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A sleep mask, also called an eye mask for sleeping or a sleep blindfold, is a light-blocking cover worn over closed eyes during sleep. A strap holds it in place, and the fabric keeps street light, standby LEDs, a partner’s reading lamp or an early sunrise away from your eyes. It does not change the room, only what reaches your eyes. If you want the full checklist first, start with how to choose a sleep mask.
We make one mask, the Deep Sleep Mask, in natural mulberry silk. This page explains what any sleep mask can and cannot do, then links to every Bollsen guide on the topic.
How does a sleep mask work?
Closed eyelids still let some light through, and light is one of the signals the body clock reads to tell night from day. Darkness supports the body’s natural melatonin release, the hormone that rises in the evening as part of the sleep cycle. A mask helps create that darkness by covering the eyes and sealing against the brow, the cheeks and the bridge of the nose.
The seal is where masks differ. Light usually creeps in around the nose bridge or under the lower edge, so a mask that fits your face matters more than how thick the fabric is. Our guide on why some sleep masks still let light in shows a two-minute home test. A mask also goes with you, while curtains and blinds only darken one room; our comparison of sleep mask vs blackout curtains sets out when each one wins.
Five kinds of sleep mask
Most masks fall into five shapes. Each one suits a different sleeper.
Flat masks
A single soft layer that sits close to the face. Slim and light, so it is usually the easiest shape to wear on your side, and it folds small for a bag.
Contoured masks
Moulded eye cups hold the fabric away from the eyelids and lashes. They are bulkier at the sides. Contoured vs flat sleep masks →
Weighted masks
Filled with beads or a similar fill to add light, even pressure. Some people like the feel; they are heavier and warmer than a fabric mask. Weighted vs silk eye masks →
Cooling and gel masks
Chilled before use for a cold, compress-like feel. Most are made for a few minutes in the morning or evening rather than a whole night.
Headphone masks
Masks with built-in speakers answer a different question: sound. Our sleeping guides cover noise-cancelling sleep masks and sleep masks with headphones →
Which sleeper, which mask?
The right mask depends on how you sleep more than on the label. A few situations come up again and again.
- Side sleepers need a slim profile and a strap that stays put when one side of the face is on the pillow. See a sleep mask for side sleepers.
- Lash extensions do best with a mask that keeps fabric off the lashes. Our guide on wearing a sleep mask with lash extensions explains which shapes do that.
- Men and women rarely need different masks. Fit comes down to the strap and the shape of the face, not gender; see sleep masks for men and women.
- Shift workers and travellers sleep in daylight, in cabins and in unfamiliar rooms, so their guides sit with the light-and-sound bridges further down this page.
New to masks? Most people need a few nights to stop noticing one. Our guide on how to wear a sleep mask so it stays on covers strap tension, positioning and what to do if it slips at night.
Silk, cotton or satin?
Fabric decides how a mask feels against the skin around your eyes, how warm it gets and how you wash it. Cotton is breathable and temperature-regulating, costs less and is easy to wash. Silk is a long, smooth filament, so it has less friction on the skin, and it takes up more moisture before it feels damp. Neither one makes a room darker; the seal does that.
Our guide on is a silk sleep mask worth it explains what the silk terms on a label mean, and the side-by-side guide on silk vs cotton sleep masks gives cotton its due. Satin is a weave, not a fibre, so a satin mask can be silk or polyester; silk vs satin eye masks shows how to read the label.
Do sleep masks help you sleep?
A mask helps create darkness, and darkness supports the body’s natural melatonin release. That is the honest summary. The studies with the clearest results tested masks and earplugs together, often in lit, noisy hospital settings, so they describe the pair rather than a mask on its own. A 2023 trial of masks worn at home found no change in sleep macrostructure. Our evidence guide on do sleep masks work sets out what each study measured, and our page on how light affects sleep covers screens, street lights and standby LEDs.
For most adults a mask is a low-risk habit if it sits without pressing on the eyes and stays clean. Our guide on is it safe to wear a sleep mask every night covers strap pressure, hygiene and children. If your eyes feel sore or look red, see an optometrist; if sleep problems go on for weeks, the NHS advice on sleep problems explains when to speak to your GP.
The Deep Sleep Mask
The Deep Sleep Mask is natural mulberry silk, with no cotton, and costs £39.95. It was designed for total darkness and for comfort on the face night after night.
- Total darkness: the mask is designed to block light from the eyes all night.
- Mulberry silk: reduces friction on the skin around the eyes.
- Adjustable Velcro strap: made not to degrade or pull your hair.
- Washable at 30 °C: see how to wash a silk sleep mask for drying and storage.
- Chill it in the fridge for 20 minutes: it doubles as a cold compress for the eye area, fridge only. More on using a chilled silk mask as a cooling eye mask.
- Foldable for travel, one size, in Navy Blue, Rose Quartz or Triple Black.
UK delivery is free on orders over £35, and every order comes with a 40-day money-back guarantee.
When light and noise both wake you
A mask does nothing about sound. If a partner’s snoring, traffic or an early bin lorry wakes you as often as the light does, pair the mask with earplugs. Life+ is a passive earplug rated SNR 24 dB (H 24, M 21, L 19) in hypoallergenic silicone with a low profile for side sleepers; a loud alarm still gets through because it is loud. The Deep Sleep Duo puts the Deep Sleep Mask and Life+ in one set.
Our guide on using a sleep mask and earplugs together covers comfort, fit and the order to put them on, and our hub on earplugs for sleeping covers the sound side in full.
