Pillow Talk

"I sure hope this cotton pillow don't mess up my hair!"

Those of us who work in the beauty industry are use to hearing all sorts of old wives tales when it comes to the do's and dont's of hair, nails and skin care. Wikipedia explains, "Old wives’ tales originate in the oral tradition of storytelling. They were generally propagated by illiterate women, telling stories to each other or to children. The stories did not attempt to moralize  but to teach lessons and make difficult concepts like death or coming of age easy for children to understand. Also these stories are used to scare children so they don't do certain things.

So now that we have a clearer understanding of what old wives tales are. Let me share with you   some funny old wives tales that I have heard while servicing my customers. Starting with cutting hair. I have heard, "Get your hair cut often because cutting your hair makes it grow." I have also heard,"Soak your nails in Jello to make them stronger." Another funny one that I  have heard, "If you are Black do not shampoo your hair frequently (like 1-3 times per week). Black people can not shampoo their hair as much as white people." But the funniest one of them all that I most recently heard, "Don't sleep on cotton pillow cases because they cause your hair to break and come out."

Typically when I write blogs, I make it a point to do a lot of research on my topic to ensure the information that I am writing about is not one sided. The challenge in writing this blog was that I could not find a expert of any sort who had done "pillow and hair" research. Hmmm!

In my professional opinion, thee old wives tale cotton pillow cases being the culprit to hair breakage and falling out is just that, another old wives tale. When I teach my customers about hair care, I always ask them to look in the mirror. I am certain to give them a hand held mirror to show them that they walked into the salon and sat in my chair hair WITH on their head! I remind them that the objective in the beauty industry (beauty supply stores included) is to make money. So they will tell you a lot to get your money. Do not fall for the "buy a satin pillow case" pitch. Many people grew up sleeping on cotton pillow cases and had heads full of hair. Many even went on to have fun at sleep overs, survived pillow fights and prop their heads up while nursing a cold; believe it or not, all this was done on pillow cases. Cotton pillow cases at that.

Sooooo, to make a long blog short. Do not run to the beauty supply or linen store to replace your cotton pillow cases with fancy satin or silk pillow cases. I guarantee no matter what kind of pillow case you sleep on your hair will be the same. And if you take the time to look, you will see some strands of hair. I can also guarantee you that cotton pillow cases work best if you sweat a lot in your head. Cotton absorbs moisture better than the other fancier fabrics. Also for the record, wrapping your hair in any kind of fabric is simply to preserve the hair style or to cut down on styling time the next day. If you want to reduce breakage and hair loss; drink more water, exercise, eat  balanced meals, get some sleep, be sure to have nice bowel movements :-) and keep your hair clean, conditioned and combed (where applicable).

How is that for some "COTTON" pillow talk!