The Best Eye Masks For Sleeping

Our eyes still see and process light while we're sleeping, probably tricking us into thinking we're sort of awake. Sleeping in total darkness, however, helps us fall into a deep sleep and improves our moods for the following day. People sleeping with eye masks look like they made a simple comfort choice until studies are considered. Research shows that sleeping in a room with just a small amount of light over two years can significantly raise the risk of depression. So much for night lights. Enter sleeping eye masks.

Best Choice

Alaska Bear Natural Silk is the best Eye Mask For Sleeping? Our review at totalbeauty.com uncovers all pros and cons.

Something for everyone

The Alaska Bear Natural Silk Sleep Mask is made with thick, mulberry silk and comes in thirteen different colors and patterns.

Best Choice

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Pros:
The silk cover helps keep the eye area moisturized and, for those who prefer a delicate pressure against the eyes, it fits snugly. It is large enough to help keep the light out, but not so large that it doesn’t stay in place while sleeping. It uses adjustable elastic for a great fit. For a mask with simple construction, it blocks out light very well. It is the preferred eye mask for sleeping across the board.

Cons:
Some find the inner padding of this mask a little thin. Eye masks aren’t made to be machine washed, and this one is no exception. To avoid direct contact, place the mask in a lingerie bag or pillowcase before washing.

Best For Travel

MZOO 3D Contoured is the best Eye Mask For Sleeping? Our review at totalbeauty.com uncovers all pros and cons.

Sturdy and durable, ideal for travel

Made for travel, this rest-giving eye mask is perfect to use when your sleeping conditions are less than ideal.

Best For Travel

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Pros:
Since the MZOO Sleep Eye Mask comes with earplugs, you can easily block out your surroundings to get some shut-eye at any phase of your journey. MZOO has a memory foam interior, so it adjusts gradually over a few days to fit perfectly. It is lightweight and doesn’t rest on the eyelids. This mask blocks out light very well, especially when the user is in a vertical position.

Cons:
As an eye mask for sleep, it is a little uncomfortable to lie down with, especially sleeping on the stomach. It gets warm on the face. This product isn’t recommended for use with eye makeup or serums.

Best Comfort

Mavogel Cotton is the best Eye Mask For Sleeping? Our review at totalbeauty.com uncovers all pros and cons.

Ergonomic design, for every head size

These handmade sleeping eye masks have an advanced design with two separate adjustments to keep it in place and prevent light from entering.

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Pros:
In addition to the elastic strap in the back that adjusts for comfort, the Mavogel Cotton Sleep Mask also has an adjustable nose piece that shapes to the nose. Not only does this help keep the mask on the face, but it goes a long way to block out light. The cotton is breathable and doesn’t heat up like the synthetic mask covers. It doesn’t press too firmly onto the eyes. The interior is memory foam.

Cons:
While the light doesn’t enter through the nose area, like most sleep masks, some users say that the gray color means the overall light blockage is not a hundred percent. The manufacturers moved the clip that had a tendency to rub the ear irritatingly.

Best For Meditation

YIVIEW Meditation is the best Eye Mask For Sleeping? Our review at totalbeauty.com uncovers all pros and cons.

Helps quiet your mind

Whether you're using these for sleep or meditating, they block out all light to help you quiet racing thoughts so you can enter into tranquility.

Best For Meditation

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Pros:
According to users, this well-made mask blocks out light completely and is perfect for travel, sleep, and meditation. The material is very soft and silky. The eyecups are extra wide and give plenty of room for those who have wide-set eyes or eyes with a narrow width. In addition, this mask has a wide elastic band attached that keeps the mask well-fitted and in place.

Cons:
The only trouble with the Yiview Sleep Mask is that because the fabric is so silky, it tends to slide upwards a little during sleep. The material can also cause the mask to get hot. The size runs big.

Best Cooling Gel Mask

Kimkoo Gel is the best Eye Mask For Sleeping? Our review at totalbeauty.com uncovers all pros and cons.

Fast relief of inflammation

The Kimkoo Gel Eye Mask is great for soothing inflammation in the eye area. Puffy eyes disappear with this soothing and cooling gel mask.

Best Cooling Gel Mask

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Pros:
For the area that surrounds the eye socket, inflammation is usually just puffiness. But inside the eye socket, swelling can be very uncomfortable, causing pressure or even pain. Although the Kimkoo gel mask doesn’t claim any medical benefits, users say it is useful for both cosmetic inflammation and post-surgery swelling. Moreover, the mask contains only water with a PVC shell. It is non-toxic.

Cons:
Because it is purified and condensate water, the mask doesn’t hold a cold temperature for more than six minutes. It cannot be frozen. This product could stand a mesh lining on the under surface so that the cold temperatures are not directly on the surface of the skin.

What really matters

Eye masks for sleeping don’t always block out light for those with tall noses.

From what we’ve seen, those with high noses might have a difficult time getting a sleep mask to fit properly. The bridges of tall noses raise the mask slightly, making it easy for light to seep in at the center. Look for a sleeping eye mask with a taller area for the nose to fit.

Sleep masks for eyes help relax the body in preparation for sleep.

