Who are you really sleeping with?

Do you know who you sleep with at night? And no, I don’t mean your partner who is probably snoring and drooling on their pillow next to you. No next them… don’t you see them? Don’t you see the 10,000 million dusts mites laying right next to you?

Here is a horror fact! 1/3 of the weight of your pillow after two years consist of dust-mites, dust-mite excretion, dead skin, bacteria, saliva & old creams and products. Ewww… why are you still reading this? Get up and go wash your sheets. Can you imagine how much is not only in your pillow but in your bed too. And what if you have had them for over 5-10 years!

So why does this matter? You have been sleeping with them your whole life, why care now?

This is why: On average your skin absorbs 70% of what is on it between the hours of 10pm – 2am, let get back to that fact in a bit. Old creams and saliva causes mould and bacteria that causes breakouts, clog pores, and speeds up ageing. Dusts-mites eat and live off your dead skin cells. Can you imagine being eaten alive, well that’s exactly what’s happening to you every night. Dust-mites eat and live off your dead skin, causing irritation and sensitivity to your skin, and what pairs well with irritated skin is ageing skin. Salvia and old creams block your pores causing breakouts and blackheads, and fine lines and wrinkles.

So where do we go from here? Well for starters you should be washing your sheets and pillow cases at least every week, if not more. Throw out your cotton and replace it all with silk (which my cotton farmer dad and husband would kill me for saying that), but yes, I know you hunt down those 2500 threaded cotton sheets and got them for a bargain price but trust me, hand them off to the guest room. Silk absorbs a lot less of your creams, and why spend all that money on good skin care when your cotton pillow cases get the benefits from it and not you? Silk will hold less bacteria and you have the extra bonus of it won’t pull on your skin or hair. Cotton pulls on your skin causing breakage, that will then cause not only fine lines but deep wrinkles, also pulls and snaps at your hair. You can find silk sheets anywhere, I personally would recommend for your pillowcases that you hunt for a silk that is designed for the skin. I love “SSHH Silk”, I’m so in love with their products! I have their pillowcases, sleep eye-mask, and hair scrunches and they are an Australian Brand too. 

*Spoiler - we are excited that SHH Silk will be available in the salon soon... stay tune.

The next thing we need to do is put those pillows in the wash. They need to be washed at least every 4-6 months. It is a bit hard to fit your whole mattress in the washing machine but here is a way you can help.

I get in the habit of cleaning my carpets, rugs and couches professionally once a year, they too hold a lot of bacteria, dust, dust-mites and dead skin.  You have invested in these furniture items, not only to look good in your home but to be comfortable and soft, so why not look after them and get them looking new again. So while you’re getting your couch, rugs and carpets cleaned strip your bed and get them to clean your mattress too!

Let’s get back to that fact of your skin absorbs 70% of what’s on it at night. That is a huge percentage! If you have had a shower put all your lovely night serums and creams on then sleeping on that dirty pillowcase, the first thing it's going to do is absorb the creams off your skin while pulling at your skin and hair too, while your skin will be absorbing hair oils, salvia, bacteria, old creams from 2 nights ago!

SO MY POINT IS: Get off your bum, and order some Silk pillowcases, throw those old cotton ones away and wash wash wash! I don’t care if you’re doing it every second day. (tip: I sleep on one side of the pillow then flip for the next night) and watch your results in not only your skin but your hair too!