Hair is difficult for me. I've had pretty much the same cut and style since I was twelve, with the exception of sporting the occasional zig zag part in middle school, that time I stupidly cut my own bangs in college, and those other times I was curious about both the bob and the lob. And for most of my life, I've washed my hair daily, requiring frequent styling. But I'm lazy. So instead, I often opt for disheveled. I finally trained my hair to be washed less frequently and most recently, figured out not just how to maintain clean hair for days, but how to maintain styled hair for days - a feat for me because I get such terrible bed head. Disheveled. A boar bristle brush, a silk pillowcase and dry shampoo seem to do the trick.
After taking my time on an amazing at-home blowout a couple weeks ago, I was determined to maintain it as long as possible. I've heard of the benefits of silk pillowcases for hair and skin (apparently it prevents wrinkles), and did a little more research before bed. Because silk is such a smooth and natural fabric, your hair glides on it, versus being exposed to friction caused by cotton which results in bed head. I didn't have a silk pillowcase on-hand, but really wanted to test out the theory.
Isn't that hair worth trying to preserve?
So I got creative and safety-pinned that beautiful, coral 100% silk scarf up there to my pillow. I brushed my hair thoroughly with a boar bristle brush to distribute my scalp's natural oils throughout my hair and went to sleep. I woke up to an intact blowout - a rarity for me. All I did to "style" my hair was turn my head upside down to brush upwards for volume with the same brush and I was set. I thought maybe it was luck, but I had a couple more night's to test the theory.
On night two, I did the same routine: boar bristle brush, improvised silk pillowcase. Again, I woke up to a still smooth, albeit slightly less voluminous blowout. Nothing my upside down boar-bristle brushing couldn't fix.
On night three, I did the same routine. This time, on day four, I woke up to a less-than-perfect blowout. My hair was definitely flatter and the front layers didn't cascade quite as nicely, but my ends were still looking great. I did my upside down brushing, sprayed in some Batiste dry shampoo for volume, mostly - my hair wasn't oily at all - and pinned it back into a half up-do which still managed to get me a compliment or two.
On day five, I washed my hair.
I should address the questions as to whether or not the pillowcase can be satin or a blend, as opposed to silk, and this past weekend I decided to test that theory. I was visiting my parents and my mom mentioned she had some satin pillowcases, so after another beautiful DIY blowout on Saturday, I put satin to the test. I woke up Sunday morning to flat hair, with hints of bed head. The results really didn't compare to my pillowcase...I mean, scarf.
In order to get the most out of your pillowcase, it must be 100% silk, and preferably long-strand mulberry silk with a traditional charmeuse weave (!?!). It sounds super fancy because it is. I'm not even sure my scarf met the long strand and weave requirements, but it is 100% silk and was successful for the most part. Here are some options that are on the affordable side and do meet those requirements. I won't use my scarf forever because my safety pins keep coming undone and poking me, so I'll be making my selection from among these, too.
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