16
Aug

Probably the best anti-ageing beauty “product” a dame can use.

What a headline! What a hook. So intriguing and exciting. Aren’t you excited? Can you even believe what you’re about to read?? God, I can’t, and I’m the one who wrote it.

Disclaimer: If you have been so generous and popular and attractive to buy or read my beauty book, Amazing Face, this will not be news to you. But, back then when I wrote the tip, I didn’t have an actual product to recommend, just a genre, so there’s still something in this post for you beyond the obvious hilarity.

Disclaimer #2: I had chia seeds in my porridge this morning, sorry if there are some between my teeth.

Okay, are you ready? The product is A SILK PILLOWCASE.

silk-pillowcase-3

Don’t make that face. It’s not as big an indulgence as you think, in fact, you probably spend the same amount on that Shellac pedicure you get each month. ($60)

Why it’s worth it:

It’s simple: because silk looks after your skin while you sleep like some kind of angelic babysitter. It’s a breathable and natural fabric, and quite the anti-ageing device too. It’s extremely soft and gentle on the skin, unlike cotton or cotton/polyester blends or satin, which are harsh on your face, and will thieve the moisture from the skin. My favourite part is that silk prevents those gnarly sleep lines you wake up with all over your face when you use non-silk, which, over time, you better believe will have a long-term effect on the texture and appearance of your face. (Ditto the chest lines, which is why I always say your face stops at your boobs, in terms of sunscreen/moisturiser/masks etc.)

And! Silk pillowcases do good things for your hair too. It keeps your blow-dries longer, and prevents your painstakingly created hair styles from being a mess in the morning. If you have curls, they won’t tangle and knot. And if you prefer a bed head look, like I do, when you wash your hair at night then roughly blow dry it off, your hair is that lovely, soft, non-frizzy bed head, not the wild ratwoman one.

I have been using the same two silk pillowcases for years. When I was between the two cities, I had one in Melbourne and one in Sydney, and I always pack one when I travel overseas, such is my dedication to not having sleep-crease lines, and my addiction to the softness. I can’t even remember where they came from, except that they are no longer white, but a charming grey colour, and they have my initials on them, which makes me think they were part of a press kit from a cosmetics brand years back, or else I once dated a man in his 70s with a penchant for embroidery. Who can say.

case-pink-box-open

 

I didn’t like the fact that my husband’s pillow case was one colour (a nice colour which matched the linen) and my pillowcase, while doing terrific things for my skin, looked sad and out of place and shabby. So I bought some more. Now obviously you can get silk pillowcases at bedding shops and Myer and David Jones, but I went with slip, an Aussie brand I have become quite fond of and not just because their pillowcases are terrific and their marketing is cheeky. Now I have SEVERAL pillowcases in the shades I like my bedding to be (dark chocolate, latte and grey – all terrific shades for masking fake tan marks, I find), which means my husband gets one too, because I shouldn’t be so greedy and hog all the non-wrinkling, and apparently men age too although Sylvester Stallone leads me to think otherwise, so fresh and youthful is his face.

 Slip_pink

Consider ditching the cotton and sassing some silk. You won’t regret it. The fact that you feel rich when you wake up on a silk pillow is merely a happy bonus. Oh, and also they make a wonderful gift, because strangely some women can’t justify spending some of their salary on fancy pillowcases. I KNOW, can you believe it??

Responses to this drivel: 48 Comments
Responses to this drivel ( 48 )
  • Lena

    I just bought two after reading this.. i have zero self control..

  • Serena

    You had me at ratwoman.

    I can remember reading this in Amazing Face and thinking how my pillow wouldn’t match anything else – and now you’ve gone and solved that too. Nice work Zoe!

  • Priscilla

    Ok just bought one as I have crazy hair (usual response to my hair in the morning is wow!!! And not in a wow you look hot, more of a wow, do you wrestle crocodiles with your bear hands in your sleep sort of way). I will look forward to beautiful hair!

