I have fairly thick, frizzy, curly hair. Sometimes it’s more rough, more smooth, more curly, or more flat than the day before. Some days are better than others. My hair looks its best when I shower in the morning and diffuse it with a curl cream. All of that combines to be what my curl dreams are made of! It’s just not that simple, most of the time.
During the school year I cannot—I really can’t stress this enough—shower in the morning before class. There was a couple weeks in the beginning, when it was orientation and I was really hyped up with school spirit, when I would shower in the morning. That quickly ceased to be a thing for me.
I returned to my more usual habit of showering at the end of the day. When I sleep, whether on dry or wet hair, it almost always turns out horribly wrong. Just today, in fact, I got up and looked in the mirror to see that my hair had dried and molded to sticking straight out in a bunch of weird and uncomfortable angles. I turned to my roommate and deadpanned, “What am I supposed to do with this?!”
One morning earlier this week I didn’t have class, so fortunately there was time for me to stick my head under the shower so the water could reshape my hair. However, it’s not always a preferable choice to hang upside down for a quick soak in the early hours of the morning. I had to shower at night, but I also couldn’t continue with the mess my hair was whenever I’d wake up.
For a long time, I settled for wearing ponytails every day to just pull back the unruly evidence. But when I went home for spring break and was pulling off bouncy, happy curls every day, I said “No more!” It was time to get control over my bedhead. I tried braiding my hair for sleep, wrapping it up in a t-shirt, wearing it in a bun. Regardless, every morning I’d wake up to a rat’s nest.
Finally, I consulted with my hairdresser and she recommended I buy a continuous mister. It’s a spray bottle that mists for a few seconds when you push down the lever. Because putting your head under the shower or in the sink is messy and takes a bit of effort, this was the better alternative. She told me to mist my hair and get it wet, and then to apply product to the desired curl-effect.
I’ll admit, I don’t always get up in time to do this, but when I do it’s worth it. I turn my head upside down, and spray the life out of my deformed curls. I might dry it a bit with a towel after or scrunch some of the water out. Then, I put in my product and reshape to my liking. No problem!
Luckily, I found a way to keep my sleep and shower schedule and still occasionally have good hair days. If you’ve been yearning for a bedhead solution, I hope this helps!
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