Eye Mask Sleep – my story

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Eye Mask For Sleeping

Sleep eye masks provide you with a better quality of sleep by blocking out light – the difference is really quite marked. In the following article I will tell you how I’ve been experimenting with sleeping masks, until I found what I believe to be the best sleeping mask out there.

Sensitivity to light

I’m very sensitive to light when I sleep – even the light that comes in under the door or through cracks in the window wakes me up.

So I started experimenting with various light blocking techniques when I was 15. Now, I may be an extreme case, but most people will improve their quality of sleep if the amount of light which comes into their eyes is diminished.

Initially I closed the windows and door when I went to sleep.

I slept so much better that night – I wanted more! But closing the windows caused a lack of airflow which was a problem.

I tried to sleep with a beanie, and pulling it down to cover my eyes. It just made my face sweaty, and was uncomfortable for my eyes. On top of that, light penetrated through the fabric.

My first eye mask for sleeping

One day my dad offered me a sleep eye mask that he received on an international flight. It was a simple nylon mask, but it was the best I’ve tried so far. I slept like a baby – deep, calm sleep.

These sleep eye masks have problems though. They are of a very cheap make, and perhaps rightfully so – they are meant for one flight’s worth of usage only! The elastic chord would lose its elasticity and become too wide. The fabric would start tearing off or staining. And if I put it in the washing machine it would never survive…

On top of that, the cheap sleep eye mask would let some light come in from under it – it wasn’t completely sealed.

The kind of sleep eye masks you could find around in shopping centres weren’t that good either. Pharmacies and travel stores mostly sold the same quality mask as you would get on a plane.

However, I kept sleeping with these sleep eye masks for a couple of years, buying a new one every few months. Not a great solution.

Great sleep eye masks and the present

Eventually I found a website which sold a luxury sleep eye mask. It was called hibermate, and was made in Australia.

It was made of silk, was really comfortable, and blocked out light completely. It lasted long, and even made it through a couple of laundry runs. And it even had some sound blockage to it in the form of ear muffs which fitted on the mask. It sold for $40, and I really enjoyed it.

One day though, I lost it.

So I did my research again, and I found the Escape sleep eye mask. It had all the benefits of my old hibermate – only better. See, this mask has something called “eye chambers” design. This means your eyes don’t touch the mask – they fit inside eye pockets which make sure light is completely blocked! And this product sold for half the price – $20. I keep using it today and recommend it to all my friends!

This website

I started this website to provide information and news about products related to eye mask sleep – my favourite type of sleep :)

I hope you enjoy it, and feel free to leave feedback and participate in a discussion – I would love to hear if you thought a post was really good – or really bad…

So I’d sum it off with this – we spend about a third of our life sleeping… Might as well make it a quality sleep – an eye mask sleep!

Cheers,

Sleepy Al

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Sleep eye mask – who uses it?

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Sleep eye masks help you sleep better. By controlling the amount of light, it ‘tricks’ your brain to think that it is night and cause it to release chemicals which prepare your body to sleep. It’s a very natural solution to a good night’s sleep.

Some people who may be particularly interested in having a quality eye mask sleep:

Shift workers

shift worker sleeping mask‘

Shift workers (e.g. security guards, nurses, restaurant/hotel/bar staff) work in hours of the night when their body is naturally inclined to be tired. However, when they get time to sleep their body isn’t quite prepared for it – the state of light outside tells the body it needs to be awake. Shift workers tend to suffer from shallow sleep and have a harder time falling asleep. A sleep eye mask is a great solution.

Late dozers / late risers

sleep eye mask after party

Some people (myself included in various periods of my life) just stay up till late hours of the night. It could be too much caffeine, partying till late at night communicating with friends from the other side of the world or just catching up on good TV reruns :)

Either way, if you go to sleep in the wee hours of the night, you can expect the sun to be up not long after. And when the sun goes up, the quality of your sleep goes down. Having a sleep eye mask in that situation is great, and you can wake up at 11am feeling completely refreshed.

Light in bedroom

Many people know already that their sleep is highly affected by light, and would like to decrease it. However, sometimes this isn’t a viable option. If your spouse goes to sleep later than you and turns on the light late at night – or worse, sits next to you in bed reading – the quality of your sleep may severely suffer.

In some situations, one partner wants to put a drape over the windows or close the shutters while the other partner disagrees.

In situations like these, a sleep eye mask is a perfect solution. The bedroom can stay lit and our partners can keep to their ways – and we get a great night’s sleep.

Sleep Eye Mask for New mothers

new mother sleeping mask

Having a young baby at the house is a full time job. And not a 9 to 5 one either…

New mothers have a lot of problems catching up on quality sleep, as they are up at weird hours of the night, tending to their newborn. During the day, while the baby sleeps, even though they are extremely tired – their body disagrees – since it’s light outside it doesn’t let you fall asleep!

A sleeping mask can help a new mother to catch up on a few more hours of sleep here and there during the night or day. The quality of life that 6 hours of daily sleep offer is much greater than 4 hours!

Travelers love Sleep Masks

When you’re on the road, light conditions are going to be harder to control. Whether it is the hotel room you’re staying in, the 12-hour bus you have to take or the long flight – being away from home doesn’t help your sleep better.

Anyone who wants more darkness during sleep

If you feel you would enjoy less light in your sleeping environment when you go to sleep – for whichever reason – a sleep eye mask is probably a great solution.

Learn more about the types of sleeping masks out there.

 

Hope this helps!

Your Eye Mask Sleep Guy,

Al

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Creative Sleeping Mask Usage

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I’ve been using sleeping eye masks for a long time – about 10 years now. Yes, I use them to get a quality sleep at night, but I do or have done much more with my sleeping mask. So for the other eye mask owners out there, I wanted to share some interesting usage ideas for your sleeping mask.


Sleep outdoors with your sleeping mask

eye sleep mask on the beach

Ok, this may be a blatantly obvious one, but I decided to put it here since I think most people associate sleeping, and especially with a sleep eye mask to being indoors. Well, that’s not the case for me…

Especially during my travels, but even on weekends, I’m quite an outdoorsy kind of guy. I go trekking, rock climbing, camping, and just to hang at the beach. All of these activities can get quite tiresome.

To restore my energy levels, I’m a great believer in the concept of midday cat naps, but as you can guess I have to block out the light.

So I just pop my sleeping mask out of my bag. Yes, it’s important to remember to pack it!

Just be careful to get a spot in the shade otherwise you’ll get an eye mask imprint on your face.

You may have to cop some slack from your friends for doing it. I, for one, am not ashamed of my sleep mask anymore. In fact, I call it my “macho macho mask” (like the Village People’s “Macho Man”) and sing it when someone thinks they could embarrass me! Haha.

 


Take someone to their surprise party

Yes, sometimes I like to surprise people. Everyone likes a surprise, right?

sleep eye mask surprise party

It doesn’t even have to be a birthday or a special occasion… I just like having people excited for what’s about to come and trust me to provide them with a good time.

Let’s say I have a friend who I want to surprise. In order to keep the suspense going for longer, while we’re driving to the secret location, I need to blindfold her so she has no idea where we’re going.

So remember to pack your sleeping mask with you! And at the right moment just say:

“I’ve got a surprise for you. Here, put this on… Not telling you where we’re going”.

I only do it with people I’m close with! I don’t want my new friends to get the wrong idea, especially if they don’t trust me yet.

Then, once you get to the party location, the eye mask doesn’t have to come off yet. Open their car door and lead them out of the car by your hand. It’s even more exciting if you have to climb stairs, go in an elevator or take some turns. Just make sure you direct them with your voice and your hands.

“Surprise!”

They’ll love you for it.

 


Eye mask for sexy bedroom games

sleeping mask as blindfold

Mmm. Suffice to say that it’s a major turn on to have your lover cover your eyes (or the other way around)– all the other senses become sharp.

You can sense their touch on your skin. You can feel the variations in it. You can feel the warmth of their body against yours, and you never know when and where they’ll touch next. Again, this is an exercise in control – and should only be done when the partners fully trust each other. But it’s good fun…

I’m not going to describe much more on these, just use your imagination. Or go and experiment in real life!

 

So that’s it for some creative uses of sleep eye masks. If any of my readers has an idea, please reply here in the comments, I’d love to hear it!

