Why you should never go to bed with wet hair (it's not because you'll catch a cold)

Bath before bed? You know the drill. Time to plug in the hairdryer because going to bed with wet hair will have you waking up with the snots.

Well, technically it won’t because despite what your mum told you colds are infections of the upper respiratory tract caused by viruses, so its highly unlikely going to bed with your tresses sopping wet will actually cause a cold.

But, that doesn’t mean you can put the hairdryer away just yet because there are some very good reasons you should still ditch sleeping with wet locks.

It’s not great for your hair

When you lay your wet hair onto your pillow, friction from tossing and turning in your sleep can temporarily damage your hair. But more importantly, it could play havoc with your morning hair. “Sleeping with wet hair won’t cause any particular damage to the hair shafts themselves, but it may give the appearance of flat or frizzy when you awake. It will then be harder to style when you’re in a rush to leave the house the following morning,” explains Phil Smith, Celebrity stylist and creator of BE GORGEOUS.

So while your bed may be whispering your name, it’s worth taking time to at least get your hair semi dry. “Blow drying your hair will smooth all the cuticles, and they will therefore lie in the same direction, but lying on a pillow with wet hair may make the cuticles lie at different angles and hair will appear less shiny and easy to style,” Phil explains. He suggests using a smoothing spray like the Phil Smith BE GORGEOUS SUPER SMOOTH Keratin Spray (£4.00 from Sainsbury’s stores nationwide) which will not only help up the speed you can blow dry your hair, but it will also add Keratin to the cuticles to reduce frizz.

Phil also recommends running a brush or comb through your hair before you hit the sack. “It’s important to give your hair a quick brush before going to bed as this can minimise knots and tangles you may encounter in the morning.”

And contrary to popular belief, it’s not actually that bad to sleep with your hair tied up. “As long as you avoid elastic bands, which will lead to breakage, and hair being tied too tightly as this will pull at the roots and cause stress,” explains Phil. Instead, loosely braid your hair, for a great wave the morning, or do a top knot with a scrunchie to avoid causing any damage.

Who knew the humble scrunchie could be the wet-hair-sleeper’s saviour?

It could give you a headache

Going to bed with wet tresses might not give you the sniffles, but it could cause a headache. Why? Your body temperature tends to decrease to the temperature of the room you’re sleeping in the first stages of sleep, increasing in the REM stage. If your hair is wet during this process your head won’t be able to adjust to your body temperature, which can cause headaches.

It could lead to yucky infections

It’s well documented that your pillow is the ideal breeding ground for bacteria and other nasties thanks to your pillow absorbing your sweat, the natural oils from your skin and even, your did skin cells – bleugh! Throw wet hair into the mix and you’ve got the ideal conditions for developing infections. Yikes!

Do you go to bed with wet hair? Let us know @YahooStyleUK

The 7 health risks of Christmas (and how to avoid them)

Have we been washing our hair all wrong?