress on your hair to cause breakage, so it is always important to use a protectant before you grab a hot tool.
People who sleep on their back or side might find that sleeping without a pillow causes neck or back pain. Sleeping without a pillow may help reduce wrinkles, but there is no evidence to suggest that it can help with acne or improve people's hair.
Your hair gets pulled and stretched against your pillow as you move in your sleep. All that friction causes breakage, frizz and thinner looking hair. It's also pulling moisture from your hair potentially leaving it dull, dry and brittle.
In fact, Hairstory hairdresser Jennifer Covington-Bowers told The Zoe Report, "Satin and silk pillowcases lack friction and won't rough up the cuticle — meaning less chances of breakage," and added that if money is not an option, silk might be better as it has "a bit more slip." Celebrity hairstylist Derrick Keith ...
Which one you choose comes down to a few factors, like price and preference. "I like satin more because it's less expensive than silk, but it's also smoother than silk, reducing the friction between the hair strands and the pillowcase," says Dr. Isfahan Chambers-Harris, Trichologist, Ph. D.
Things like aggressive brushing and combing, sleeping on wet hair or rough fabrics that create friction, constantly pulling your strands into styles that are too tight, and heat styling are all some of the main reasons why hair breaks.
A bad night routine can lead to a host of issues like breakage, as your curls snag on your pillowcase, dryness as your hair loses moisture overnight, matting/tangling from the friction between your hair strands, and unmanageable hair when you wake up in the morning.
Lying on one side of your head won't affect that programming. It doesn't matter whether you usually sleep on your side, on your back, or on your stomach. Since your hair follicles aren't impacted by the position in which you sleep, you don't need to worry about damaging them or causing hair loss.
As such, silk is prone to fading when exposed to direct sunlight, either indoors or outside. Even this best silk bedding will fade if left in direct sunlight. This is why we recommend always hanging your silk to dry away from the sun. Happily, your silk sheets should air dry very quickly, even indoors.
The Non-absorbent microfiber satin pillowcases create less friction to maintain hair moisture. Microfiber satin pillowcases are said to also help with facial sleep lines to reduce deep wrinkles, protect your skin while sleeping and protect your natural curls.