The Best Silk Pillowcases for Smoother Skin and Hair

If you go to bed with dewy skin and tame hair only to wake up with bedhead and creases all over your face, a little bedding upgrade could be in order. Specifically, adding the best silk pillowcases to your sleep setup can help your hair and skin feel smoother by the morning. Plus, the fancy-feeling fabric can help hot sleepers stay cool.

We chatted with hair and skin experts to learn more about what makes a silk pillowcase great and rounded up the best options you can find.

Our top picks

1. Best Overall: Slip Pure Silk Pillowcase
2. Runner-Up: Blissy Mulberry Silk Pillowcase
3. Best Budget, Pure Silk: Myk Silk Natural Pillowcase
4. Best Budget, Blend: Bedsure Satin Pillowcase
5. Best Mid-Range: Thxsilk 100% Silk Pillowcase
6. Best Splurge: Drowsy Silk Pillowcase

In this article

• Shop the best silk pillowcases
• More options to consider
• What are the benefits of silk pillowcases?
• How can you tell if a silk pillowcase is high-quality?
• How should you care for your silk pillowcase?

If nothing sounds better than drifting off to sleep on a silky-smooth pillowcase, you’ve come to the right place. Check out our absolute favorite options here, including several that SELF editors swear by.

Multiple SELF staffers consider the Slip silk pillowcase simply the best of the best. “Night after night, my skin and hair literally glide over my Slip case instead of catching, which used to happen quite often when I slept on cotton pillowcases,” our tester wrote in her review, adding that her hair has felt less dry and more manageable since making the swap to Slip. Meanwhile, our lifestyle director says it feels incredibly high-quality compared to her other cases—smooth but not slick, and still soft after many, many washes. (Yes, it can go in the washer!)

• Sizes: Queen and king | Materials: 100% mulberry silk

Another excellent option, Blissy’s best-selling pillowcase is Oeko-Tex certified, meaning it’s made from fabrics without potentially harmful additives. It’s also machine-washable and dryer-safe. One reviewer noted that it held up in the wash much better than cheaper silk pillowcases they’d tried. The best part is that it’s available in 18 different colors on Nordstrom—so often, your only color options are pink, white, or black—so you shouldn’t have a hard time coordinating it with the bedding you already own.

• Sizes: Standard, queen, and king | Materials: 100% mulberry silk

Some less expensive silk pillowcases will feature a cotton underside to save on cost, but Myk’s affordable Oeko-Tex certified case is double-sided with pure silk. Reviewers on Amazon write that it helped them tame frizzy hair and reduce sweating and post-sleep face creases—pretty much everything we look for in a good silk pillowcase. While it’s technically machine-washable, the brand recommends hand-washing its cases.

• Sizes: Standard, queen, and king | Materials: 100% mulberry silk

You can get a similarly smooth feel (and enjoy the same derm-approved benefits) for less money if you opt for a satin blend pillowcase like this one from Bedsure (and it comes in a two-pack, so you’re getting even more for your money). It’s machine-washable, vegan (unlike pure silk products, which use materials made by animals), and, according to Amazon reviewers, has an extra-shiny finish.

• Sizes: Standard, queen, king, and body | Materials: Polyester satin

This high-density case is the top pick for our director of health conditions, who gives it a 10 out of 10. She’s had hers for years and hasn’t noticed any snags or rips, even with regular machine-washing (and she’s found that it’s easy to spot-clean stains when they crop up). “I'm happy to say this pillowcase is still as smooth and comfortable as when I started using it,” she says.

• Sizes: Standard, queen, king, and California king | Materials: 100% mulberry silk

SELF’s lifestyle director also loves Drowsy’s splurge-y pillowcase for its soft—but not slick—texture. “If you want to try a silk pillowcase but you’re worried your head is going to slide right off, this is the one for you,” she says. She also appreciates its envelope-style opening, which is a great alternative if you use a larger pillow that tends to get caught or snagged on zippered cases.

• Sizes: Queen and king | Materials: 100% mulberry silk

Not quite done browsing? The below silk pillowcases are also excellent options. PMD’s Silversilk case is another SELF editor go-to for its cool-sleeping finish; and Parachute, Brooklinen, Fishers Finery, and Eberjey are all fan-favorite bedding retailers. If you’re looking for another option at a budget-friendly price point, check out Zimasilk’s pure silk case, which has over 6,000 five-star reviews on Amazon.

When we talk about silk pillowcases, we’re using the term to refer to pillowcases made from pure silk and ones made from silk and satin blends, which incorporate fabrics like polyester or rayon. Blended cases have similar properties to pure silk, but tend to be less expensive and feel more slippery. Pure silk cases can be a little pricier, and they’re usually made from mulberry silk, which comes from the Bombyx mori silkworm, a species of worm that primarily eats mulberry leaves. Whether you opt for a pure silk option or a blend, you stand to reap some dreamy benefits from your new pillowcase.

“[Silk pillowcases] help hair maintain moisture, protect hair against extra frizz, and help prevent extra tangling and knots in the hair,” professional hairstylist and salon owner Candace Witherspoon tells SELF, adding that she regularly recommends them to her clients. Celebrity hairstylist Mia Santiago tells SELF that silk is especially helpful for curly hair and “anyone with overly processed, damaged hair.”

Board-certified dermatologist Papri Sarkar, MD, agrees with Witherspoon and Santiago, and explains that cotton has a rougher feel, while silk (or satin) has a smoother texture that could cause less friction as you shift on your pillow through the night. While more research is needed before we can say for sure that a smoother sleeping surface alone can prevent hair breakage, the anecdotal evidence is compelling.

Another commonly-touted benefit is that silk pillowcases can prevent breakouts, but there isn’t evidence to back those claims, Dr. Sarkar says. That said, silk is less absorbent than cotton, so it might help your skin stay more hydrated overnight. That’s a big plus if you have dry skin, want to prevent your night cream from seeping into your pillow, or tend to wake up with deep creases in your face (sometimes those lines form because you sleep in the same position all night, but they can also form as a result of your skin losing moisture overnight).

Finally, the sheer comfort of a silk pillowcase is undeniable: It's smooth and soft, and it has temperature-regulating properties. “People generally sleep better in cooler temperatures,” Dr. Sarkar says and, truly, anything you can do to chill out at bedtime can help—even something as minor as swapping out your pillowcase. “Although a silk pillowcase won’t change the ambient temperature of your surroundings, it can keep your head and face cooler,” she says, adding that a good night’s sleep is a key part of any skin care routine, as low-quality sleep can contribute to dark undereye circles and dryness.

When you’re comparing silk pillowcase options, one word you’ll see a lot is “momme.” The momme count of a silk pillowcase is a number up to 30 that indicates the silk’s density and weight. Similar to thread count, the higher the momme count, the higher-quality the silk. A momme count of 13 to 19 is fine, and above 25 is considered the highest quality (and will be correspondingly pricey).

For further quality assurance, you can also check whether your pillowcase of choice has certification from the Global Organic Textile Standard (meaning it’s made from organic materials that have been ethically and sustainably processed) or Oeko-Tex (which guarantees that dyed and finished textiles have no harmful additives).

Dr. Sarkar recommends changing out your pillowcase at least once a week. Hand-wash it with cool or lukewarm water and a laundry detergent that’s designed to treat silk, like Blissy’s Wash Laundry Detergent. If you decide to machine-wash it, use the same detergent, a mesh undergarment bag, cold water, and set the was cycle to delicate. To keep your pillowcase in tip-top condition for as long as possible, it’s recommended you let it air-dry.

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