The anti-wrinkle pillows you’ll wish you knew about sooner

For years we’ve been told about the power of getting our ‘beauty sleep’, but did you know there’s a good chance you’re actually adding more wrinkles to your face while you snooze?!

The culprit is your pillow, and sadly, it could be ageing your skin. 

“Sleep lines are caused when people sleep on their tummy or on their side with their face squished into the pillow,” says Cosmetic Physician Dr Phoebe Jones. “Over the years, this repetitive pressure and friction wrinkling up the skin results in ironing the wrinkles into the skin,” she explains.

“In young people who have good skin elasticity and volume in their faces, the effects aren’t as obvious and may resolve within an hour or two of waking. As we get older however, we experience volume loss and decreased skin elasticity, so these wrinkles can become permanent."

But, we’ve got to sleep, right? So what’s a girl to do? It’s simple: upgrade your pillow. There’s such a thing as anti-wrinkle pillows and we’ve found the best anti-ageing pillow options in Australia for you to try.

#1 / The silk pillowcase

While Dr Jones’ top recommendation for preventing sleep-associated wrinkles is to learn to sleep on your back, her next best tip is to make the switch to a silk pillowcase. “You can still prevent those pillowcase-induced wrinkle lines by upgrading from a cotton pillowcase to silk. The slippery surface of silk pillowcases causes less friction between your face and the pillowcase, helping to stop the bunching of the fabric that causes the deep creases.” 

Over the last couple of years, silk pillowcases have proven to be a popular beauty secret of celebs like Kim Kardashian, Sophie Turner and Gisele Bundchen. Heck, this is why Zoe Foster Blake added one to her elusive Go-To Skincare range.

Good to know: Silk pillowcases also reduce frizz and don’t absorb moisture from your skin like cotton pillowcases, so your skin will look more glowing and hydrated, and your hair will be smoother every morning.

Three to try: SLIP Queen Pillowcase ($95 at The Iconic); Lujo Home Silk Pillowcase Mulberry ($99.95 at Myer); and Ever You Almond Gingham Luxury Silk Pillowcase ($149 at hardtofind)

#2 / The contoured anti-wrinkle pillow

Agreed, it looks like one of those crazy products you find on Amazon that's super intriguing but most-likely all gimmick, but there’s a method to this type of mad-looking beauty-sleep pillow. Basically, the unique shape of these contour pillows support your face and neck so there’s never any pressure on your skin while you sleep.

The YourFacePillow ($142.33 at Amazon) forces you to become a back-sleeper, but in a comfortable and well-supported way. It offers ergonomic neck support and has built-in cooling flow channels.

The Foxtrot Habit-Forming Memory Foam Beauty Pillow ($44.99 at Catch) is another option: it's uniquely designed to alleviate pressure and keep your spine and neck aligned. It provides neck pain relief, prevents wrinkles and acts as anti-snoring support. It's also great for using after cosmetic surgery because it's designed to keep pressure off your face and skin.

Good to know: Because these types of pillows prevent your face from actually touching the surface of the pillow, you should experience less breakouts (normal pillows can transfer dirt and oils onto your skin every night). Two birds, one odd-but-genius pillow.

#3 / The celeb-approved anti-ageing pillow

Certainly more sleek than the two aforementioned contour pillows, the Nurse Jamie Beauty Bear Age Defy Memory Foam Pillow ($131.49 at REVOLVE) was created by Hollywood’s go-to skin expert, Jamie Sherrill - aka Nurse Jamie. It’s the perfect combination of your two options - it’s a contour pillow with a silky, satin finish. 

This pillow is also a lot smaller than the others, so it’s perfect for travelling with. Ruby Rose has been snapped using it in an airport while travelling and Jessica Alba professed her love for this pillow on her Instagram a few years back, too.

Now that your linens are contributing to your beauty sleep lets tackle another beauty woe... With these 7 blackhead-fighting skin care products.

Main image credit: @madelame