  • Amy

    I swear by them Zoe. Also fabulous for my blonde hair that tangles so easy!
    On another note i was hoping that you might have some product suggestions for Foundations that suit day long wear, wedding occasions. I was hoping to go for the glowy look!
    Love your blogs, am completely addicted x

  • Coco

    How convenient, it just so happens to be my day of birth next week! Just what I need!

  • Laura

    I love the idea of waking up on a silk pillowcase but I am worried about ruining it with the rosehip oil that I apply every night since reading your wonderful book. Since I started using rose hip oil I have found that all of my lovely 1000 thread count pillow cases have a distinct yellow hue. Thoughts?

    • Sarah

      I was wondering the same. I’m using Clinique dark spot corrector at night and – no joke – I managed to bleach a spot on my boyfriends tshirt where I rest my head at night.

  • lara

    I have linen by the ‘Worlds Softest Sheets’ and they are 500 thread count and incredibly soft. I wonder if there is much difference between silk and these? Wish there was a swatch in store I could feel somewhere …to compare textures

  • Louise

    http://silkpillowcases.com.au/
    this is a cheaper alternative that also supports a charity and is based in South Australia

    • Amelia

      Gosh darnit, now I’ve gone and bought two because they’re good for me AND good for charity!

      (P.S. I’m secretly TOTALLY pleased and really excited about getting these! Feels completely indulgent and absolutely necessary at the same time. PSYCHED! Thanks for zee advice Zo, and thanks Louise for zee link.)

    • Jess

      Wouldn’t recommend silky kisses. I’ve had a few of the original slip silk pillowcases over the years. Love them. My friend got a silky kisses. Not as good as the real thing. I guess you get what you pay for.

      • Amelia

        Oh, damn! I did read through on the website to make sure, and Silky Kisses seemed to use real silk and to the same thickness as slip, so I took the dive. Ah well, purchased now! We’ll see how it goes. Still psyched about lovely morning hair and face!

        • Natasha kiNG

          I have 4 silky kisses pillowcases and I love them. I origionally got a Jade colour from a friend, and I purchased another to make it match, then I got 2 red ones so i can have different colours!!! Its cool being able to change them to your style of room.. seriously though, since ive been sleeping on them that sleep crease is vanished! and it doesnt pull on my hubbys beard like satin does!!

    • Wendy Michell

      Our silk pillowcases also come in a range of 20 gorgeous colours, which can hide the colour residue that drops off your hair and face. However the really brilliant thing about silk is that it doesn’t absorb all your expensive beauty creams, like cotton does.
      Sleeping on a Silky Kisses pillowcase not only do you get to enjoy all the benefits of sleeping on silk, (hypoallergenic, face creaseless, smooth hair…) you have 20 colour therapy choices, and the knowledge that all the proceeds go to women’s charity, and supports the happy community in Bali where they’re made, makes this a great gift that ticks all the boxes for anyone! Thanks for sharing about our business.

  • Debora

    Ordered! The bed head thing is frustrating for me, I have fine hair and wake up daily with snags and kinks and have to continually re-straighten in between washes and blow dries. I always think this can’t be good for the hair… Hopefully will be alleviated greatly once I start using the silk pillowcase!

  • Lucy

    Ooh I want one! Just one question though – what’s it like to wash these? Do you have to handwash or can it go in gentle cycle in the machine? And I’m a little worried about stains from face oils/lip balms (Lanolips 101 Ointment, I’m looking at you!) – thought anyone?

    • fruity

      I do the handwash cycle in the machine then lay flat to dry.

    • Cath

      I got mine from http://www.simplysilk.com.au – at first I washed them separately on gentle. Then I got lazy (bad girl!) and just threw them in with the rest of the sheets. I have two which I sort of rotate. At Christmas they will be 2 yrs old and are showing no real shows of wear and tear and have no lanolips stains – they are ivory (love that stuff).

    • chippochic

      I just throw mine in with the sheets and normal pillowcases. Most times at a 30 degree wash. I love my slip pillowcases and when I bought mine they threw in free eye masks for Mothers Day.

