Remember when your mother (or grandmother) slept on a silk pillowcase to preserve her perfectly backcombed bouffant? A lot of us do. I polled a few of my friends to find out exactly what they were laying their heads on at night. The majority said they didn’t sleep on silk, but for those who actually did, they raved about the benefits–mainly, less of a tornado-tousseled head of hair when they awoke.
I wanted to find out more about the alleged beauty advantages of sleeping on silk. Multiple sources claimed that natural silk pillowcases provide benefits to your skin and hair by reducing friction. Lower friction is supposed to reduce split ends, decrease pulling on your skin, and diminish creasing on the face.
Silk is thought to be a good thermal insulator, helping you stay cool in the summer and warm in the winter (which could be advantageous to those of us still enduring those irksome hot flashes). Silk is also naturally hypoallergenic and resistant to mold, mildew, fungus, and dust mites.
“Sleeping on a cotton pillowcase creates static and causes hair to bunch, and knot,” says New York City salon owner John Corbett. “On a soft silk pillowcase, hair will slide, which is much less damaging.”
Of course I could not find any scientific evidence to confirm that sleeping on a silk pillowcase will reduce wrinkles. Wouldn’t we all love that?
The most fascinating part of this pesudo-research, however, was polling my friends to find out what they spend 1/3 of their lives laying their heads on. Yes, that’s correct, we spend 1/3 of our lives sleeping…on pillows.
80 percent of my test group did not sleep on silk pillowcases, while 19 percent did.
You may be asking about the final 1% of the group. She recounted that when she was 12 years old, she saw an interview with the glamorous movie star Zsa Zsa Gabor. In the interview, Zsa Zsa stated she never slept on a pillow because she claimed that doing so would give you a double chin. After hearing that, my friend never slept on a pillow again (ergo, no pillow case). And, just so you know, my beautiful friend does not have a double chin.
So, judge for yourself…silk, cotton, terrycloth, bamboo, or maybe no pillow and no pillowcase at all. The choice is yours. Sweet Dreams!
P.S. Please send me a comment below and tell me your pillowcase story.
4 Comments
Loved your pillow case/pillow research! I do have a problem with some pillowcases irritating the skin on my face. The worst offender is the really nice 100% cotton sheets I have. My oldest blend sheets feel the best. I don’t ever put those 100% cotton ones on my pillows when those sheets come up in my sheet set rotation. I will be looking into silk pillow cases!! Thank you for the information ?!
Diane,
I didn’t include myself in my own research, but I have been sleeping on a silk pillowcase for a couple of years. The first one I bought was a polyester/silk blend and it fell apart after a few washings. Then I ordered one from Soft Surroundings, and I love it. It’s super soft and washes like a dream. A bit pricey, but hey, we spend 1/3 of our lives on a pillow. It’s like a good handbag– We use it every day (oops, night). Love you.
I have been considering getting a silk pillow case and have been reading reviews to try to figure out where to get a quality silk pillow case. I will check out Soft Surroundings.
Do you have to hand wash your silk pillow case and can it be put in the dryer?
Have you noticed any difference in your hair? I am concerned about how dry my hair is and I suspect part of the problem is my cotton pillow case.
When I was younger, I tried sleeping without a pillow case and I ended up with a stiff neck. A chiropracter told me
we need some support for our necks and if I did not use a pillow I could roll up tightly one or two cotton place mats in a tube and put it under my neck for support.
I loved your and Janna Beatty’s book Quintessential Style, there is so much good information and the print is big enough for me to read without reading glasses!
Nancy, I first tried a poly/silk blend pillow case and it began to fray after a few washes. Then I ordered one from Soft Surroundings. I just throw it in with the rest of the sheets. It washes well and tumbles dry.
My friends tell me that they don’t get tornado-hair in the morning with a silk pillow case. I have short hair, so I can’t tell as much.
No evidence that silk reduces creasing or wrinkles, but it sure feels luxurious.
Hope this helps. And thanks for your lovely comments about QS. I didn’t think about the print-size when our publisher put the book together, but yes the print is larger. Look forward to working with you. Sharon