Revolutionary patented Sleep Mask / Eye Mask - by Sleep Master including set of ear plugs - Unisex mask - Helps with snoring partners - insomnia - shift work - jet lag for truly restful sleep - sleeping mask - relax

I'm a daylight-sensitive insomniac who is tired of waking up with the dawn when I'm sleeping in an east-facing room. The sort of masks handed out by airlines help for the odd night, but they're not good enough for regular use. I bought the Sleep Master on spec, and while it's not perfect, it's a lot better than any other mask I've tried. For me it was well worth the 22 pounds I paid for it. I bought mine for insomnia, but I think it's also worth trying for light-sensitive migraine.It's a wrap-around padded blindfold held on with a velcro fastener, and has no straps or elastic involved in keeping it on your head. There are padded areas over the ears to muffle sound, and it comes with two sets of earplugs if you want heavy-duty sound blocking.What it's very, very good at is blocking out the light. It's very wide, the padding ensures that almost no light gets through the blindfold itself, and the cut out around the nose is a good shape that ensures a good light seal in that area.Comfort-wise, it's very good once you get used to it. It's made from a soft, silky material that feels comfortable against my skin. I was concerned that it might get too sweaty, but so far haven't had any problems. The padding makes it quite thick, which makes it feel a bit odd to lie on at first, but after a few days I didn't notice it. The main problem I noticed was that it rests directly against the eyelids, which means that if you're prone to opening your eyes when sleeping, you won't be able to and it's going to disturb your sleep.It's held on by a long velcro strip which provides plenty of size adjustment, and which does a good job of holding it securely closed without it loosening during the night, as elastic is prone to do. It's also a lot more comfortable than elastic. The one drawback is that I found that it doesn't reliably stay on during the night, although that may because I'm a fairly restless sleeper. It's easy enough to slip back on if it does come off.The blindfold by itself does muffle sound a little, and could be enough to mask low levels of irritating sound. The flip side of this is that it adds sounds of its own -- the rustling of satin cloth against skin right next to your ear. This could be helpful, if you find it soothing white noise that masks other sounds, or it could be annoying in its own right. I haven't tried the earplugs it came with, but one pair is the type I used to wear in a high decibel industrial environment as hearing protection, so I know that it's capable of blocking very high sound levels.Washing directions are hand wash in cold water and drip dry. So far it seems to have survived the experience, and I didn't get any colour bleeding. I suspect that you could get away with occasional machine washing on the wool cycle if you put it in a delicates bag, which matters if you're like me and have hand problems, but I'm not going to try it unless I need to.In summary: excellent product which should suit most people.

4 starsPositive: This is a nice and comfortable product, the satin style finish means it's soft on this skin and the thick padding makes it comfortable and ensures darkness. Comes with some ear plugs which I haven't used as I have my own moulded plugs however there combination would provide a restful sleep. The Velcro on the rear is positioned on to the product so it won't interfere with hair or skin which is a nice touch.The negative: The colouring on this product will come off on to your pillow. It's been a hot week which likely means sweating while I'm asleep, I woke up to a darkened patch of blue on my cotton pillow cases which are white so it's hard not to miss it!That being said a single wash and the colouring has come out of the pillow cases.All in all this is a good product, I've tried several sleep marks as I can't sleep in anything other than total darkness. Despite the annoyance of the dye transferring (which was easily remedied) this is a great product and you will be glad you spent that extra money over the cheaper versions.Sizing is bigger than you expect so if like me you have a big fat head don't worry this will still fit.

Great mask

A quick background: I have struggled from insomnia for about 5 years now, having tried almost every medication available (which honestly doesn't get you anywhere in the end of the day, as all of them mess up your sleep cycle some way or the other), I have found that sleeping masks are somewhat helpful to helping me fall asleep and stay asleep. This came to me as a complete surprise and I only figured it out as I had held onto a sleeping mask from a plane journey I had just taken, and thought I might as well have a go with one. Now, it wasn't a miracle cure, and I still suffer from insomnia but it has made it easier for me to fall asleep and stay asleep. I am rather sensitive to light, and it really does throw me off and wake me up during sleep (unless i'm drop dead exhausted). The only medication that was actually effective for me was melatonin, which is why sleeping masks are beneficial toward my sleep. Basically, as you're lying in bed in a dark room, your body reacts to the situation by producing melatonin in the brain, known as the sleepy chemical, and that allows people to get rest. As I am overstimulated by light, its very difficult for me to produce it (at least thats what I think/believe).So, I saw that this was a top rated sleeping mask, it seemed to be more expensive that others but I can't really put a price on a good night's sleep considering all the money I have spent towards medication and doctors visits, so for me I was not deterred by the price perhaps I was even drawn to it as it had a higher price. When you look at the picture you assume that this is a normal sleeping mask - but this is actually quite different to the normal ones you can buy in shops. I would call it more of a headband that fits around your head, and is closed using a velcro strap. It includes a pair of earplugs that you can pop in if you have trouble with noise too.Firstly, the material is soft and plushy almost, it feels delicate and smooth to touch, but actually is quite rugged from the looks of it. It does feel nice around the front of your face, but I really did not like the whole headband idea. It could be labelled really as a blindfold almost too - but a really soft one made from a nice material. The velcro straps at the back were actually a hindrance to this as it was quite difficult to adjust it to a comfortable position - one which it wouldn't fall off your head, or be too tightly pressed against your head. The slightest movement whilst wearing it did make it move quite a lot, so I really needed to tighten it up. While it was soft, I could feel the pressure of it against my face which wasn't pleasant. The headband also let in light, no matter how tight it was on my face, and as I've said I am quite sensitive to light - and surprisingly the one from the plane was actually better at keeping the light out than this one. I think this may just be because of its different design and that it's not intended for someone with a head like mine (quite wide I guess, broad). I used it once for a nap, which was unsuccessful, and I tried it once more at night - where I couldn't stand it being so tight on face I had to make it looser, but ultimately it fell off my head halfway through me being asleep, so I woke up in the morning after a pretty disrupted night's sleep.The material is also quite thick, which I think would make this mask quite unpleasant to wear during the summer time or when it is hot. As it is cold at the moment (november) it is fine, and I didn't notice problems with heat - I think it even made my head warmer to some extent, but it would defiantly make you really sweaty and hot during the summer months.I noticed when I put it on was that even without the use of the earplugs it was sound insulating to a certain extent, I had seen this as a feature - but was not drawn to this majorly, and wasn't my real intention for buying it. It was however interesting to see how it did reduce sound to quite extent. I imagine that if you wore earplugs with this anywhere you would be able to get rid of all the sound you hear around you.I think that by the reviews and taking this experience into account, it's every person to their own regarding whether or not you will be comfortable wearing this at night. I had a whole host of problems with it - it let in light mainly, but it was very difficult to wear properly, it either was too tight or too lose meaning it either choked my face to some degree or fell off, its material was too thick, the velcro straps were a nuisance more than a benefit (when you move around, i find that the straps are the cause and root problem of the headband falling off as it seemed to tug on it) and it just didn't fit my head.The seller was great on delivery, I received it promptly. However I am now waiting for a response so that I can hopefully return it and receive a refund.