Our favourite silk pillowcases - for better beauty sleep
These are the best silk pillowcases for mature skin, cooling properties, different hair textures. There's something for every budget from M&S to The White Company
Tamara Kelly
The best silk pillowcases can help you to maximise on your precious hours of rest: the sumptuous fibres look after your skin and hair, adding extra lustre and luxury to your beauty sleep.
If you've read about the benefits of a silk pillowcase, you'll know that they cannot be understated. Natural, sumptuous, silk fibres reduce friction against your skin and hair, reducing frizz and the appearance of wrinkles. Plus, the smooth thread makes your skincare less likely to transfer onto your pillow and more likely to stay on your face, doing the hard work.
Best silk pillowcases, tested for better beauty sleep
RRP: £49 | Composition: 100% silk | Colourways: Various | Size: Square, standard, king | Thickness: 22 momme
+ Feels gorgeously gentle to sleep on
+ Widest range of patterns, styles, and sizes
- Nothing of note!
It's hard to do anything but love these pillows. You can opt for a classic white, a tasteful colour, or a pretty pattern in Oxford or a Housewife style. At first, I thought this was a little more brittle than other silk pillowcases, but it was a joy to sleep on.
Over time, this became softer and softer and quickly became my and my partner's favourite. It's gentle on the skin, keeping you from face creases, and keeps the structure of curls and smoothness on air. It's dreamy.
RRP: £70 | Composition: 100% silk | Colourways: White | Size: one size (50 x 75cm) | Thickness: 19 momme
+ Silky and smooth feel
+ Lasts really well over time
- Limited colour options
This silk pillowcase has topped gift guides since it was launched as part of The White Company's highly covetable Audley collection (there's an Oxford design available, too). Crafted in Portugal in a timeless alabaster hue, it's elegance and luxury at its finest. Of course. What else would you expect?
Even though 19 momme is one of the lowest thicknesses in our guide, this feels like sleeping on water. It's hard to tell when the silk has even touched your skin: it really is that smooth. I didn't wake up with skin creases, tangles or any irritation. In the winter, this helped to lock moisture into my skin and come heat waves and hot rooms, the cooling silk was refreshing on my skin. Proof that The White Company does timeless perfectly.
RRP: £30 | Composition: 100% Mulberry silk | Colourways: White, charcoal, mint, mink, soft pink, natural | Size: One size | Thickness: n/a
+ Great balance of premium and price-conscious
+ Classic, simple design
- Some styles run out of stock
Silk pillowcases get expensive, but there's a balance you can find between quality and price. As you may have predicted, M&S has struck that to perfection. £30 for a pure Mulberry silk pillowcase is a great deal, especially when you have all the different colourways on offer.
Even though this has an envelope closure, it stays in place perfectly. I felt my hair and skin was all the better for sleeping on clean-lined silk. The only downside is that colours can run out of stock and that these are only sold in singles.
RRP: £12.49 | Composition: 100% organic bamboo | Colourways: white, grey, dark grey, pink | Size: one size | Thickness: 700 thread count
+ Vegan-friendly and eco-friendly too
+ Excellent temperature regulation
- Not actually silk
You're here for the best silk pillowcases, but let me introduce you to bamboo silk. This is the eco-conscious option for vegans, sustainability-minded sleepers, and for people who want a bit more substance.
Luff's pillowcases are notably cheaper than pure silk options, but they come with anti-bacterial, sustainable, breathable, and temperature-regulating qualities. Handed to our blind testers, these were described as the softest and also the heaviest of all the silk pillows. As a vegan, it's the one I'd be tempted to go for.
RRP: from £65 | Composition: 100% Mulberry Silk | Colourways: ivory, suck egg, antique silver | Size: one size | Thickness: 19 momme
+ Comes as a pack of two
+ Cool to touch and excellent temperature regulator
- Design could be too simple for some
If you're always looking for the cold side of the pillow, this silk pillowcase is the answer to your search. Soak & Sleep's pack of two pillows offers you a luxury satin feel, but having a spare meant that my partner made the switch too.
The Soak & Sleep very naturally kept my skin feeling really cool and fresh all night long. Even when it was hot outside, the pillow felt fresher and softer than most. It's hypoallergenic too.
