I once had a hair stylist tell me that you should treat different hair types like you do different garments—some need more attention than others. To give some context: I have fine, wavy hair and was always waking up with a rat’s nest. My stylist told me, think of your hair like a delicate fabric—you have to take extra care of it to make sure it doesn’t get ruined.
Short story long, she told me to start sleeping on a silk pillowcase. Initially, I thought she was bananas, but with the way she explained it to me, it made perfect sense: when you sleep on a silk pillowcase, there’s way less friction between the pillow and your hair, so you’ll wake up with much more—erm—tame tresses.
Smoother hair
And let me tell you: as someone who has slept on a silk pillowcase for five years now, there is no going back. I no longer wake up with wild, unkempt hair. Actually, whenever I do end up sleeping on a cotton pillowcase, I truly notice the difference. Not only in my hair, but in my skin and my quality of sleep too.
No more sheet lines
I move a lot in my sleep, but I also sleep hard. When I use a cotton pillowcase, I end up with “sheet lines” from where I’ve literally made my bed and slept in it. Again, the relative rigidity of cotton fibers, when compared to supple silk, enable the material to make a shape and keep it—as evidenced by the lovely lines across my face when I wake up.
A boost to your skincare routine
There’s also a pretty interesting skincare component of silk. Yes, there’s the gentle, silky softness on your skin when compared to other fibers, but there’s also the element of porosity (aka porous-ness). Silk doesn’t tend to draw out and absorb our skincare products like other materials do. So if you invest a lot of time and money into your routine, silk will actually help keep your beloved products where they belong: on your face.
A small, feel-good luxury
There’s also the undeniable fact that luxuries—no matter how small—make us feel good. There’s something about resting my head on silk that makes me feel special and cared for. It’s cool to the touch and feels good on my face. Ending and beginning my days with this small luxury just makes me feel a little special, which is maybe the best argument for a silk pillowcase I could make.