“The benefit of having a good silk pillowcase is that it creates less friction on the hair and allows the hair a gentle surface," he says. "Friction can disrupt the cuticle layer of the hair, which causes bedhead and frizzy hair.”
Less Friction
That's not the case with a satin or silk pillowcase. The satin pillowcase will allow your hair to gently glide over the top of it reducing friction, tangles, and frizz and keeping your hairstyle intact. The satin or silk pillowcase also helps prevent split ends from breaking.
"Silk doesn't absorb or pull moisture from your skin the way traditional cotton pillowcases do, leaving hair hydrated and frizz-free." Plus, according to Richy Kandasamy, a hair colorist and a member of R+Co Collective, resting your head on this fabric will keep textured hair fresher and less "slept on" upon waking.
While a satin weave pillowcase can minimize friction (and that's a good thing!) there are many benefits to real silk pillowcases that satin pillowcases just can't deliver. If you want the best for your hair, choose a pure mulberry silk pillowcase.
Benefits of Silk and Satin Pillowcases
Cotton pillowcases generate too much friction, which can cause your hair to get all tangled and even break more easily. The silky-smooth fabric of either silk or satin pillowcases allows your hair to slide across the surface more easily.
Mulberry Silk Pillowcase
Brooklinen is well renowned for its cozy sheets and towels, but the bedding brand also makes all-star silky pillowcases. Its mulberry silk material is breathable and naturally cool to the touch, two features that guarantee less friction damage to your hair and skin.
Cotton is light but absorbent fabric that soaks in all the natural oil from the scalp, leaving the hair frizzy & rough while silk is naturally anti-absorbent. Silk does not cause any friction and lets the hair glide on the pillowcase without causing any frizz. It also prevents tugging and pulling exponentially.
“Minimise dehydration by drinking lots of water.” says Baltazar, who also suggests cold water rinsing and drying your hair gently with a towel, by sponging not rubbing, and then brushing. Protect your hair from friction while brushing by applying a restorative oil to create a filter on the hair.
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.
When you move around in your sleep, your curly hair can scrape against the cotton causing static and friction. This leads to breakages and excessive frizz. So, if you're trying to style wavy hair after a night's sleep on a cotton pillow, you're going to face an uphill battle.
Before we get into what can make your hair appear frizzy, it's important to know what the underlying cause is. Frizz occurs due to a lack of moisture in the hair. This causes hair to seek moisture from the air around it, which is why humidity often makes matters worse.
The smooth texture of silk allows hair to glide over it as you rest, reducing frizz, tangles, and the dreaded bedhead. While other fabrics like cotton snag your hair, hair gurus and stylists have long-used silk pillowcases to hold up hairdos like perms, blowouts, and braids for longer without added frizz or stress.
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.
Since the primary cause of frizziness is dehydration, the best way to stop your hair from being frizzy is to avoid washing with water that's too hot, steer clear of too many heat styling products and harmful chemicals, get a haircut, and use hydrated hair products like shampoo with glycerin, conditioner, leave-in ...
A regular hot oil treatment added to your hair care routine can help you nourish and soften coarse strands. This type of treatment uses plant-based essential oils like coconut, almond, or olive oil to seal the hair's cuticle, reducing frizz and dryness for silky, smooth hair.
Hair will slowly become drier, coarser, and thinner over the years. The truth is that as we grow older, the oils that our scalp relies on for nourishment decrease, resulting in drier, frizzier hair. Along with a change in oil production, our body stops creating melanocytes, the substance that colors our hair.
Adding layers to your tresses perfects the 'messy bedhead' look, and tames your frizziness at the same time. And you don't have to spend too much time styling your hair either - it's more of a 'woke up like this' style, isn't it? The low-maintenance cut frames your face effortlessly - and it's so chic!
Shoulder length hair is a classic choice for frizz. If you have long hair with a lot of damage, opting for a shoulder-length haircut will allow you to keep some length while eliminating the driest, most damaged (and frizzy) sections of your hair.
Air Dry for Best Results
This may be one of the biggest and simplest celebrity anti frizz secrets: most celebrities will let their hair go natural when they're not performing on stage or making a red-carpet appearance. Taking the time to air dry will do wonders for your hair, especially over time.
Satin offers similar haircare benefits to silk, but it won't retain moisture as well as silk. "Satin absorbs a little bit more than silk since it's a mixture of numerous materials including cotton, but it's still way less than 100% cotton pillow cases," Onuoha says.
Silk is made with natural fibers with hypoallergenic, temperature-regulating, and breathable properties that provide wonderful life-long benefits for the health of our skin and hair. Silk pillowcases can also help prevent skin irritations, alleviate sleeping discomforts, and improve your bedtime routine.
According to Good Housekeeping, silk can be extremely cooling and luxurious to sleep on but can be pricey and need a little extra work to maintain. At the same time, satin is more durable and affordable and still helps you wake up in the morning with smoother hair.