Satin sheets have a loaded reputation for sexiness and luxury. Satin pillowcases, on the other hand, are a beauty tool. When I was small my grandmother told me I should use a satin pillowcase to keep my hair shiny and to prevent wrinkles. I was one of those kids who could only sleep on one specific pillow, though, and that included a favorite pillowcase that was cotton but had been slept on so long it had worn smooth. But now I am old and not attached to my Jem and the Holograms bedding anymore, so I decided to give it a try and see if using a satin pillowcase could actually make me prettier.
I decided to forgo the whole Heffner sheet set and just get a satin pillowcase. As much as I would like to live as much as possible like an Old Hollywood movie star with a naughty reputation, I do not actually find satin bed sheets particularly appealing. They’re too slippery, and I get tangled in them and they feel sticky and uncomfortable. Also, they are infuriating this poor snake who is just trying to go for a slither and can’t get off the satin sheet someone put him on:
As a pillow, though, it turns out satin is wonderful. I got silk satin, which is important to specify because polyester satin is smooth but can feel sticky and hot during the summer. Silk satin is always smooth and cool, and every night when you go to sleep you will feel like a fancy, fancy lady, even if you haven’t actually washed the rest of your sheets in a very, very long time.
According to Poshey Silk, a satin pillowcase is supposedly good for one’s hair because the smooth, silky surface lets your hair slide over the pillow while you sleep, which helps prevent static and breakage. And honestly, it works. I tried a satin pillowcase for a month, and my hair seems less frizzy than usual.
As an additional benefit, the satin pillowcase lets a hairstyle last much, much longer. Last month I went to my younger sister’s wedding, and I got a pretty cool braided bun updo to wear. I almost never get to wear updos, and that one looked really cool on me. I decided to sleep with it up and see what would happen, and when I woke up my braids were totally fine. It looked basically just like it had at the wedding. A different friend who tried sleeping on a braided updo used a regular cotton pillowcase and was disappointed to find hers got all fuzzy and messy in the morning and she had to take it down. It also works for blow-outs. With just a bit of dry shampoo at the roots to disguise oiliness, I found that a blow-out stayed Kate Middleton-esque a lot longer than usual when I was sleeping on a satin pillowcase.
The silk satin pillowcase is also supposedly great for one’s skin. It’s reportedly easier on a person’s delicate face skin than cotton, and it’s supposed to improve elasticity. Also, it does not suck moisturizers off your skin as much as cotton does, so all your expensive face creams stay on your face all night and don’t just rub off onto the pillow. The effects of the pillow on face skin are harder to prove, but I did feel pretty great about how my face looked in the morning. It might be a placebo, but as far as I am concerned, I am 100-percent sold on the beauty benefits of satin pillowcases. In 40 years, I will be telling all my grandchildren that they need to use silk pillowcases all the time.
As great as those benefits are, the biggest selling point for me is that it turns out satin pillowcases feel very good. They’re always cool and soft, and they feel very luxurious. They aren’t even very expensive. I got mine for about $20 on Amazon, and that’s a small price to pay to wake up in the morning feeling like an Old Hollywood movie star with really good skin.