      However, my friend who works with a cosmetic/plastic surgeon says they don’t do anything for your skin. They may be good for hair.

      There is no way that my husband is having one of my silk pillowcases!!! No scratchy beard on my silk. You are a far nicer wife than me and you’ve been married longer.

  • Nicola

    Do they make them for V pillow sleepers too??

  • Klaudija

    Typing one-handed (with a cider in the other) I successfully got myself two silk pillowcases in under 45 seconds. Today is a good day…

  • Deb

    Does this mean I can now use a hair scrunchie at night if it is made of silk?

  • MissKB

    The best thing for your face (and under eye area particularly) is to learn to sleep on your back! If you consistently sleep on one side only, you will end up with asymmetry in your face … Trust me, I know.

  • Em

    Have been contemplating a silk pillowcase for ages. Bought one of the slip ones a few weeks back and it is indeed love. So gorgeous and I really notice the effect on my hair. I went with black as I figured I didn’t want to see my face creams and serums smudged all over.

  • Sarah

    On it, bought one a few months ago & love it. Am positive it helps keep wrinkles at bay as my skin no longer grips to the pillow case & then get pulled every time I move. I also got it cheaper at Peters of Kensington than I could find in a store.

  • Sam

    Hi Foe Z, I’ve seen you mention body washes with glycolic acid for those of us who have blemishes and congestion on our backs and chests. I’ve been to various pharmacies and they only seem to be able to suggest I use a glycolic face wash on my body. Would you mind suggesting a brand or 2 that do a specific glycolic or salicylic acid body wash? Thank you! X

  • fruitybeauty | Three fantastic long-last glowy foundations.

    […] the days when I used to talk about silk pillowcases? Seems like an eternity ago. Anyway, on that pillowcase post there was an interesting query by a […]

  • Helen

    This post came days after me wondering why the wrinkles on my right side of my face are heaps deeper than the left…I sleep on my right side so think I have found the answer to my question! Many years ago I was given a satin pillow case to supposedly help my hair but the bloody thing made my pillow slide off the bed every five minutes and after a couple of sleepless nights I removed it and went back to my normal ones very disappointed! ( Tho now after reading ur post satin wouldnt have helped anyway) So my question is… Does silk have the same effect? Will I find my pillow sliding off?? Has anyone had this issue?? Fruityyyy??? Thanks in advance 🙂

  • Natasha King

    I seriously love my silk pillowcase! Ive not only found its helped my wrinkles but my skin is smoother now too. My husband has one and he loves his. when we travel we take it with us because we dont wabt to have to sleep on a cotton one! haha silky kisses is where we always buy ours! Such great quality, great price and they are lovely pressies to! I think they have something to do with charity too.. but I just love the feel of mine. so luxurious.

  • jess

    how do you wash them??? without them losing their ‘silkyness’??

  • Silken dreams | It's Going To Be Awesome

    […] latest favourite nugget of wisdom came from “Probably the Best Anti-Aging Beauty ‘Product’ a Dame Can Use”.  And here it […]

  • Pepper Passport | Better pack your pillowcase

    […] regarded beauty writer Zoe Foster-Blake was so dedicated to the softness and lack of sleep crease lines her silk pillowcase provided, she […]

  • Attract women hypnosis

    If you desire to take much from this post
    then you have to apply such methods to your won blog.

    Feel free to surf to my web page Attract women hypnosis

  • Marchessa

    I have bought the Slip brand a few years ago, but tried Yangtze Store after my mother found the site. (I think the site is http://www.yangtzestore.com. ). The slips are a beautiful quality, and even with shipping they are half the price of Slip. I bought a silver colour.

  • safno

    Estée Lauder’s double wear. Truly an all day foundation

  • Mel

    I received my ice slip in the mail today
    Here I lay in bed with it on my brand new pillow and I feel like a queen 
    So glad I bought it 
    Ill be buying more for its for my mum and sister
    This is perfection

  • thinking about… | french girls do.

    […] on a silk pillowcase like these ones, which apparently stops your hair from waking up frowzy in the […]

Okay. Your turn.

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *