Silk pillowcases can help keep your skin unlined

BEDTIME has a familiar routine for 50- year- old Luigia Minichiello. Whether she’s in a far-flung hotel or tucking up at home, she sleeps on a pure silk pillowcase.

While it sounds the ultimate luxury, the preserve of Hollywood divas or aristocracy, women such as London-based events manager Luigia swear they’re an essential anti-ageing device, as effective as any expensive treatments.

Costing £ 20 ( more than R300) to £30 each, she says silk pillowcases keep her skin unlined, hair soft and improve her sleep quality.

“When travelling, every night I’d unfold my pillowcase and know I was staving off the effects of ageing,’ says Minichiello.

Silk has been prized for centuries – it’s said silk farming dates back more than 7 000 years. The silkworm eats mulberry leaves, spins its cocoon and produces silk thread.

“There are many reasons for silk’s beauty benefits,’ says physiotherapist and sleep expert Sammy Margo, author of The Good Sleep Guide. “Most of us sleep on our sides, with our faces pushed into the pillow, often waking with creases or indents in the skin. These take longer to disappear as we age and collagen and elastin are less effective.”

This is because fabrics such as cotton can be abrasive, dehydrating the skin.

“Silk’s smooth surface means you won’t wake up with a face like scrumpled up paper. Your moisturiser can also do its job better – it will be absorbed rather than dragged all over the pillow,” says Sammy.

The antioxidants in silk may also counter effects of ageing. Tests show mulberries contain up to 79% more antioxidants – which aid cellular repair – than super fruits such as blueberries.

“It’s possible skin moisture and heat may release antioxidants in the fabric,” says aesthetic expert Dr Hilary Allan at Woodford Medical.

Some silk pillowcase makers refer to research which says sericin, a protein in silk, can adhere to keratin, a protein in skin and hair, resulting in a barrier layer that helps retain moisture and may have a plumping, anti-ageing effect.

Sharon Snook, 56, started to use her pillowcase two years ago. Her skin is dewy and she looks a decade younger than her years – her cheeks are as smooth as a 30-year-old’s.

“A few years ago I was waking up with a line down my cheek. It didn’t fade untill lunchtime,” says Snook, a product technologist who lives in Brentwood, Essex. “The sides of my face were starting to look wrinkly.”

A silk pillowcase is, she says, ideal for those who don’t have the money, or the stomach, for invasive treatments. “You wake up feeling like you’ve just applied face cream. I don’t get creases, and it stopped the skin around my crow’s feet dragging across.” – Daily Mail