Part of the reason a good eye mask is for sleep and improving sleep quality is the natural increase of the hormone serotonin after you put it on. The mask relaxes your eye muscles, and the weight of it embraces the tissue around the eyes – what is known as deep pressure stimulation. The sense of weight, akin to being wrapped in a heavy blanket, is a form of deep pressure stimulation that triggers higher levels of serotonin in our bodies.

Increased serotonin aids restful sleep and a calm awakening. Waking up with a jolt is not very comforting, nor is tumbling off a cliff into sleep. Drifting back into consciousness contentedly after a fulfilling sleep sets the tone for the whole day to come. Serotonin helps remove lingering apathy about waking and is key to helping us get out of bed on the right foot in the morning.

Melatonin puts us to sleep, and eye masks help in the process.

Melatonin is an important hormone when it comes to drifting off to sleep. Melatonin is what triggers that deeply calm, weightless feeling we all wait for that signals the beginning to unconsciousness and sleep. It’s also what wakes us up. Melatonin also tends to the hours of the night in between.

Melatonin helps us sleep deeper and stay asleep at night. Falling asleep and staying asleep in a room that’s totally dark will trigger higher levels of melatonin in the body. Melatonin controls the sleep cycle, whereas serotonin relaxes us so that we drift off well and wake up better than the day before. If melanin levels are low, it can be challenging to fall asleep, even if you’re cozy and calm. It is boosted before sleep when the setting is very dark – without alarm clocks, night lights, cell phones, and reflections from street lights. An eye mask for sleep is the most convenient way to achieve total darkness.

What’s in right now

Those who are serious about sleep make sure to carry some sort of sleep-inducer while traveling. Traveling is when we’re at the most risk for disrupted sleep patterns that can have lasting effects. Maintaining your seven or eight hours of uninterrupted sleep while traveling means heavy-duty sleeping masks for the eyes that were made just for the road, like the MZOO Sleep Eye Mask. Users usually pair them with earplugs.

Prices

Expensive

$20 – $30. The eye masks for sleeping in this category have added features like eye cups that are extra deep and allow for blinking. Other expensive masks are made with organic fibers. There’s even a mask that comes with a Bluetooth speaker built-in.

Mid-range

$10 – $20. The majority of sleep masks for the eyes fall into this category. There are masks that use a double-blinding system and others that wrap around the entire head in a band. The cooling eye gel masks are in the middle range, as are heatable ones.

Cheap

$5 – $10. This category contains the masks that use molded mounds to block out light instead of cups. Satin eye masks for sleeping are also in this category. Although they don’t block out light completely, they are nice in an aesthetic sense.

FAQs

Does the interior matter in sleep masks for the eyes?

The interior can make all the difference for those who work on computers and devices all day, i.e., almost everyone. The interior sometimes contains a substance that heats well in the microwave or might have a cooling gel. There are very lightweight masks with thin fiber interiors. Those that promote deep pressure stimulation will be slightly more substantial.

Of course, there is also the question of allergens. The interior of a sleep mask for the eyes should be made with high-quality materials that are not known to cause eye sensitivities. Although the materials inside the mask are encased in fabric, the smaller particles can still reach the eyes and nose.

Does the fabric of the mask matter when sleeping?

An eye mask should preferably have a natural substance for the cover, like cotton or silk. Even if you’re not prone to sensitivities, it’s a good idea to check what materials are used to make the mask. If you typically use hats or scarves made of similar fabrics, they should be okay. Remember, you’ll be using the mask each evening when you go to sleep, the fabric must be one that doesn’t irritate the eyes, nose, or skin. If synthetic materials near your face cause breakouts, definitely look for natural fibers instead. And again, don’t forget to check what the mask is made of on the interior.

Masks covered in satin almost always bleed light can. They can’t be matched with the more modern sleep masks that use memory foam interiors and exteriors of silk or cotton.

Does an eye mask for sleeping block out light? How?

If you use sunglasses or tie a piece of fabric over your eyes, the light still enters from the nose area. It’s challenging to get that area dark enough for good melatonin and serotonin-induced sleep unless you’re using an eye mask for sleeping. Even blackout curtains can’t prevent light from entering the eyes from a bathroom light left on by a child, or the light of your partner’s cell phone or another device. It only takes a little light to disturb the quality of sleep.

What an eye mask for sleeping does is completely block out any light coming in from around the bridge of the nose. It also made of materials that block light – the fabric and the inner core. Some of them have little blackout cups that your eyes sit in, but there’s a wide variety of models available that do pretty much the same thing. Even when you’re tossing and turning, which might happen at the start while your body is still getting used to better sleep, eye masks for sleeping are designed to stay put.

Any such thing as an all-natural eye mask for sleeping?

Yes, there are eye masks for sleeping whose exterior is made from organic cotton fibers or silk and whose interior is padded wool or cotton. These are the lightweight natural masks.

The natural masks that are meant to apply deep pressure stimulation tend to have flaxseed interiors. Sometimes the seeds are blended with lavender buds or another calming herb for added relaxation. Flaxseed masks can be put in the freezer overnight, then used cold. If the fabric cover is dye-free, you can put a flaxseed mask in the microwave for a warm, lavender-scented eye mask for sleep that’s even more restful.