9 best silk pillowcases that prevent frizzy hair and help reduce wrinkles

Best: For frizz-free hair

As much as we love the look of a cream, white or silver silk pillowcase, the downside is there’s simply no hiding an errant drop of face oil or an accidental splash of tea, and we don’t think there are enough pillowcases available in darker colours. For this reason, we’re overjoyed that John Lewis & Partners’s 19-momme silk pillowcase is available in several darker shades, including a deliciously inky navy and a gorgeously deep cassis. The design makes it ideal for minimalists – there’s no border and the slimline inner envelope flap didn’t tickle our face in the annoying way others did. It left our skin gorgeously crease-free and was also a fantastic frizz-fighter – this was tested on a particularly damp, frizz-inducing evening, but we awoke to wonderfully sleek, frizz-free locks.

Best: For crease-free skin

This 100 per cent silk, 19-momme pillowcase comes in just one shade: chalk. It’s understated but elegant, with dainty stitching separating the main square from the pillowcase’s border, and an extra-large opening flap which allows us to stuff the stubbornest of pillows into this case in nanoseconds.  We loved the fact that we couldn’t see a single skin crease after a hard night of sleeping (sorry, testing), a reminder that multiple factors affect silk’s ability to improve the appearance of our skin – not just the momme.

Best: Range of designs

Slip’s pillowcase gets top marks for the huge range of designs (dozens of colours and some particularly gorgeous marbled prints) and the use of 22-momme silk. This is one seriously slippy pillowcase, designed and refined (according to the blurb, which we’re inclined to believe after testing it) over 10 years in order to achieve the holy grail of shine, thickness, softness and durability. While we love an innovative approach to packaging, we’d never want this to be to the detriment of Mother nature – Slip’s pillowcase comes in a glossy painted box that doesn’t appear to be recyclable, and features a magnetic closure strip along one side (definitely not recyclable). Our verdict? A brilliant skin-smoother which aided the absorption of oils, serums and creams, and left our hair sleek and shiny – despite the fact that we’d dozed off with damp locks, in a particularly muggy hotel room.

Best: For sensitive skin

All too often, the mass-produced aspects of some silk pillowcases affect their quality – whether it’s design flaws or a disconnect between manufacturer and customer. Not so with This is Silk, the brainchild of Sonal Keay – a former barrister whose sensitive skin (she suffers from chronic actinic dermatitis, where the skin becomes inflamed after exposure to sunlight or artificial light) prompted her to create her very own silk brand. The result? One of the smoothest, silkiest pillowcases we’ve come across, which is all thanks to Keay’s passion for seeking out top quality silk and her self-confessed obsession with how silk feels on the skin. After an eight-hour sleep, our skin didn’t just look smooth and supple, but more radiant too – a reminder of this pillowcase’s ability to ensure our moisturiser soaked into our skin, not the silk. This is Silk’s borderless pillowcases, which come in a wide range of colours, are also brilliant value – it’s unusual to find a 22-momme silk pillowcase for under £50. 

Best: For highest momme count

This pillowcase, available in six shades, had us at hello. Why? It’s 25-momme (the highest momme of all of the pillowcases in this round-up) and it’s got a zip, prompting us to wonder why more pillowcases don’t feature this wonderful invention. Do people really prefer dozing off knowing that their pillow will inevitably edge its way out of its pillowcase at one point or another? Is there some kind of unwritten rule that adding a metal zip is an insult to the softness of a silk pillowcases? Either way, we can confirm that we’re radiant, dewy-skinned converts, thanks not just to the design, but the top quality silk and the avoidance of non-toxic dyes – more common than many consumers realise.

Best: For allowing skin to absorb skincare

Holistic Silk was one of the first brands to launch a silk pillowcase specifically designed to improve the appearance of the skin. Since 1999, the only improvement has been the addition of more colours (there are now five in total), but the product remains the same – a luxuriously thick, 22-momme silk borderless pillowcase which does exactly what it says on the tin, keeping our hair frizz-free, our skin crease-free and making it easier for our skin to absorb our night creams and serums. The only gripe was that the skincare products we used seemed to stain this pillowcase quite easily, although the new darker colours make this less of an issue.

Best: Large silk pillowcase

Gingerlily’s bordered pillowcase is one of the largest silk pillowcases in our round-up, and a great way to add a dash of extravagance to bedrooms – this 19-momme pillowcase’s rightful home is surely atop a four-poster bed. It’s got an incredibly luxurious feel – proof that a lower momme can still feel just as soft on the skin. It’s also a reminder of how tricky it is to tell the difference between pillowcases by feel alone – although Gingerlily’s felt similar to many of the others we tested, it was one of the best when it came to making sure our hair remained frizz-free.

Best: For those who aren’t keen on the slipperiness of silk

Weirdly, this silk pillowcase felt slightly rougher than the others, although on the plus side, this makes it ideal for those who aren’t keen on the slipperiness of silk. The material’s feel is apparently down to the production process – one which also gives the case a more matte appearance. After some initial scepticism, we became converts – the 19-momme silk still banishes static and won’t tug or crease skin, but the lightly textured finish provides a cotton-like cosiness we’ve yet to find in any other silk pillowcase.

Best: Affordable silk pillowcase

This is a pretty 100 per cent silk pillowcase that is free from the bells and whistles you’ll often find on similar products. Plus M&S’s borderless silk pillowcase is fantastic value at just £45. Available in just two colours (white and light grey) it’s a reminder that this type of pillowcase doesn’t need tissue-stuffed gift boxes or Bible-like pamphlets over-amplifying the effects of slumbering on a silk pillowcase. Despite tough testing conditions – a muggy night involving lots of tossing and turning – our skin was fantastically soft and smooth in the morning. A side note: when testing this particular pillowcase, we (accidentally) committed the cardinal sin of leaving our make up on, but the fact that our artfully applied eye shadow remained smudge-free in the morning is testament to the skin-smoothing slip of this pillowcase.