Last Updated on March 27, 2022 by Rei
For those of you who’s hair is easily damaged by heat and want to avoid using a hair dryer as much as possible (Although we recommend using a diffuser to lessen the damage), air-drying your hair overnight might be the best option for you.
To air-dry your hair overnight properly and still wake up not looking like a mess you need to properly plop your hair.
But before any of that, you also need to apply the right products after you gently pat dry your hair. We recommend using a moisturizing product or leave-in conditioner to avoid waking up with frizz in the morning.
Bellow, we will explain in more detail how to exactly air dry your curly hair overnight without frizz.
Table of contents
Use the right shampoo
The first step for avoiding frizzy hair while drying your hair is to use the right shampoo.
Did you know that regular shampoo contains sulfate that strips the natural oils on your hair?
This is especially important for those who have curly hairs because they are more prone to all kinds of hair problems like breakage and frizz.
Also, make sure that you moisturize as much as possible.
This kind of shampoo usually advertised themselves as sulfate-free so you won’t have a problem looking for them.
But to save you time here are some of the sulfate-free shampoo’s that we recommend for curly hairs:
Gently pat dry your hair
While we don’t recommend using a cotton towel to dry your hair because it causes abrasions to your hair cuticles, it’s not really that big of a deal just don’t overdo drying while using this kind of towel.
We recommend investing in a microfiber towel because it reduces the frizziness compared to a cotton towel.
After going out of the shower gently pat your hair with a microfiber towel so that your hair is not dripping wet.
But make sure that you don’t over-dry your hair too much because we will need your hair to be damp for the next step, which is applying the products.
Apply the products
For this step, it’s important to apply the products while the hair is damp.
This is important because hair products are absorbed much better when the hair is damp.
We recommend using a leave-in conditioner that is specifically made for curly hairs.
Here are some leave-in conditioners that are specifically made for curly hairs:
Plop the hair
The first step is to get a towel or a shirt with big enough space for your hair.
Then, go ahead and place to towel/shirt on a flat surface and gently tilt your head towards the towel. When your hair is touching the towel gently wrap the towel around your head.
The key here is to make sure that your curls are not hanging loose inside the towel so that the towel will act as protection for the natural curls of your hair while drying, similar to a diffuser.
If you’re worried that the towel will get loose while your sleeping you can wear a bonnet to protect the towel from getting loose.
Here is a great video demonstrating the process:
Some caution
While this is a great method for drying your curly hair overnight, we don’t recommend making this a habit.
This is because plopping your hair overnight can cause hair fungus—a scalp infection caused by a fungus that grows in a moist area.
To prevent this, we recommend limiting the time your hair is moist and making sure that you wash your hair properly and regularly.
