Some pillowcases can irritate your skin and leave creases, especially if you toss and turn a lot at night. Silk pillowcases cause fewer wrinkles because the smooth quality of the fabric produces less friction, which means it won't tug at your skin as much as a fabric like cotton.
From preventing wrinkles to helping reduce hair breakage caused by friction, dermatologists and hair stylists have been touting the benefits of silk pillowcases for years.
Silk pillowcases are known to have a ton of benefits for your skin, your hair, and your sleep. These include: It's super soft and smooth so it doesn't pull at or crease your skin which means your silk pillowcase can help prevent the formation of wrinkles on your skin over time.
Additionally, while some pillowcase materials actively pull moisture from the skin, satin pillowcases made from silk absorb less liquid, which helps the skin stay hydrated. Adequate hydration helps prevent wrinkles and other signs of aging. Satin pillowcases may also appeal to sleepers with acne.
As such, silk is prone to fading when exposed to direct sunlight, either indoors or outside. Even this best silk bedding will fade if left in direct sunlight. This is why we recommend always hanging your silk to dry away from the sun. Happily, your silk sheets should air dry very quickly, even indoors.
Silk pillowcases, like your other bed linens, come into direct contact with your skin every night, so it's important to wash them regularly — typically about every seven to ten days. To learn more about washing bed linens, check out this guide to washing and properly caring for bedding.
Silk absorbs less moisture than other popular bedding materials like cotton. This allows the skin to retain more moisture, which in turn helps prevent dry or itchy skin. Silk is also less likely to absorb any lotions or serums you might use in your bedtime skincare regime. These benefits extend to your hair as well.
“There is some evidence that when compared to typical cotton pillowcases, less moisture is absorbed with a silk pillowcase,” says Janiene Luke, MD, an associate professor of dermatology at Loma Linda University in California. These benefits are more pronounced for hair, especially curly and textured hair.
Sleeping Positions That Can Reduce Wrinkles
In other words, the best sleeping position is usually on your back. With the back of your head to the pillow, keeping your skin off the pillow can help prevent not only wrinkles, but it can even help prevent exposure to bacteria. That can help prevent acne in the long run.
"Sleeping on your side or your stomach exposes your face to compression and frictional forces," Camp says. "Over time, as the lines are created over and over, the crease may become etched into the skin." That's why the best sleeping position is flat on your back.
Are silk pillowcases worth it? Yes! Not only do they feel great to sleep on, silk pillowcase benefits also include smoother hair and smoother skin.
The highest-quality silk is mulberry silk, which is made from silkworms who eat from the leaves of the mulberry tree. It's the most durable silk and also the softest, which makes it ideal for a high-traffic item like a pillowcase. There are grades within silk — A, B, and C scale, with A being the best quality.
Only if it came in a cool color or design that you just had to have. You don't need the expensive, most luxurious, 1 million momme, Golden Globe Award-winning silk pillowcase for soft, less breakage-prone hair.
This means silk helps prevent damage to your hair and reduce skin aging / wrinkles from sleep creases. Silk is less abrasive than cotton to sleep on and doesn't draw out the moisture from your skin and hair like cotton.
"Silk is beneficial to the hair because it is a breathable fabric allowing circulation and preventing the moisture from night sweats from getting trapped at the root of the hair," says Hill." It also helps to minimize the friction between our hair fibers and cotton fabrics.
Don't put silk items in the dryer. Heat can damage delicate silk fibers. If the dryer is absolutely necessary to use only 'air' setting for 15 minutes or less with NO fabric sheets or dryer balls. Remove sheets before completely dry.
If you frequently sleep with wet hair, we suggest investing in a silk pillowcase. Silk doesn't retain moisture well, thereby allowing your hair to dry faster. More importantly, it's slick and produces less friction when compared with a cotton or flannel pillowcase.
DON'T dry a silk pillowcase in direct sunlight or in a heated dryer cycle. If you absolutely must use the dryer, use it on the air/no-heat cycle. DO steam silk bedding if you'd like to eliminate wrinkles.
Satin is slightly similar to silk at first glance but it has a noticeable difference up close. Satin has both glossy and shiny sides, while silk is lustrous all the way. It can retain its shape and doesn't wrinkle or frizz the hair, unlike other fabrics. However, It's not as breathable as silk.
Satin is non-absorbent, and therefore helps preserve the moisture in the hair and skin. Satin also won't absorb any applied night creams. Silk (and cotton) are highly absorbent, which can rob hair and skin of their natural oils.
Despite their similar appearance the biggest difference is that satin is a weave and not a natural fibre, whereas silk is a natural fibre fabric.
And sleeping on the Blissy pillowcase compared to my usual cotton cases does feel better, more luxurious, more comfortable, so in that way, it was a welcome improvement to my bedscape. My Blissy-covered pillow is currently my favorite of the (too many, my husband says) pillows I reach for each night.