My hair has really given me a run for my money post-partum and although I found a great product that helps a lot, I also regularly color it which isn’t making the situation any better. I had a second major round of hormonal hair loss a few months ago and my newest baby hairs are constantly sticking up at all angles.
My hairdresser has been trying to convince me to sleep on a silk pillowcase for years but when I tried it last year, I gave up after only a few nights because I didn’t like the way it felt. I’m a cotton gal, through and through! And I was skeptical that it actually did anything.
But then a few months ago my dermatologist made the same suggestion for wrinkle prevention and I decided to give it another shot. After three solid months of sleeping on silk, which makes me feel very fancy by the way, I am a convert. Like to the point where I can’t travel without it.
Read my full review below and check out my Instagram today to enter to win a silk pillowcase and eyemask for yourself!
Silk pillowcase / Silk eyemask
Silk Pillowcase Review: 4 Reasons why I love it
My skin looks better. Unless you sleep on your back, your face most likely makes contact with your pillow for most of the night. I don’t know about you, but for me, that creates sleep lines and creases, and 9 times out of 10, I would wake up with the pattern of any pillow wrinkles on my face. With the silk pillowcase, that doesn’t happen. I’ve also found that I wake up less puffy. When I switched to a silk pillowcase, I also switched to a silk eyemask which I wear most nights so that the morning light doesn’t wake me up. I think that the mix of these two things has helped a lot.
Admittedly in the last month, I changed up my skincare routine, but I saw a difference (that was more lasting than how I looked when I woke up) before that. My skin feels softer and I have less redness. I can’t speak to the wrinkle piece yet, but I do think that after a few months, my skin looks better and maybe even glowier… dare I say it?
Bye bye bedhead. The smooth fabric reduces friction on your hair while you move around in your sleep. That friction can cause damage such as split ends. I’ve noticed that I wake up with way less bedhead in the morning. My frizzy morning flyaways are a thing of the past. My joke with Anel used to be that in the morning I look like Charlize Theron in the movie Monster (specifically this look), but now I wake up looking more like myself and less like a murderer. Winning! But don’t just take my word for it. This article on Man Repeller (with before and after pics) does a better job of showing it than I can.
TLC for my damaged hair. If you color your hair or use heat on it often, you might see a lot of breakage like I do. While I didn’t notice a difference right away, about two months in I think it’s actually helping me with less breakage. Maybe that’s just a placebo effect, but I do think my hair looks happier and healthier and I’ve changed nothing else about my hair routine.
It keeps me cool. I read that silk naturally regulates heat which keeps you cool at night, and I can now tell you first hand that it does. I get really hot at night and often sweat while I sleep (sorry if that’s TMI), but I’ve noticed that the silk has kept me cooler and I’ve been sweating less.
The Best Silk Pillowcases (According to the Internet)
Best overall: According to Good Housekeeping, the Fisher’s Finery silk pillowcase, found on Amazon, is the overall best one. It’s currently on sale for $45 marked down from $60.
Best value: The MYK silk pillowcase won for the best value, priced at $39.
Best ethical: And I wish I had seen this before I bought mine but The Ethical Silk Company makes an ethical silk pillowcase that also got great reviews.
Most hype (and great reviews): The Slip silk pillowcase (which is what I have) is the one that all of my friends and the esthetician recommended to me. And all of the bloggers promoted it too. I got sucked in and bought it, and while I really do like it, I think any of the ones above would be just as good at a lower price point.
Photo by Julia Dags.
You’ve convinced me to try again too!
Let me know how it goes! And give it at least a week before you give up on it 🙂
Hi Julia! I have a question regarding product use and the silk pillowcase. I am desperate to buy one for all of the very many wonderful reasons you’ve listed above but I am also hesitant because I use quite a few “active ingredient” skin care items, such as Kate Somerville Antibac and various retinols. Could you add a section or let us know if using such products would stain the finish of the silk, or ruin the material? I absolutely adore that pink color but my heart would break if I got it and stained it due to using above mentioned products (which are necessary to keep my hormonal acne at bay). Thank you for your help, big fan of your blog!
Great question and I don’t know the real answer but anecdotally I can tell you that I use a retinol every other night and haven’t had an issue. I don’t know about the KS Antibac but I’d reach out to the silk company and ask them directly to be safe. Or maybe go for a darker color of silk!
Thank you! I will definitely do that!
I’ve been thinking about switching to one too–I’m curious, how do you wash yours?
Most of the time I hand wash it with a delicates detergent, but once I washed it with a really gentle detergent in a delicates bag on the cold setting and it was fine. I never put it in the dryer!
Hi! Thanks for the review I’ve been interested in these for the longest time! I don’t see the giveaway up though??
It went live at 12pm EST. I should have specified!
Thanks for this review! I have been wondering about silk for a while, and even bought some silk scrunchies to start! The scrunchies are great because it doesn’t give you a crease in your hair, and doesn’t pull like a normal hair tie. My mom wants to get me into a silk pillowcase, so I think I will let her now ahahah!
xx Libby
https://premedwearspearls.blogspot.com
The silk scrunchies are awesome. I use them too but forgot to include in this post. Good call!
Hi Julia,
Thanks for the review! I’m thinking of trying a silk pillowcase. It’s extra maintenance and care than my cotton cases, so that’s my hesitation.
Julia and Libby,
What brand of silk scrunchies do you recommend?
Thanks, Lisa
It’s definitely extra care but I just hand wash it once a week and it’s so worth it! I buy the $8 satin scrunchies on Amazon but I know Slip makes nice ones too.
Thanks Julia! Hope you’re enjoying the long weekend.
So glad you shared why you love it!! I’ve been going back and fourth thinking about getting one for my curly hair and I think you just sold me.