Your sleeping mask guy,

Al

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Guide to Different types of Sleeping Eye Masks

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So I wanted to give a good overview of the different kinds of sleeping masks that are out there and the differences between them. This should be a decent point to start doing some research about sleeping masks. They are ordered in a general order of quality, in my eyes at least. Enjoy!

‘Creative’ Sleep Eye Masks

creative sleep mask

Under this category I’ll put anything that’s a creative solution to block away light, and not necessarily a sleeping mask. For example, pulling down a beanie on your eyes, tying a shirt of some sort or pulling your covers over your head.

- How much light is being blocked really depends on what fabric or material you’re using. However, most fabrics don’t block out light for the simple reason they weren’t designed for such a task. Either way, a dark fabric is better if you choose this option – which I wouldn’t recommend!

- Low comfort level when using these kinds of light blocking solutions – mostly due to the lack of relevant fitting design.

So yeah, obviously these are free but they don’t have any of the benefits of a decent sleep eye mask to them.

Simple Synthetic Sleeping Masks

simple mask

These are the ones most people think about when they hear “sleeping mask” – like the sleep masks you get in airplanes. They include a thin strap or two in the back, and their material is usually synthetic – nylon or something similar to that.

These masks are very cheap, and for most people, that’s the extent of their experience sleeping with a sleeping mask – quite a shame really.

- Light blockage would be quite poor. Try holding them up in front of a source of light and you will easily see that. Manufacturers definitely cut corners with these some of the times.

- The strap in the back is very rarely easily adjustable to the size of your head. Although the design is supposed to be “one size fits all”, in reality you’ll either get one which is too tight (for people like me with a big head that’s very annoying and block circulation. Highly uncomfortable – and there’s nothing you could do!) or too loose (in which case you’d have to tie a knot which would likely disturb your sleep). Not to mention that many times the strap actually loosens as you keep using it or if you put it through the wash.

These masks are a cheap option (and you get what you pay for) at $1-$4.

“Concave” Sleeping Masks

concave sleep mask

This is a category of sleep masks that just came out, and I must admit I haven’t tried them as of yet when writing this post. Many people seem to comment that the material feels like the fabric that make most bras.

Either way, the manufacturer describes them as being made of foam, and they have concave eye pockets to them (concave means the pockets give the eye sockets “extra room” without putting any direct pressure on the eyelid). The design is very good at blocking light – and you can even open your eyes and blink and you’ll still see nothing but darkness. Cool!

It’s also a good option for women wearing make up, and for anyone just wanting to relax their eyes in darkness without actually going to sleep.

I’d rank them high on the comfort factor – the material is pleasant and lightweight and comfortable to wear. It’s obvious some design went into those, ensuring they feel good on your face.

All and all, these seem to be a good purchase. I haven’t tried them myself, as I said – but I’ve heard good things.

You could get the sweet eye dreams sleep mask, and get it with a set of earplugs for $10 (date of writing this post).

Breathing Sleeping Masks

comfort sleep mask

These masks are made from breathable materials like satin or fleece. It’d be true to say that products made from a higher quality fabric fall under this category. The good ones would have Velcro straps which ensure they adjust well to the shape of your face.

- They block light much better than other categories mentioned before. The material is of a higher grade and was purposely chosen for its light blocking capacities. Also, a better fit means less light actually ‘leaks in’.

- These masks are much more comfortable than plain ones – as they were designed with the wearer’s comfort in mind.

A good example for these is the Lewis N Clark comfort eye mask. It’s a good sleeping mask and quite affordable at $7.

Luxury Sleep Eye Mask

luxury sleep mask

These masks are comfortable as well as blocking most of the light from entering your eyes. They are extremely comfortable because of their softness, and in some models extra measures were added – like sound muffling properties. The light blocking is good, not just because of the quality of material but also its thickness.

Masks in this category are a favorite for me, and a lot of other serious ‘sleep maskers’.  They feel great, they block light and they aren’t tight even one bit. Sound muffling is a nice added bonus when it’s there. I recommend the “Escape” Luxury sleep mask in this category… Ah bliss. It may be slightly more expensive, but definitely worth it.

So that’s my little overview of sleep masks. I hope you learnt something, and let me know if I forgot a category or if a new exciting one is in the market and I’ll add it.

Al

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