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Why getting 8 hours of sleep a night simply isn't enough

When it comes to sleep, we’ve been told for many years that the optimal amount of sleep that we need to feel rested is around eight hours, depending on your age, gender, lifestyle and various other factors. However, what we’re not told is that eight hours of sleep may be enough to feel rested, but is it enough to look rested?

Even when we sleep for a solid eight hours or more, this doesn’t always mean that during this time we have had the best quality of sleep and we can often still wake up looking a little, let’s say, disheveled. What we’re here to discuss, is how to maximise your sleep quantity AND quality so that when you awake you look as fresh as you feel, every single morning.

A recent article by Stylist.co.uk found that 32.7% of women get just 6.5 hours of sleep per night due to the constraints of modern life - and this just isn’t good for your health. The article also cites the latest best-practice advice published by the NHS when it comes to getting a good night’s sleep. This advice lists a number of recommendations that we can all take on board, including ensuring that your mattress, pillows and covers are comfortable.

We believe silk is the solution and in this post we explain why using silk bedding and bed linen is the best way to sleek hair, smooth skin and most important of all, a better night’s rest.

Get your beauty sleep

Getting true beauty sleep takes more than just eight hours of rest, as we all know too well, it’s a process of a good bedtime cleansing and grooming regime. But often this grooming routine is far too time consuming for most of us. So what if rather than relying on winding down by taking long baths and using face masks, you could supplement your sleep further with your bedding, taking all of the hard work out of your hands so you can slumber peacefully while the silk gets to work?

While an effective, consistent skincare regime is very important, you can make your efforts go further by caring for your skin throughout the night. Using silk bed linen helps to smooth out the skin, instead of creasing or crumpling it as typical cotton bed linen often does. This means that when you wake, there aren’t any extra unwanted lines in your skin and redness from friction is also completely prevented.

Silk pillowcases and silk eye masks don't just have fantastic anti aging benefits for the skin though, they also have many general skincare effects for all kinds of conditions, from acne and congestion to dry skin problems, redness and soreness. This is because silk isn’t an absorbent fabric, meaning one of two things:

Firstly, harmful bacteria isn’t able to thrive in silk and so your sheets and pillowcases remain hygienic for much longer periods and in turn, this bacteria can’t spread to the skin as it might with more absorbent fabrics like cotton.

The second is that because silk doesn’t take in moisture, your skincare products such as serums, moisturisers and overnight masks or treatments remain firmly on your face, absorbing into your skin as they should, instead of into your bed sheets. This means that any effort you do make with your beauty regime before bed doesn’t go to waste.

So, in essence, your usual skincare routine and our silk bed linen and eye masks can make a strong team, ensuring that when you wake up in the morning you look and feel your very best, having experienced the most restful and restorative night’s beauty sleep.

Get quality sleep

While we understand it can be important to many to look good, it’s really important to also feel good and so the benefits of our luxury silk products don’t stop at the aesthetics. Our silk bedding can also work to make the quality of your sleep a lot better, because silk has many natural properties that help you to both get to sleep and to stay asleep.

Perfect temperature regulation

Silk is naturally temperature regulating. It doesn’t trap heat underneath the covers so it prevents you from overheating. This ensures you don’t struggle to get to sleep and also stops you from waking up unnecessarily during the night to cool off.

But it isn’t all about preventing you from getting too hot. Because of its ability to control temperature, silk is also able to insulate to ensure that you don’t get too cold, which can make it just as difficult to drift off and stay comfortably asleep.

Hypoallergenic properties

Silk is also naturally hypoallergenic, due to its moisture-wicking quality. Excess moisture can often be a breeding ground for allergens and so by using silk bedding, you eradicate the possibility for allergens and bacteria to grow in your sheets. This ensures you have a more restful night’s sleep as you aren’t awakened by any itching, sneezing or coughing that is brought on by allergies.

Gentle on skin

Silk is a very gentle material and so it can help to soothe dry or sore skin, gliding delicately over the skin as opposed to heavier, cotton materials that often catch on sores. If you suffer from a dry skin condition, silk bed linen can help you to sleep comfortably all through the night with reduced irritation.

A lot of typical bedding material such as cotton, is exposed to harsh chemicals in the manufacturing process to make it fire resistant and ‘easy-iron’. These chemicals can make your bed sheets feel ‘starchy’ and also cause irritation to your skin. Silk is naturally fire-resistant and by ironing it, keeps its smooth texture and sheen. Sleep better in an all natural material, peaceful in the knowledge that you aren’t exposed to any unwanted chemicals and allergens.

Investing in silk bed sheets and bedding can maximise an 8-hour sleep to its full potential, ensuring you get the quality sleep that your body needs while reaping all of the beauty benefits too. Take a look at our luxurious range of silk bedding and with 10% off your first order when you sign-up to our email list, treat yourself to better sleep today.