Have you heard? Sleep is trendy! Yes, a thing every person on the planet does every single night, is really cool right now. Saying, “I slept so much weekend!” is the new, “I’ve been so busy.” Except this trend is actually good for you and not gently unraveling the fabric of modern society. And how else do you achieve anything in 2019 without a little retail therapy? Sleep is trending, but really what that means is, anything and everything you can buy that promises it can improve your sleep—is trending.
We all remember the take down of Big Mattress a few years ago. They were like our sleep trend gateway drug—and now we’re experimenting with CBD, fancy alarms, and very very heavy blankets too. If it promises a better night of z’s, we wanna try it.
No matter what’s impeding your sleep—a noisy environment, general anxiety, the blinding light of day—SG rounded up our favorite and most effective solutions for a better snooze.
Casper Glow Light, $89
After successfully leading the charge against Big Mattress, Casper keeps delivering with bed-centric products that are hard to argue with. (Their pillows, including a tiny “nap pillow” I use as an iPad stand in my bed, are awesome.) Enter the Glow Light—a very aesthetically pleasing bedside lamp that connects to an app on your phone so you can program it to turn on and off like an alarm. The goal is to gently ease you to sleep by dimming the light, and gently wake you in the morning by gradually increasing the brightness.
Light alarms aren’t new, but we like that Casper’s looks like a piece of purposeful modern decor. You can pick up the lamp itself off its base and move it around the room, or carry it to the bathroom in the night without waking up the whole house when you slam your toe into the door jam.
Rosebud 1000mg CBD Oil, $125
For Christmas this year, I gifted my dad a cute little bottle of this Rosebud CBD oil. He has trouble sleeping, and found edibles helpful in the past. (Sorry to blow up your spot, Dad!) Cut to a few weeks later and my mom is frantically emailing me, subject line, “CBD!!!!” with questions about where she can buy more, because they have both started ingesting a few drops before bed each night and are both sleeping way better.
Now, I don’t know if you know anything about aging, but it gets more difficult to sleep through the night as you mature. So I have to imagine that if my late-sixties parents find CBD beneficial, you might, too.
Calm App - Sleep Stories
Calm is a meditation and sleep app that most people you know have probably tried at some point in time. It’s free to download, and you can use the trial period to test out the features before subscribing. Along with guided meditations (which can also really help calm the mind for sleep) Calm has a library of audio stories you can listen to that are meant to help you drift off into sweet, sweet dreams.
Marpac Dohm Classic White Noise Sound Machine, $45
Is a white noise machine glamorous? Of course not. Is it sexy? Not particularly. But if you live on a noisy block or have a neighbor teaching himself to play the electric guitar late at night (No? Just me?) it tops pretty much all other sleep-related purchases. It has two settings, a softer one that’s great for any ol’ night, and a louder one that I use when the neighbors and the streets are at their most annoying. This particular sound machine from Marpac has more than 13,000 reviews and a 4-star rating on Amazon, which is why I bought it, and confidently encourage you to do the same.
BlanQuil Quilted Weighted Blanket, $155
Right up there with CBD oil, weighted blankets might be the trendiest sleep aid in the game right now. Studies have shown that the evenly distributed weight on your body feels like a comforting hug, and the light pressure helps you sleep longer and spend less time awake during the night. (One Inventory writer found hers to be a major anxiety-reducer, for real!)
Your ideal blanket should clock in at about 10 to 15 percent of your body weight. Brands like Blanquil or Gravity (the Kickstarter-funded brand that went viral in 2017) offer different weight options, colors and sizes so you can customize your anxiety-reducing, sleep-improving blanket.
Bose Noise Masking Sleepbuds, $249
If you’re in the market for a bougie alternative to a sound machine—if say, you want something that travels easily or won’t bother your partner who absolutely hates that constant fan sound—let me point you in the direction of Bose’s Noise Masking Sleepbuds. They look just like Bluetooth earbuds for playing music, but instead they play “engineered soothing sounds” to help you fall asleep and stay asleep, by canceling out noise like snoring partners or late-night construction.
IMAK Eye Mask, $13
A guy friend bought this eye mask for me about five years ago, and I have never been the same. It’s meant to be kept in the freezer, so every night when you go to put it on, you eyes, temples and forehead are cooled and slightly compressed as you fall asleep. On hot summer nights, or any night when sleep is elusive, I find that this extremely affordable eye mask is my golden ticket to Snoozeville.
Brooklinen Classic Percale Sheet Set, $99 and up
If you’re a “hot sleeper,” like almost every man I’ve ever met, I feel for you. Cuddling is uncomfortable! Fluffy, luxe down comforters are too warm! It’s annoying, but there’s hope! I tell every hot body I know to invest in Brooklinen’s classic percale sheets.
Of all the trendy DTC brands vying to join me in bed, Brooklinen ended up winning me over by describing their percale sheets as having a “Cool and crisp ‘hotel bed’ feel.” And guess what—they do! It’s like I’m getting a five-star resort-level snooze every night. They feel so good against my skin (no, but really), they are cool-to-the-touch, crisp, yet somehow softer every time I wash them, and they’ve caused me to abandon my “back up” sheets.
Beautyrest Sleeptracker Monitor, $200
I actually had the opportunity to test-drive this device-and-app combo a while back, and found it rather addicting. Using sensors placed under your mattress around where your pillows go, the Sleeptracker gathers and analyzes stats about your breathing and heart rate, if you wake up, how long you spend each night in deep and REM sleep, and how much you move around in the night.
Plus, it has two sensors, so you can program the device to track two individuals at the same time. (A fun sleep contest for couples! Or just for you! Competing against yourself!) All of this info is fed into an app on your phone, so if you’re looking to dig into the nitty gritty of your nightly z’s, I guarantee you’ll be fascinated by the Sleeptracker.