Are silk pillowcases really worth it?
Confession: I have become something of a silk pillowcase snob.
Until recently, I slept happily on cotton or linen covers, until I was introduced to a silk slip... and my nights (or more specifically, mornings) haven’t been the same since.
I was originally attracted to silk because of the benefits it supposedly has for your skin – think less wrinkles, more ageing gracefully. That, and the fact that sleeping on silk makes me feel the way I imagine Kate Middleton feels when she wakes up.
But I’d never thought to consider the effect silk pillowcases could have on my hair. Then I was introduced to the new Pure Hair Food Rest Your Hair silk pillowcases – made from pure Mulberry silk at 22 momme (silk aficionados will know what I mean), they promise to preserve your blow dry and keep hair soft and smooth overnight – no more waking up with a bad case of bedhead.
“Traditional cotton pillowcases draw moisture from your hair and cause friction at the roots through the night, which causes your hair to become dry, frizzy and damaged,” the Pure Hair Food website tells me. “The silk cooling effect is perfect for summer nights, as it stops the humidity causing frizz and sweating from the roots.”
Apparently, silk pillowcases control your hair’s sebum production better than cotton, which sops up excess oil overnight and encourages your scalp to produce more to compensate.
Now this, I had to test for myself. I’m a wash every second day, religious spritz (douse would be more accurate) of dry shampoo kind of girl – my hair skews to the oilier side.
And after testing out the Pure Hair Food silk slips for a few weeks now, I can attest: my hair is less oily. I’m washing it every three days instead of two, and I haven’t changed anything else about my routine. Plus, I’m writing in the middle of another Sydney heatwave – if anything, you’d expect my hair to need washing more often, not less.
Add to that the fact that I no longer wake up with crevices deeper than the Grand Canyon on my face and how much softer the silk pillowcases feel to sleep on than cotton (so harsh! So puritanical!) and I’m sold. This, dear readers, is beauty sleep.
