Your Pillow Hates You and Other Things Your Skin Wants You To Know

Sure, your pillow is always there for you at the end of a long day with its fluffy promises of sweet dreams and hours of refreshing beauty sleep. But know this, your pillow is a filthy liar. And it’s time you knew the truth.

 

Your pillow is making you break out.

All day while you’re away, your pillow is busy nurturing bacteria that gets on your skin while you sleep. Even if you clean your face obsessively before bed, your skin produces oil and sweat while you sleep, which your pillow case absorbs. There’s also residue from your serums and moisturizers, plus oils and product residue from your hair. All that grime can lead to clogged pores and breakouts if you’re not changing your pillowcase with Ritz-Carlton frequency.

 

Your pillow is giving your wrinkles.

It feels so nice to roll over on your side, scrunch your face down against your pillow, and get back to that recurring dream about Ryan Gosling. You know the one where he shows up at your office and whisks you off to Fiji while your co-workers peer over their cubicles with barely masked shock and envy? Well, keep sleeping on your side and Gosling will be passing you up for Gina in accounting because all that pillow scrunching is giving your face more lines than a Wal-Mart on Black Friday.

 

The American Academy of Dermatology (AAD) cautions that sleeping in certain positions night after night leads to "sleep lines -- wrinkles that become etched into the surface of the skin and don't disappear once you're up. Sleeping on your side increases wrinkles on cheeks and chin, while sleeping face-down gives you a furrowed brow.” To keep the night wrinkles away, try sleeping on your back. If it feels uncomfortable at first, just remember, people have endured far worse for beauty’s sake.

 

Your pillow wants you to have a bad hair day.

Your hair is also suffering at the hands…er…fibers of your pillow. Cotton pillowcases, especially the ones you pick up on the cheap, are rougher than you think. Your hair gets pulled and stretched against your pillow as you move in your sleep. All that friction causes breakage, frizz and thinner looking hair. It’s also pulling moisture from your hair potentially leaving it dull, dry and brittle.

 

Your pillow is stealing your glow.

The fibers in your cotton pillowcase suck moisture out of your skin leading to drier, duller skin tone. Dry skin can lead to more fine lines. More fine lines make you look older.

 

Your pillow can be soooo irritating.

Love the scent of lavender? Spring rain? It’s possible your skin does not. Scented detergents may contain skin irritants that can cause your skin to react with bumps, itching or rashes. If you’re experiencing any of these issues, chances are, it’s not your partner your allergic to, it’s your sheets. Try using a gentle, unscented detergent for sensitive skin.

 

The solution to your pillow problems?

Replace your pillowcase. Chuck that no good cotton jezebel and opt for a sleek silk pillowcase. The smooth texture makes it easier for your skin and hair to glide across the surface undamaged and the long, tightly woven silk fibers won’t draw moisture from your skin the way cotton’s short rough fibers do. Plus, silk is the most hypoallergenic of fabrics and naturally inhospitable to mites, mold and fungus.

 

Wash your linens frequently and flip your pillow over every night as a quick refresh between washings. And though it can be tempting to skip a face wash and just fall into bed on those night when you’re particularly tired, it’s never a good idea. Bad for your skin. Bad for your linens.  

 

Adopt a healthy skin care regimen. Night time is the right time to put extra effort into your skin care. Wash thoroughly to remove the day’s makeup, dirt, oil and sweat. Vivant’s Mandelic Acid 3-in-1 Wash with antioxidant and alpha-hydroxy strength is a great cleanser for all skin types. Follow with a multi-purpose clarifying toner like 3% Mandelic Acid 3-in-1 and a rejuvenating serum like Derm-A-Renew™ Gentle Peptide and Vitamin A to brighten, refine and reinvigorate skin texture and tone.