I aspire to be a person who is "well-rested," and I was on my way there until pandemic insomnia stopped my progress in its tracks, and then pushed my way (way, way) back. So I felt personally invested in rounding up the best sleep products of 2021. And these are the ones that helped members of the Well+Good team fall asleep faster this past year.
At this point, it's little surprise to anyone that not getting enough (or the right quality) of sleep has consequences. If you're looking for better quality zzzs, want to sleep more comfortably, and wake up more refreshed, shop their selects below.
The best sleep products of 2021, according to our editors
When commerce writer Francesca Krempa said that she and her boyfriend couldn’t stop fighting over a pillow, I just knew it had to this one from Purple…because my boyfriend and I have the same argument. It uses the same cushioning technology as their mattresses (which are also a personal favorite), and manages to be springy, squishy, supportive, lightweight, and breathable all at once.
If you’re a hot sleeper, these shorts may be worth the investment. Commerce editor Gina Vaynshteyn says that these soft shorts are the only pajamas that keep her cool at night. In addition to being incredibly soft, she says the material is also featherlight (but not in a fragile way).
One of the biggest sleep game changers: these silk pillowcases. “My nightly routine has historically consisted of spending 45 minutes tossing and turning to find the coolest and most comfortable spot on my pillow, then repeating this process in the middle of the night whenever I (or my dog) had to get up to pee. But with silk pillowcases, literally, every spot is cool and comfortable, which means I’m ready to fall asleep the minute I get into bed,” says Senior Beauty Editor Zoe Weiner.
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You don’t need to buy a whole new mattress to make your bed softer—just top your existing one of with this editor-approved mattress topper. “Sleeping with the squishy topper on my firm mattress is akin to drifting off on a layer of structured marshmallows. In true Tempur-Pedic form, it contours to your body and makes getting into bed feel luxurious,” says beauty writer Kara Jillian Brown.
Weiner once tried $3,400 worth of sleep tech in a quest for better sleep, and over a year later the one product she uses every night is this temperature-controlled mattress. The mattress adjusts its temperature throughout the night as you sleep, so that you’re never too hot or too cold. Naturally, it connects to an app—this analyzes your sleep patterns and gets to know you in order to come up with the best temperature patterns for you (though you can control the temperature manually, should you so choose).
Here are some other editor-tested mattresses we loved this year.
Before buying a new mattress to help improve her sleep, Vaynshteyn decided to give customizable pillow brand Pluto a go. “As a side sleeper who prefers a plush, medium-firm pillow, I received one that felt like the best of all worlds. The outer cover was soft and cloud-like, yet when I rested my head on it, my head and neck didn’t sink to the mattress like how it does with my fluffier pillows,” she says of her experience with her custom pillow. She adds that it also helped with her lower-back pain, as well.
If you were to open up my medicine cabinet, you would find bottles upon bottles of supplements for better sleep. But nothing has ever worked as well as this sleep tincture—I was at the end of my bottle last night, and I literally held it open over my mouth to get every drop of the snooze-inducing elixir that I could. Each serving contains 10mg of broad spectrum hemp, along with melatonin, GABA, and botanicals like L-theanine. You use the dropper to place the oil under your tongue, and hold it there for 30 seconds before swallowing (don’t worry, it actually tastes good). Even on my most stressful nights, this calms me down and helps me fall asleep without tossing and turning for hours.
Vaynshteyn also discovered this ultimate pillow for side sleepers. It’s cooling and wraps around your entire body. Plus, it can be looped, twisted, and otherwise adjusted for your comfort. “The shredded latex fill doesn’t get lumpy, so the shape you start with is the shape you end up with in the morning, which means you stay fully supported. And if you’re one to easily spill coffee (or, like me, have two, very hairy dogs who shed like it’s a sport), know that the cover is totally removable and easily washable,” she writes.
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