Pillows are necessities for restful sleep. They are great for propping the oneself at an ideal angle for relaxation. After a long day, they are ideal tools to help us put overselves to sleep quickly.
But if you have ever gone to bed with skin clear and woke up the next morning to find a few ridiculous pimples that sprouted overnight, your pillow might be doing more than just transferring bacteria to your skin.
Early wrinkles
Firstly, you must have woken up at least a few times to find some “sleep lines” caused by your pillow or pillowcase. While these do not cause any immediate concerns, it might mean that your sleeping posture or pillow case might be scrunching up and stretching skin in an unnatural way. This may cause premature wrinkles to form.
Try: Sleeping on your back alleviates pressure on one side of the face. Also try changing out your cotton pillowcase for a silk one, to decrease the changes of the fabric scrunching up during subconscious movement while you toss and turn in your sleep.
Puffy Eyes And Eyebags
Similarly, this is the other major detrimental effect of sleeping on your side. Fluid gathers around the eye overnight, resulting in puffy eyes the next morning.
Try: Flat pillows tend to cause the overnight goldfish eye look, so get a slightly more elevated pillow, and sleep on your back.
Breakouts
Your pillowcase is fertile ground for dirt (read Bacteria) and oil. Not surprisingly, it is a common cause of unhappy acne breakouts. Why? Apart from the face, our hair comes into contact with it. Some people believe that pillowcases made from certain material reduces the risk of bacterial colonization. My view is that no matter what material your pillowcase is made of, if it is not laundered properly or changed frequently, it will cross-infect your skin.
Also, in this case, sharing is definitely not caring.
Try: Wash your face thoroughly before considering putting your face (or foot) to the pillow. If you do find yourself sleeping on your pillow with makeup on, chances are it would have rubbed off on your pillowcase, so have it changed as frequently as twice a week.
Dry Skin
Who would have thought pillowcases could cause dry skin? Yes, some experts think that pillowcases made of cotton suck moisture out of your skin! Also, our moisturizers tend to rub off on these while sleeping, and steal the tiny miracles they were supposed work on your skin overnight.
Try: Pillowcases made of natural fibers such as silk may help. Also, allow your skincare to absorb properly before diving into your pillow.