The idea of sleep masks are great! Sleeping in a dark environment improves you sleep quality and conversely sleeping in a light environment is detrimental to your health.
As I live in Sweden, the nights are predominantly light one third of the year. Creating a dark environment is harder than one might think. I find a lot of blinds do a lousy job of blocking out the light. And even if you don’t live way up north and have extra long days, non natural lights such as street lights or living with another person who is up can also be a problem for many people.
That’s why a good sleeping mask will come in handy. But when I say that the idea of a sleeping mask is great I mean that it’s hard finding one you vibe with. It is an object that has to be strapped around your head while you are sleeping and if you are like me (and I am guessing you are) being comfortable is a very important factor.
A couple of years ago I started collecting sleeping masks. I know what you’re thinking, that’s a weird hobby. And your right, it is weird. But I had a reason. I had an idea of creating a sleeping mask of my own. But before I did that I had to see what was out there. And now I find myself in a position to write a great ass review which might be useful to people. And the real reason for writing this review is hopefully to gain some SEO-traction and promote our future sleeping mask we are releasing some day in the future (hey, at least I am being honest). But having said that I still want to write an article people find useful. So all bullshit aside, here it is. Enjoy.
But before we jump in I just want to go through some ground rules and prerequisites. When reviewing 10 different sleeping masks on the market we will judge them on the following factors:
-
Darkness
- The most important factor of them all simply because this is the reason why we have the mask in the first place
-
Comfortable
- The second most important factor and the most broad one. Does it sit well on the face, can you sleep in all different positions and still be comfortable. Does the material feel good against your skin? Does it leave room for your eyelids i.e. can you open your eyes while wearing the mask
-
Temperature
- Temperature is a very important factor for sleep quality. Your feet, hands and head are the body parts regulating the body’s temperature and humans sleep better in a little cooler environment. Therefore having a warm sleeping mask wrapped around your head isn’t preferred for many people.
-
Does it stay on all night
- How well does it sit on when you toss and turn at night.
-
Aesthetics
- How does it look on you when you are sleeping? Is it something to be proud of?
I will rate each sleeping mask and category on a scale of 1 – 5 and then the aggregate score will reveal my top choices. I’ve realized that it takes several nights to get used to each mask. The masks that I prefer now weren’t great in the beginning but have gotten better the more I get used to them. Like a pair of running shoes that get better as soon as you’ve worn them in.
This will also be a continuous review which will be updated when we review more sleeping masks. So if you have any tips on masks to review which is not included, please feel free to comment below.
Manta Sleep Mask
Manta Sleep Mask has in recent years taken the sleep mask market by storm. According to them they have spent two years designing and iterating the sleep mask. And the final product does not disappoint. It blocks out darkness totally thanks to it’s design which gives room for the nose. The material of the mask gives it a quality feel and the band is topped off with a type of velcro that does not stick to the hair. This is a product that is highly recommended for anyone who values darkness and quality. Though it is not perfect, one thing that is a little irritating is that it sticks out a bit from the face, therefore it’s not comfortable when you sleep on your side. Regarding aesthetics I’ve asked several people about if they think it looks nice and the majority says they don’t like the look.
- Darkness: 5
- Comfortable: 3
- Temperature: 3
- Stay on: 4
- Aesthetics: 2
Total score: 16 out of 25
Sleep Master
This sleep mask got my attention through Tim Ferriss who has talked about it on his podcast. It is a substantial mask covering your head quite a bit around your head. The satin makes it feel good on the skin. The mask is easy to put on and sits sturdy around your head and on your face. There is some light leakage around the nose but despite this the experience is quite dark. The mask has two cons. 1, It’s not a mask I would like to travel with because I don’t like how it looks. It looks like I have a boxing belt wrapped around my head. 2, This big thing around your head is warm, and even though some people like this the science tells us it’s not beneficial for our sleep quality. Your head, feet and hands are the body parts that control your temperature and keeping them cool (or not warm) helps people fall asleep faster and control your body temperature during sleep.
- Darkness: 3
- Comfortable: 3
- Temperature: 1
- Stay on: 5
- Aesthetics: 1
Total score: 13 out of 25
Alaska Bear Sleep Mask
This is a simple but massively popular sleep mask with over 14000 ratings on Amazon. I actually also found out about this one on the tim ferriss podcast but through a guest of his, Dr. Peter Attilla. He praised the mask. There are different versions of the mask and the one I’ve tried is the original basic one. And that fits well with my verdict on this mask, that it is very basic. But when it comes to sleeping masks, that doesn’t necessarily have to be a bad thing. It is silky and soft. It has no special design quality so there is quite a lot of light leakage. Even though it’s simple I quite enjoy it because I like how it’s lightweight and not too much around the face. It’s easy and nice to bring when traveling as well. You can choose from many different colors which is fun.
- Darkness: 1
- Comfortable: 3
- Temperature: 4
- Stay on: 3
- Aesthetics: 3
Total Score: 15 out of 25
Tempur Sleeping Mask
This is by far the most interesting sleeping mask in so many ways. First of all, it’s a great mask. Blocks out light completely. It’s decently comfortable (a tad problematic to sleep on the side). It sits well on the face and around the head, a little warm sometimes but still manageable. The problem with this mask is it’s looks. The color we have which is grey makes it look like a dead animal and therefore we have appropriately named it roadkill. To be fair, when the mask doesn’t have this color it looks a little better (but not much).
