I must confess, I have an addiction. No it’s not to shoes, bags, or Lush products (well maybe a little). It’s rather rare – I’ve never met anyone with the same problem.
“My name’s Rebecca and I’m a sleep-mask-aholic.”
A sleep-mask?! Well I’m not sure of their official name but you know those masks you place over your eyes when you go to sleep? You get them on long-haul Virgin Atlantic flights, you can buy them in La Senza and Matilda’s mum wears one in the classic film? Are we on the same page now?
I’m not too sure what their purpose is or even how I became addicted but no word of a lie, I cannot sleep without mine on. This is not a good thing. One, having a piece of elastic strapped around your head for eight hours cannot be good; two, if it slides off (you see mine’s silk) it wakes me up; and three, the darn thing makes me spotty! So for that third reason alone, I need to break the habit!
I started wearing a sleep-mask about six years ago because my then bedroom would let light flood in of a morning and wake me up. Now, my bedroom both at uni and at home are pitch black (just the way I like it) and there is no reason whatsoever for me to wear my little ‘In Your Dreams’ mask. It looks stupid, can be irritating and is clearly not good for my skin – I realised this as obviously overnight having something rub against both cheeks and forehead, combined with an oily t-zone creates a very spotty me :(
It has to stop! But I’m finding as I try and wean myself off it, that I’m so used to having the pressure against my eyes that forces them shut and therefore me to fall asleep, that without it I lay wide awake. I feel like I actually cannot sleep without it on and leave it under my pillow ‘just-incase’. Except ‘just-incase’ is turning into every night again. Without it I feel as though my eyes can open (duh!) and therefore they do. Whereas with my mask on, they don’t have a choice and I get to sleep much quicker. It’s not even about darkness now (which I guess is their sole purpose) but about keeping my eyes shut long enough for me to fall asleep.
I’m weird I know. But it is actually a slight issue now and I don’t know how to break it. Unless I’m really reaaally tired, I always resort to the little silk number.
Am I the only eye-mask freak out there? Do you have any tips as to how I can break my habit?
Don't worry, I also own one and sleep with it EVERY night!! xx
ReplyDeleteI would say if you really want to stop, get rid of any sleep masks you have, dont just put them away in a drawer, throw them away completely. It stops the temptation of getting it out from under your pillow, etc. It'll be difficult but you'll start to get use to sleeping without one.
ReplyDeletehttp://zozeze.blogspot.com/
xo
Hi! I just Googled "sleep mask addiction" and here you are. I've had the same addiction for quite some time. I believe you're right that it is connected to the pressure it puts on our eyelids and keeps them shut. I don't know if I'm too worried about my addiction, though. I don't seem to notice any adverse affects, other than I can't sleep without it!
ReplyDeleteZoe - I don't know if I could do that! I think I'd find myself drawn to taking it back out the bin in the night or something! The other night I couldn't find it so took everything off my bed in a frantic bid to locate it and then remembered, it was in the wash! I'm weird I know, thanks for your advice though :)
ReplyDeleteJohn - Hi John, thanks for leaving a comment. I'm glad you feel the same and I'm not the only one! I'm not worried about mine too much either, although it would be nice not to have it :)