i. Hair
Smooth for curls.
UK and US dermatology guidance suggests a silk or satin pillowcase to cut friction on curly and Afro-textured hair overnight.
Expert guidanceBAD 2023 · AAD 2022
The Beauty Sleep Collection™
Soft on skin. Gentle on hair.
22 momme · 100% mulberry silk
Retinol.
Peptides.
Moisturiser.
But what step are you missing?
What is your skin touching for 8 hours every night?
So why silk?
Let's be honest about what the science says.
Hour 0108
ii. Moisture
11% moisture.
In standard conditions silk takes up about 11% of its own weight in moisture from the air. Polyester satin takes up under 1%.
Good evidenceCoats, textile fibre data
iii. Weight
22 momme.
About 95.5 g of silk in every square metre. Denser and heavier in the hand than the common 19 momme.
Our specification1 momme = 4.34 g/m²
The Mulberry Silk Collection
Two colours for the December launch, in 22 momme, 100% mulberry silk. The pre-order list gets an introductory discount.
See the collection
Luxury sleep, considered differently
Your beauty routine doesn't end with your skincare. We spend around 8 hours a night with our face and hair against a pillow. Luxury you can feel. Science you can understand.
SOIEA · Where science meets beauty
The idea, illustrated
Less to catch on.
UK dermatology guidance for Afro-textured hair suggests a satin or silk pillowcase for "minimising friction" overnight. Move across the pillow to see the idea: hair over a textured weave, then over a smooth silk face.
- Drag
- More to catch onGlides across
An illustration, not a measurement. No published study has yet compared hair on silk and cotton pillowcases. What the evidence says
Move across the pillow
Let's be honest about what the science says
What silk can say, and what it can't.
There is no published clinical trial of a mulberry silk pillowcase on hair or skin. Much of the "science" in this market is brands testing their own products. So here is what is documented, graded, with the sources.
Read the full evidenceSilk is made of two proteins: fibroin, the fibre itself, and sericin, the gum that holds the strands together, about 25 to 30% of raw silk protein. Sericin is washed out before smooth silk fabric is woven.
What we say: a natural protein fibre, made mostly of fibroin.
Aad et al., J Funct Biomater 2024 · Zhu et al., Polymers 2022
In standard conditions silk takes up about 11% of its weight in moisture from the air. Polyester takes up 0.4 to 0.8%. Cotton sits at 7 to 11%, so on this measure silk does not absorb less than cotton, whatever you may have read.
What we say: about 11% against under 1% for polyester satin.
Coats, Know About Textile Fibres · the full figures
The British Association of Dermatologists' 2023 leaflet on Afro-textured hair: "Sleeping on a satin or silk pillowcase will achieve the same goal of minimising friction." The American Academy of Dermatology says much the same for curly hair. This is expert guidance, not a trial, and neither body endorses any brand, ours included.
What we say: a smooth surface for your hair to move across while you sleep.
BAD, Caring for Afro-textured hair, 2023 · AAD, 2022
Sleep lines form where the face presses and folds against the pillow in side and stomach sleeping. Sleeping on your back helps most. No study has tested whether any pillowcase fabric changes this.
What we say: silk gives your face a smooth, soft surface to rest on. Nothing more.
Anson, Kane and Lambros, Aesthet Surg J 2016 · Sarifakioğlu et al. 2004
The only completed pillowcase acne trial used a synthetic "silk-like" fabric and showed no benefit. A 300-child UK trial found silk clothing did not help eczema. No study has tested silk for wrinkles.
What we say: nothing. Wash your pillowcase every week, whatever it is made of.
ClinicalTrials.gov NCT00767104 · Thomas et al., PLoS Med 2017
Claims we don't make
- Prevents wrinkles.
- Hypoallergenic.
- Antibacterial.
- Clinically proven.
"We're not claiming silk will treat acne or erase wrinkles." From SOIEA's first posts
Soiea
The Mulberry Silk Collection
- Fibre
- 100% mulberry silk
- Weight
- 22 momme
- Certified
- OEKO-TEX® Standard 100 · No. XXX
- Silk grade
- XXX
- Made in
- XXX
What 22 momme means
22momme
About 95.5 g of silk per square metre (1 momme = 4.34 g/m²)
1619222530
Momme measures weight, not quality. No study shows one momme is better for hair or skin. More silk per square metre simply makes a denser fabric.
Beauty sleep, for everyone.
Every kind of hair, every kind of skin, either side of the bed.
Ships to the UK and Ireland
Launching December 2026. Prices in pounds and euros.
Shop the collectionFrom the leaf to the pillow
How silk is made
The leaf
Mulberry silk comes from silkworms fed on mulberry leaves.
The thread
Each cocoon is reeled as one continuous filament. Reeled, not spun.
The gum
Sericin, the natural gum around the fibre, is washed out before weaving. Supplier to confirm
The weight
Woven to 22 momme: about 95.5 g of silk in every square metre.
The pillow
Finished as a pillowcase in champagne or blush. Closure XXX
Why SOIEA began
"I've been thinking a lot about what we put on our skin during the day. The products we choose, the treatments we invest in, the ingredients we look for. But then we go to bed and spend around 8 hours with our face and hair against our pillow."
Founder name XXX, founder
Read our storyQuestions people ask
100% mulberry silk at 22 momme, which is about 95.5 g of silk per square metre. It comes in champagne and blush.
No. Satin is a weave, and most satin pillowcases are polyester. Silk is a natural protein fibre. In standard conditions it takes up about 11% of its weight in moisture from the air, against under 1% for polyester satin.
UK and US dermatology guidance for curly and Afro-textured hair suggests sleeping on silk or satin to cut overnight friction. Both bodies say satin or silk, neither endorses a brand, and no trial has tested it.
We can't promise that, and no study shows it. Sleep lines come from your face pressing into the pillow, so sleeping on your back helps most. Silk gives your face a smooth, soft surface to rest on.
December 2026, shipping to the UK and Ireland with prices in pounds and euros. The pre-order list is open now.
Launching December 2026
The pre-order list is open.
Join to receive an introductory discount when SOIEA launches. Shipping to the UK and Ireland.
You're on the list.
We will be in touch before the December launch with your introductory discount.