- Darkness: 5
- Comfortable: 5
- Temperature: 3
- Stay on: 4
- Aesthetics: 1
Total Score: 18 out of 25
Soft Goat Sleeping Mask
The Soft Goat Sleeping Mask separates itself from the rest by being knitted which makes it very cozy. It is the most expensive sleeping mask in this review, going at 68 dollars. The reason for the high price is the material, cashmere. After a closer look we can see that it is not cashmere 100%. There is some other material insulating the mask. With this said it does feel good in the hand. But when it comes to the actual mask it’s not that special. It is just a classic mask which doesn’t block out light. It’s pretty small. It is flat so you can’t open your eyes when wearing the mask. The band is simple, but again feels qualitative. But here is the thing, there is something very good with these simple masks. They stay on all night, they do not make you warm and they look good, both in the hand and on the face (I wouldn’t be embarrassed to wear this on a flight). If you don’t mind light leakage and enjoy the simple cozy things in life and don’t mind paying up to 70 dollars, this might be the mask for you.
- Darkness: 1
- Comfortable: 4
- Temperature: 4
- Stay on: 3
- Aesthetics: 5
Total Score: 17 out of 25
Cabeau Midnight Magic Sleep Mask black
The Cabeau sleeping mask seems at first glance to be the perfect sleeping mask. But when you use it and dissect the experience a bit more unfortunately it doesn’t go the full way. Regarding blocking out light, in theory the design works great. But for me who has quite a big nose it doesn’t really work because I have to put it on higher on the face than it is supposed to go. This means that my eyes go against the fabric on the inside. For those with a smaller nose it might work better. It has a pretty cozy design but with some hard edges. After a highly unscientific poll amongst my friends I’ve realized this has two camps for both the design and the fit. This means that this might be the perfect mask for you but it might not be as well.
- Darkness: 3
- Comfortable: 2
- Temperature: 2
- Stay on: 3
- Aesthetics: 3
Total Score: 13 out of 25
Dream Essentials Escape Sleep Mask
I actually have three different Dream Essentials sleeping masks at home but I’ll just review the most advanced out of the three and that’s the Escape Sleep mask. The outside of the mask is made out of micro-plush faux mink (a soft synthetic fur) and the feel of the mask is a little stiff. The inside has carved out two round pits (or holes) for the eyes, which makes it have an owl look to it. It is the side of the nose where the light leaks in almost on every mask, the same with this one and this is often because the space for the nose is not sufficiently carved out. So the pit (or holes) on the inside might be ok in leaving space for the eyelids but there is still light leakage. The band is not great. This together with the stiffness of the mask makes it difficult to to get the right fit. This mask is not one of my favorites.
- Darkness: 2
- Comfortable: 2
- Temperature: 2
- Stay on: 2
- Aesthetics: 3
Total Score: 11 out of 25
Muji
(The link doesn’t show the mask we review)
I’ve always been a fan of Muji as a brand, have it be pencils, underwear or sleep masks. Muji has different kinds of eye masks (as they call it) but in this review i’ll focus on this one. This particular one was the first one we tried of all masks, and it’s been a favorite of mine ever since. As you’ve read from the reviews above I tend to like simplicity because it’s less of a hassle to put on, it doesn’t get too warm and it’s generally more comfortable. But the cost of simplicity is almost always light leakage. The same with this mask. The band design is freaking awesome, with one band going over the ear and one under the ear. Then they merge at the back of the head. Simplicity at its best, usually what you expect from Muji.
- Darkness: 1
- Comfortable: 4
- Temperature: 5
- Stay on: 5
- Aesthetics: 3
Total Score: 18 out of 25
Sleep Star
The Sleep Star has a very similar design as the Dream Essentials Escape Sleep Mask. It’s a little slimmer and a little less rigid. Because of this the feel is a little better than the DEESM. The band feels better around the head and it feels more comfy on the face. But it has the same design features that aims to block out light, but it doesn’t succeed. On a positive note you can open your eyes when wearing it. This is a good mask, but nothing special.
- Darkness: 2
- Comfortable: 3
- Temperature: 3
- Stay on: 3
- Aesthetics: 4
Total Score: 15 out of 25
AsaKlitt
Normally I would make a review of this cheap but rather good and sturdy sleeping mask, but I am not going to. I’ve only slept with it once or twice but after reading the reviews it’s clear that this sleeping mask colors the sheets. And this is a big no no. So this is my review, don’t buy this mask! I’ll review it again after this problem is solved.
- Darkness: X
- Comfortable: X
- Temperature: X
- Stay on: X
- Aesthetics: X
THE WINNERS
The Muji & Tempur Sleeping Mask
There are 100 more sleeping masks out there and every person values different things in a sleeping mask. If you would like something light and qualitative buy a mask from Muji. If you want complete darkness go with tempur. And sign up on our email list. We are currently working on our own masks that aim to be light and qualitative and at the same time will block out all light.
