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Sleep plays an integral role in skin's overall health (it's called beauty sleep for a reason!), but the position you lay in can actually have a counterintuitive effect on your appearance.
"During skin exams and cosmetic consultations, I can often identify the side someone sleeps on based on changes noted in the skin from crush and pressure during sleep," says Dr. Erum Ilyas, MD, a Pennsylvania-based board-certified dermatologist. That's why investing in a pillow that prevents sleep lines, wrinkles, and facial creasing might be a worthwhile purchase.
"An anti-wrinkle pillow is designed to reduce the potential crush on the skin that manifests as wrinkles while sleeping," Dr. Ilyas further explains. "The ideal anti-wrinkle pillow provides comfort to the head and neck area while supporting this region to redistribute weight and pressure from the highest risk areas for wrinkling."
Here, Dr. Ilyas along with celebrity skin expert Nurse Jamie share more on what to look for in the best anti-wrinkle pillows and how to maximize your zzz's to achieve a youthful-looking complexion.
Pros
- Satin material helps skincare products absorb into skin better
- Travel friendly
Cons
Nurse Jamie's anti-aging pillow was designed with skincare in mind. Featuring a unique U-shape design, "the Beauty Bear promotes back sleeping and cradles the face for those who are side sleepers," she explains. It has a memory foam fill, which the pro describes as "the best option for lumbar alignment," and a satiny fabric that's delicate against skin and "less absorbent than cotton, so your skincare serums won't get absorbed by your pillow when you sleep."
One shopper says: "Finally, a pillow that supports my side-sleeping and keeps my wrinkles at bay! The U-shape cradles my face perfectly, and the memory foam feels like a cloud."
Fill Material: Memory foam
Firmness: Soft
Fabric: Satin
MORE: Nurse Jamie Uplift Review: The Odd-Looking Beauty Wand That Everyone in Hollywood is Obsessed With
Pros
- Supportive
- Cooling material
Cons
Loved by celebrities like Kris Jenner and Chelsea Handler, Night's anti-aging pillow features a memory foam fill that self-adjusts to support every sleep position and a mulberry silk pillow case that helps keep wrinkles at bay while simultaneously preventing bed head and hair breakage.
One shopper says: "I'e been using this pillow for close to five years now and love it so much! I love how comfortable the pillow is no matter what side I’m sleeping on and the silk has done wonders to help my hair and skin. Five stars over and over!"
Fill Material: Memory foam
Firmness: Soft
Fabric: 90% mulberry silk, 10% spandex
Dimensions: 23.5" x 15.5" x 2"
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Pros
- Comes with additional foam insert to help adjust the height of pillow
- Supports head and neck
Cons
According to Dr. Ilyas and Nurse Jamie, sleeping on your back will work best to reduce wrinkles. Sleep & Glow's Omnia pillow is a fantastic option because it has a miniature pillow-like groove in the center, which is meant to "make it challenging to turn the head from side to side to avoid pressure to facial skin," says Dr. Ilyas. But if you were to sleep on your side or stomach, the memory foam insert also minimizes skin creasing and compression.
One shopper says: "The memory foam pillow cradles my head and neck perfectly, no matter how much I toss and turn. Since I started using it, I wake up feeling refreshed and way less puffy. Those sleep lines? Practically nonexistent. It's like this pillow hit the snooze button on my aging process – or at least the signs of it showing up on my face."
Fill Material: Memory foam
Firmness: Soft
Fabric: 100% natural eucalyptus fiber
Dimensions: 14.17" x 21.26" x 5.11"
Pros
- Provides neck support
- Anti-microbial properties
Cons
According to Dr. Ilyas, there are some studies that show copper-infused pillowcases can support structure of the skin and reduce bacterial overgrowth. This anti-aging pillow complete with a copper and silk-infused pillowcase not only helps prevent sleep wrinkles, but it supports the neck and spine and reduces TMJ pressure.
One shopper says: "I completely love this pillow! So comfy and soft, especially with the silk pillow case. My neck doesn't hurt any more and neither does my ear which always got sore from side sleeping. I also noticed that my curls stay in longer. No sleep lines either! Can't say enough about it and missed it when I was away. Might have to get the travel size one next!"
Fill Material: 100% natural latex
Firmness: Soft
Fabric: Copper-infused mulberry silk
Dimensions: 22" x 14"
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Pros
- Provides cervical support
- Machine washable
Cons
Intended to use on top of a regular pillow, this X-shaped pillow is another popular anti-wrinkle design. "The goal is to cradle the head while permitting side sleeping," explains Dr. Ilyas. "The impact of side sleeping on the facial skin is theoretically reduced by cradling the side of the head while facial skin is impacted along the forehead and chin region."
One shopper says: "I used to wake up with lines on my face from my face being scrunched against my pillow... This pillow has not only made it much safer for my face (I wake up with my skin completely smooth, despite still sleeping on my side), but it also made it much more comfortable to sleep."
Fill Material: Down Alternative
Firmness: Soft
Fabric: 100% cotton
Dimensions: 18.5" x 10" x 3"
Do anti-wrinkle pillows actually work?
According to Dr. Ilyas and Nurse Jamie, sleeping on your back is the most effective (and protective) way to avoid wrinkles. That said, resting your head on an anti-wrinkle pillow can also be beneficial for skin.
"An anti-wrinkle pillow is designed to protect your face and promote back sleeping," says Nurse Jamie. "Your head is very heavy, about the weight of a bowling ball. The average person spends about 26 years of their life asleep, and you don't want to apply that much pressure to your face every night."
Dr. Ilyas adds, "Sleeping with direct pressure on the face will inevitably place facial skin under tension, which can contribute to wrinkling." She says the regions most susceptible to this are the periorbital (around the eyes) and perioral (around the mouth) areas, as well as perinasal folds parallel and adjacent to the nose.
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Do sleep wrinkles go away?
"The ability of our skin to 'snap back' to its original state is dictated by its elasticity," explains Dr. Ilyas. "As we get older, our skin loses its elasticity, especially in the setting of chronic UV damage. If you adjust your sleep position when you are young and before we start to really see a loss in elasticity of the skin, then these wrinkles will likely vanish quickly. As we get older, this may not be so easy to accomplish on our own."
Nurse Jamie agrees, adding: "I always say, listen to me now or pay me later. Once you lose that volume in your face, there's not much you can do other than filler. That's why prevention is key, and using a skincare pillow will help prevent those lines from getting deeper."
Meet the experts
- Dr. Erum Ilyas, MD is a board-certified dermatologist at Schweiger Dermatology Group in King of Prussia, PA.
- Nurse Jamie is a celebrity skin expert based in Santa Monica, CA, and founder of her eponymous skincare line.
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Sophie Dweck
Sophie Dweck is the Associate Shopping Editor for Town & Country, where she covers all things fashion, beauty and lifestyle, shares her expertise on the most worthwhile luxury products, tests and writes in-depth reviews on the very best essentials worth investing in, as well breaking news about the latest launches, and of course, reports on the biggest sales and deals to shop no matter the day. Some of her favorite items to date are Gwyneth Paltrow's ski trial cardigan, the Hotel Chocolat Velvetiser, and ZIIP’s microcurrent device. When Sophie isn't testing state-of-the art beauty tech or breaking down TikTok aesthetics, she loves indulging in BonBon sweets (Sorbisars, for the win!) and finding the next trend before it goes viral.