The great ponytail mystery

[ELM8]

I've got normal medium / long pretty straight (but use straighteners) hair. It's not particularly thin but can look so in a ponytail.

I've tried a few of the Instagram hacks to make the ponytail look thicker but they rarely work. Also the rest of my hair usually sticks to my head so I look like a potato at certain angles...It's fine, I don't mind I just always wear my hair down.

HOWEVER

Just as I'm going to bed, I roughly tie my hair up and BAM it's the perfect ponytail, it's got volume and bounce and some wispy bits that accidentally frame my face.. and it's completely wasted on me sleeping on it and I wake up and my hair is back to the average (at best) hair.

I try tying it up in the same way in the morning but it's not the same.. maybe the secret to a perfect ponytail is having had the hair down for 12 hours prior? And obviously nowhere near a pillow...

Why are nighttime ponytails so much better?

Is it just me?!

Not just you
Throw my hair into a messy bun to clean or whatever and it looks great, make an actual effort and just doesn't work

Do you brush your hair before you tie it up in the morning?

Yep. My hair doesn't tie up very well anyway, but throw it up in a half pulled through high ponytail for a shower and voila, perfect messy bun. Try to do one in the morning = Miss Trunchbull.

Glad it's not just me 

@oviraptor21 I do but it's all a bit kinky and flat.. I've tried straightening it like I would normally then tying it up but it's nowhere near the quality of the bedtime ponytail

You know when you freshly wash your hair.. try dry shampoo in it then.
Back comb a bit. That's what I tend to do to get the fullness.

Absolutely!!
My daytime ponytails look flat and awful and whispy and bumpy. I take ages doing it.
Take 2 seconds to shove it up at night...perfect ponytail?!
Whats that about?!

@ELM8

Dry shampoo blasted into dry root area in the morning and roughed up to get the looser non potato head look works well for me.

Don't use a brush or comb but put the bobble in while your heads tilted and pull slightly where it's tied to loosen it up then dry shampoo teases through the pony.

Yep. No brush. No straighteners. Brush your hair before you go to bed instead.

Dry shampoo after real shampoo... interesting concept but hey I'll give it a try!!!

So @oviraptor21 brush before bed then leave it down? Don't know if I could sleep with hair everywhere....

I have the opposite problem, my hair looks awful down in the morning but in the evening, just before bed it looks all sleek and shiny.

I find this, but in my case I think it's unfortunately that (soft/bedroom) artificial lighting is just more flattering than daylight!

I used to put my hair up to go to bed, I still do sometimes, but honestly I can wake up and go with good hair if I leave it down.

Yes! The accidental perfect messy bun when I'm shoving it up is a mystery to me too!

Add to that, my hair always looks better when it needs washing…🙁

Do you use a different type of hair band or scrunchie when you got to bed? I use a thin elasticated band during the day and it takes me a while to get my ponytail right, but I use a soft scrunchie at night and my my loose ponytail/bun always looks good first time!

Is it the lighting? Daylight is harsher on fine hair than artificial light.

I wouldn't be able to sleep with my hair down. If my scrunchie comes out during the night, I have to search for it.
Interesting idea about the dry shampoo trick though.

Maybe if you normally wash your hair in the morning you need to switch to evening, or vice versa?

Same here. I've got thick, shoulder length hair which I regularly wear up and I'm reasonably adept at doing it but the going to bed scrunch is far easier. It must be the (not) brushing- I don't brush it at bedtime.