RRP: £55 | Composition: 100% Mulberry silk | Colourways: black or ivory | Size: standard or king | Thickness: 22 momme
+ Noticeably fewer tangles and reduced bed hair
+ Cool and soft to touch
- Limited colour options
If you've been struggling with tangles, frizz, and hair that feels like it's tricky to style, this is my secret tip. The Scooms Silk Pillowcase gave the best results for smoother hair that's more of a unified shape than any other pillowcase. I have almost untamable hair and this is one of very few pillowcases that didn't make me look like I'd been dragged through a hedge backwards.
The Scooms felt soft, hydrating, and delivered good value for money too. It arrives in a gift box (if it's a treat for you or a loved one) and all the packaging is plastic-free and recyclable. It's the icing on top of a stunning, OEKO-TEX-certified cake.
RRP: £85 | Composition: 100% eucalyptus | Colourways: White, wheat, grey, green, pink, blue | Size: Standard, super king | Thickness: 300 thread count
+ Hypoallergic, organic, and vegan-friendly
+ Feels identical to silk
- Not pure silk
If you want the silk feel and the luxury experience, but you're looking for something vegan-friendly and sustainable, Ethical Bedding's eucalyptus is the place where most experts will point. These ultra-soft fibres have the same properties as silk and these are coloured with all-natural dye.
I handed these out to testers without explaining that they were only silk-feel and not silk. Guess what? These were in the top three of all ten different testers. Each set of two cases comes in a beautiful bag and they feel almost identical to satin and silk. The testers were waking up without sleep creases in their skin and they were complimented for their cooling, fresh feel.
RRP: £40 | Composition: 100% silk | Colourways: White or grey | Size: One size | Thickness: 19 momme
+ Hair feels notably softer and silkier
+ Keeps curl structure like nothing else
- Nothing!
As a curly girlie, you can't even touch my hair without it frizzing. When I wake up in the morning, my hair looks like a lion's mane (no kidding). Whilst all of the best silk pillowcases helped to reduce my frizz, this was the one that looked after the structure of my curls better than any of the others.
The silk felt cool against my skin and my hair was much more hydrated and shiny in the morning. I managed to shave a full 15 minutes off my morning hair routine, which makes all the difference in the morning madness. It's perfect for all curl types.
RRP: £69 | Composition: 100% silk | Colourways: Various patterns | Size: one size | Thickness: 22 momme
+ Nourishing and gentle on skin
+ Beautiful design options
- Bright and bold isn't for everyone
If you like a thick face cream on your skin overnight, you'll find that most pillowcases will absorb it. Not this one. The stylish design belies only a fraction of the clever satin silk weave that helps to keep your face smooth and hydrated overnight. My face cream worked its magic overnight and the pillow kept my face crease-free.
The limited edition inspiring designs all come from British designers, so they're bold, super soft, and easily reached around even my plumpest pillow.
How we test the best silk pillowcases
Finding and testing the best silk pillowcases out there wasn’t simply a case of sleeping on them. We assessed the below pillowcases on a range of factors, including:
The smoothness of the pillow: we tested just how smooth the pillowcases felt. Anything too slippy could be uncomfortable and prove detrimental to getting a good night’s sleep.
Effects on our skin and hair: next to consider was our skin and hair the morning after. Were there any pillow creases on our faces? Had our skincare rubbed into the pillow and stained it? Was our hair smooth and silky, or lacking in moisture?
The material: nearly all of the silk pillowcases tested are made from Mulberry silk, which is commonly used as it is both hypoallergenic and naturally anti-bacterial. Rather than thread count, silk fabrics use momme, the standard unit to measure silk's weight and thickness. Most of the pillowcases tested had a momme count of 19-25 – and we did find that those with a higher count generally performed better. "Momme is the weight measurement of silk, so choosing a higher Momme means the fabric is softer," explains Siobhan Brown, ESPA's Homeware Buyer. "Also, the higher the Momme, the tighter the weave, so more silk is used in every square cm. A higher Momme will have a better hand feel and density, so you can enjoy an indulgent night's sleep."
The pillowcase after washing: after a few nights of testing, we also wanted to see how the silk pillowcases performed after washing (some required hand-washing while others could be machine-washed). It was important to check how the pillowcases held up after washing, as they need to be able to stay of the best quality for use time and time again.
