At the end of a long, exhausting, is-it-Friday-yet day, all you want to do is crash into bed. Yet once you hit the sack, you just can’t seem to keep your eyes shut.
Besides cutting the screen time and having a good environment to sleep in, a couple of products can help to gently ease you to sleep. We’re talking comfy materials, smells that will put you to sleep and even apps you can easily download on your phone.
Sure, these might just cost a little bit of money, but given that how well you sleep affects a myriad of things besides how good your skin looks, we’d say it’s a damn good investment. And really, who wants panda eyes in the morning?
This soft and silky robe is perfect to slip into when you need a cover up when you hit the sheets. Especially on colder and rainy days, you can give yourself an extra layer of warmth by wearing a robe over your pyjamas. We particularly love this robe as it feels soft against the skin and it’s perfect if you’re just spending the rest of the day lounging around the house.
Looking for a blanket that’s not too thick but still does the job of keeping you warm? You’ll want to try this cotton blanket from Rawbought. An essential, especially for your afternoon naps, this blanket is softer and more breathable than regular cotton and is ideal for those who run a little hot in bed.
Known for its rumpled aesthetic and natural feel, French linen is durable and ideal for air-conditioned rooms.
In our humid climate, bamboo sheets wick away moisture and keep you cool.
This Weavve Home duvet is made with sustainably sourced high-quality eucalyptus wood fibres, treatment and workmanship. With its temperature-regulating properties, this duvet is suitable for Singapore’s weather due to its natural ability to absorb moisture and dissipate excessive heat for a long-lasting cooling sensation.
This 180g mask provides gentle, deep-pressure stimulation while you snooze.
Made with 100% bamboo fibre, this weighted blanket stands out thanks to its impeccable quality. While many have faced issues with weighted blankets and how hot they can be at times, this particular one by Cuddle Beddings is soft and cool enough for Singapore’s weather.
The shatter-proof, BPA-free pitcher keeps refreshing filtered water at your fingertips.
For those who struggle with falling asleep at night and are weighed down by all the worries in the world, this one’s for you. The added weight on the blanket is evenly distributed across the body to provide gentle pressure. This mimics the feeling of being held, which increases serotonin and melatonin levels for deeper and more restful sleep.
Other benefits of using weighted blankets include pain relief, reduced anxiety and improved mood.
Available in a variety of designs for you to choose from, Silky Miracle’s eye masks reduce friction on the skin to minimise much-dreaded sleep wrinkles. It also blocks out light to give you a good night’s sleep.
This pillow is crafted with 100% mulberry silk — the natural hypoallergenic properties of silk make it resistant to dust mites, mould, and other common allergens to keep you comfortable while resting.
Give yourself the gift of beauty sleep and indulge yourself or your loved ones, with luxurious pure mulberry silk pillowcase to rest your head on, while using the eye mask to block out light and eliminate sleep disruptions. The set also comes with a scrunchie to gently keep hair in place, plus a pillow spray to lull you to deep slumber with its relaxing aroma.
Crafted from the highest grade Egyptian cotton Giza 45, the Ultimate Duvet cover will give you one of the most luxurious sleep experiences. What’s more, its simple and light colourway also makes it easy to pair with various patterns and prints.
For more information, please check out Frette’s flagship store at Marina Bay Sands.
Casual yet refined, luxe but comfy. Romanticise your bedtime routine with this pyjamas set — you’ll be sure to get your quality snooze in style.
For more information, please check out Frette’s flagship store at Marina Bay Sands.
We recently got our hands on this and we have to say, it’s pretty effective at calming us down before a night’s rest.
With the soothing scent of Eucalyptus essential oil and Tea, this mist helps you to relax and de-stress. When you get to bed, it’ll smell like freshly washed sheets.
For a full pamper sesh, try out the bath fizzer, body scrub and candle, from the same range.
Available at Bath & Body Works
This pillow spray was created to give you a relaxing and revitalising sleep.
Formulated with Wild Chamomile, Ho Wood and of course, Lavender, this crowd favourite is known to wind down even hectic Singaporeans who are always on the bustle. Spray this on your pillow every night before you sleep. Or if you want a milder scent, on the corners of your blanket.
If your skin is sensitive to essential oils and causes you to breakout because of pillow mists, aroma diffusers may be a better option for you.
