The Science Behind Anti-Aging Pillowcases

It turns out, there are a lot of things that you can do to speed up your skin's natural aging process. Smoking, exposure to intense sunlight, bad diet"¦ each can lead to premature wrinkling and loss of elasticity. But there's something else that a lot of us are doing that could be aging our skin prematurely: Sleeping. Or more specifically, sleeping on the wrong pillowcases and with the wrong pillows. There's no way around it " pressing your face against a pillow for 6 " 9 hours every day takes its toll. Here, we take a closer look at how your pillowcase may be affecting your skin, and how the right anti-aging pillowcase and memory foam pillow can help keep you looking younger, longer.

How Can a Pillowcase Cause Skin Aging?

Friction is a universal constant. It shapes mountains, carves out canyons, and wears away at pretty much everything " and that includes your skin. Constant rubbing, grinding, and scraping creates microscoping tears and other kinds of damage to the body's epidermis. And while skin is resilient, this damage can build on itself as the years go by. At the same time, while you're sleeping, the weight of your head is pushing down on the skin of your face and pressing it against your pillowcase, particularly if you sleep on your side or stomach. This can lead to "sleep wrinkles"™ (pillow lines that slowly become permanent) in much the same way that repeated facial movements " such as laughing, smiling, or scowling " cause wrinkles. Eventually, the skin loses the flexibility it needs to rebound from these indents in the skin, resulting in permanent lines. Finally, there's also the issue of what might be on the pillowcase. Dust mites and other allergens can easily become embedded in most pillowcase fabrics, and can lead to skin irritation. And as you might expect, irritated skin ages faster than healthy skin.

How the Right Pillowcase Can Help

There's just no way around it; your pillow might be damaging your skin. That can be a scary thought, but what's the solution? Giving up sleep isn't really an option. What is an option is finding a pillowcase that minimizes these threats. And that may mean moving away from traditional cotton pillowcases. A softer, smoother approach to pillowcase materials helps reduce the negative impact that the fabric has on your skin. As such, many dermatologists suggest that you replace your cotton pillowcase with something softer, such as silk. Silk pillowcases are extremely smooth, meaning that they reduce the amount of harmful friction on your skin. And, as an added bonus, silk also helps combat redness, rashes, and eczema that may come from allergenic substances embedded in the fabric of your pillowcase. Unlike cotton, which can easily trap dust, mites, and pollen, silk has a number of hypoallergenic properties. In other words, silk pillowcases help ensure that when your head hits the pillow, it's not also hitting irritants that can turn your skin against itself. So, if you want to slow the hands of time and keep your skin looking clear and youthful, a silk anti-aging pillowcase is definitely a step in the right direction.

Memory Foam Pillows for Younger Skin

A silk pillowcase can help you take better care of your skin, but it doesn't solve the problem of sleep wrinkles. After all, even the smoothest material won't make much difference if it's sitting on a hard, unyielding pillow. That's where memory foam comes in. Beautyrest offers the world's top memory foam pillows. Providing complete support without the pressure, Beautyrest pillows help reduce the likelihood of developing sleep wrinkles. These anti-wrinkle pillows are also ventilated, making them a cool and comfortable solution to the problems of sleep-related skin damage. There's a lot of things out there that can hurt your skin; sleep shouldn't be one of them. So, throw out that old cotton pillowcase, get yourself a silk pillowcase, and wrap it around a memory foam pillow from Beautyrest. Trust us, your skin will thank you.