Size: size also mattered when testing the best silk pillowcases. Some brands only offer one size, whereas others had up to five. Equally, some silk pillowcases came up small on standard pillows.
Style options: last but by no means least, the style options were incredibly important. We examined how many color options were on offer for all pillowcases, and how nice the pillowcases looked overall.
FAQs
Do silk pillowcases really make a difference to your hair and skin?
Yes, silk pillowcases can potentially be much better for your hair and skin (and sometimes sleep), than cotton pillowcases. But it’s important to remember that they aren’t magic either.
Sleeping on a silk pillowcase can prevent creases and fine lines on the face, and can help to reduce hair breakage or bedhead. However, they also aren’t a replacement for a diligent skincare or haircare routine. Think of sleeping on a silk pillowcase as a nightly supplement—it can help to support your beauty routine far better than other pillowcases.
Overall, silk pillowcases can't be thought of as a cure-all for any skin and hair problems, but they can be a great addition to your self-care and offer a lot more gentle support than any other pillowcases. And if you're wondering how to sleep better generally, see our guide to the simple changes you can make to improve your shut-eye.
Here are the much-touted beneficial claims of sleeping on silk pillowcases...
- Less hair breakage and frizz: even in our deepest sleep, our body is constantly moving. The friction between our hair and a normal, cotton pillowcase often leads to breakage, thinning, split ends, and frizz. But as an anti-static material, silk’s innate slippiness reduces that friction and is altogether much gentler on the hair.
- Gentler and kinder on the skin: some beauty experts argue that rough cotton pillowcases can contribute to signs of aging, such as wrinkles and lines. But the soft smoothness of silk pillowcases is much gentler on your skin and is thought to slow the rate of appearance.
- Better absorption of skincare products: if your bedtime routine involves layering active serums and nurturing moisturizers onto your face, a silk pillowcase can help these products work their magic. Cotton pillowcases are hyper absorbent and soak up the moisture our skin and hair crave. But silk is far less absorbent, meaning that the products we apply to our skin stay there, rather than transferring onto the pillowcase. Satin pillowcases can also offer similar benefits at a lower price, too.
- They're cooler and more comfortable: silk pillowcases offer a more comfortable night's sleep thanks to their cooling texture.
- Hypoallergenic and antibacterial: great for sensitive skin types and those who suffer from menopausal acne.
How do you wash silk pillowcases?
Silk pillowcases are best washed by hand or on a gentle machine wash, but the best way to wash your silk pillowcase is according to the specific care label. Given silk’s delicate texture, washing and drying it properly helps to extend its lifespan.
"For best results, hand wash with cold water and a PH-neutral detergent," advises Siobhan. When hand-washing it is advisable to use a very mild detergent to prevent any damage. You should also wash at a cool temperature when using the washing machine.
Buying a silk pillowcase is a homeware and beauty investment, so washing it in the correct manner will be crucial to keep it in the best condition. "Whilst there's not a definitive time on how long pillowcases last if cared for properly, silk pillowcases can last much longer," adds Siobhan.
To maintain your silk pillowcases' lifespan, it's also important to think about the pillow they sit on top of too. See our guide to how to wash pillows as a fresh, cleaned, and properly taken care of silk pillowcase is nothing without a properly taken care of pillow.
Is mulberry or momme silk better?
To understand this, you'll want to know the difference between the two. Momme is a unit of measurement for the weight and density of a silk fabric. A good pillowcase will be 19-22, but 25 is really the best.
Mulberry silk is a type of silk made from the cocoons of the Bombyx mori silkworm, which feeds on mulberry tree leaves (other silk worms will eat oak or pine). That might not mean a lot to you, but it's considered to be the best kind of silk you can buy (and so it's also more expensive). Mulberry silk is softer, smoother, and stronger, especially in comparison to other types of silk.
So, Mulberry silk is the best you can buy and you'll want it to be a higher momme. All Mulberry silk has a momme, but not all silks are mulberry.
A silk pillowcase is a simple accessory that will help you towards more restorative sleep. These nine span all skin types, hair types, and ages, so there's absolutely one for you in this list. And, if you're stuck for gifting ideas, a silk pillowcase is a stunning choice too.
