An eye mask can seriously level-up your bedtime ritual, your quality of sleep, and the way you look and feel the next morning. Don’t underestimate the powers of these sleep mask features and all their benefits.
Keep reading to find out what to look for when shopping for an eye mask to wear to bed (or just when you need a moment to chill) that can also soothe headaches, help you meditate, and minimize eye bags overnight.
Material: Silk
Your eye area is very delicate, so when choosing a material for your sleep mask, be sure to pick one that is gentle on the skin. In addition to silk’s gentle fibers, this material won’t soak up and absorb your moisturizers and eye cream.
Silk is a recommended material for those who want to keep their skin looking smooth and youthful. Unlike cotton, silk reduces friction and pulling on the skin with its slippery texture.
Shape: Contoured
A recent innovation in sleep eye masks is a contoured shape that cradles the eyes. This type of shape not only helps keep the light out, but it is also more comfortable on the face since it cups the eyes.
This is an awesome solution for people who wear false lashes and are concerned with a sleep eye mask irritating their lashes or rubbing on them too much causing them to fall out prematurely.
Feature: Light-Blocking
A key reason why many people use sleep eye masks is to keep the daylight out. Those who work night shifts and hit the hay when the sun has already risen can seriously benefit from a light-blocking eye mask.
Additionally, people who sleep with a partner whose alarm goes off before the sun is up will need to turn the lights on to get ready for their day. Wearing a sleep mask will allow the partner who’s sleeping to continue their slumber undisturbed.
Feature: Weighted
Weighted blankets are scientifically proven to comfort you. One of the key ways this happens is due to the parasympathetic nervous system. Pressure is calming because it lowers your heart rate, leading to an overall feeling of being soothed. Weighted blankets use “pressure therapy,” equivalent to the sensation of being hugged, swaddled, or held.
If you’re not ready to commit to a weighted blanket, the same feelings of calmness can be achieved similarly with a weighted eye mask.
Feature: Cooling
It’s basically a universal truth that everyone loves the cool, flipside of their pillow. Not only does the cooling sensation on your face simply feel divine, but it has some other awesome benefits.
Minimizes Eye Bags
Coldness restricts the blood vessels in your face and surrounding your eyes, alleviating puffiness and dark circles. Some cooling eye masks come with eye holes so you can go about your morning routine, calming those eye bags while you still get a move on.
Relaxing
The weight of the eye mask paired with the cooling sensation will completely relax you. Take a break from the screen by putting 15 minutes aside to just meditate, relax, and slip away from the pressures of the day with a soothing eye mask.
Soothes Headaches
Cooling eye masks chill out the veins surrounding your eyes and can help in soothing a headache or migraine. Maybe you’ve had a stressful day and that stress has manifested itself into a migraine right before bedtime. Using a cooling eye mask can help by minimizing stress, relaxing your eye sockets, and putting you into a state of calm.
Feature: Warming
A sleep eye mask that has a warming feature, as well as a cooling feature, is the way to go. You can pop it in the microwave for 15-20 seconds to heat up or chill it in the fridge for two to three hours. It’s the best of both worlds!
Soothes Dry Eyes
For those who suffer from dry eyes caused by anything from a medical condition to simply spending too much time staring at a laptop screen, a warming eye mask can be very helpful.
The heat helps to soothe dry eyes because warmth stimulates the oil glands that are responsible for producing tears. Warmth improves blood circulation, relaxes the eyes, and prevents tears from evaporating too quickly.
Reduces Congestion
If you feel pressure behind your eyes, cheeks, forehead, or all of the above, chances are you have a sinus headache. Caused by congestion, sinus headaches are throbbing pressure headaches that you may find to be the worst in the morning. Due to swelling in the lining of the nose and sinuses, it can be the result of allergies or just your average common cold.
Applying a warm compress, or a soothing eye mask to your head and eyes can relieve this swelling and may help you achieve some relief from your congestion headache.
In Conclusion
It may seem like there are a lot of features to look for in one sleep eye mask. But don’t settle for less! Doe Lashes offers a Soothing Eye Mask that has almost all of the aforementioned qualities.
In addition to all these features, the soothing eye mask comes in an adorable sky blue synthetic silk material decorated with clouds. Try this eye mask out to have you sleeping on cloud nine and waking up feeling refreshed, relaxed, and totally cute.
Sources:
7 Surprising Benefits of Silk - Skin and Beauty Center | Everyday Health
More Than Just a Fad: 4 Ways Weighted Blankets Can Actually Help You | Penn Medicine