It uses ultrasonic waves to vaporise water and essential oil to produce a cool, fragrant mist. What we love about this particular diffuser is that it also comes with a lamp that gives off an ambient light glow that has two settings (one brighter than the other). It’s perfect for before bedtime, especially if you need to sleep with a light on – it’s bright enough, but not too bright to disrupt your natural sleep cycle.
Plus, it also has a setting for how long you want it on (either 30, 60, 120 or 180 minutes), so you can fall asleep without needing to switch it off.
Use this with MUJI’s Unwinding Blend consisting of lemon, bergamot and more to give you a fresh fragrance to transport your mind to a peaceful place.
Remember that time when you went on a holiday and the room smelled 100 percent amazing? This candle will help bring that fresh smell to your bedroom.
With woody notes, bergamot and rose, you’ll feel a crisp freshness in the air that’ll make you forget your worries. For the full experience, mix this with Fluffy Towels, which smells like freshly washed towels with hints of lemon, apple and lily.
Available at Yankee Candle stores.
Stepping into a flower shop is one of the best things ever. The smell of fresh blooms lifts your mood and your mind instantly slips away.
This candle from Jo Malone is designed to smell just like that – a bouquet of freshly cut flowers. Surprisingly, the scent isn’t too overpowering. It’s light and just nice with crushed violet leaves and a lemony twist. Those days of wishing someone would turn a flower shop into a perfume are long gone with this candle, trust us.
The things you sleep in should be nice and keep you comfortable through the night. So trust us when we say that you need to invest in a pair (or two) of pyjamas.
MUJI’s seamless double gauze pyjamas and plaid pyjamas are the most, we repeat, the most comfortable pyjamas you could wear – besides silk ones of course.
In fact, you could go on and get a pair from the men’s section, since they’ll be bigger in size and will provide more air circulation when you sleep. It helps you to feel more comfortable through the night and you’ll sleep like a baby.
Available at MUJI stores.
It’s a bit gimmicky at first, but trust us on this. As soothing sounds play in the background, you’ll hear a voice easing you into a slumber. It’s almost as though you’re having a therapy session but instead, you’re given a step-by-step meditation that helps you fall asleep.
It’s called Digipill because it’s as though you’re taking a pill when really, you’re meditating. When you first download the app you get a few free ‘pills’. Then you can head to the ‘pharmacy’ and get another prescription (aka more guided meditation memos).
Besides using this for going into a really deep sleep, you can also use it as a pick me up throughout the day if you need a motivational speech, want to lose weight, or even gain confidence.
We tried the ‘T-Break’ pill, a relaxation pill and we can confidently say that it helped us to relax a tad and made us sleepy (so don’t try this pill when you need to be active at work!)
Digipill, free for Apple and Android users.
If meditation isn’t your thing, then you can try this app which has a whole variety of sounds – white noise, waves, a bustling cafe and even soft, ASMR-like sounds. It’ll help you loosen your shoulders and even put you to sleep. All you need to do is to mix different sounds and create your perfect, personalised sound ambience.
You might need to take some time to find out what sound works best for you, but personally, the sound of nature puts me to sleep. I (softly) play it on a speaker at night before I begin my night-time routine.
Best of all, it has a timer so you can fall asleep to the sounds of waves crashing – and not have to worry about your device overheating.
Noisli, $2.98 for Apple and Android users.
One of the greatest mistakes we make after all that effort of prepping for a good night’s rest, is shocking and putting our bodies through stress in the morning with loud, blaring alarms – you’ll feel like you didn’t rest at all. You could simply solve this with a soothing alarm clock, but that’s not optimal either.
The app’s smart alarm clock helps to wake you up naturally by monitoring your sleep patterns, then giving slight nudges when you’re in the lightest sleep phase – within a 30-minutes of the time you need to be up. It does this by monitoring your movements through your phone’s microphone or accelerometer, then determining what sleep phase you’re in. Besides that, it also monitors your heart rate and your snores. It even records it!
I’ve used the app for the past few years after a friend recommended it and I honestly wake up feeling well-rested, when I remember to use it.
Sleep Cycle, free for Apple and Android users.
Additional reporting: Airis Abdullah/Home & Decor