Create the right sleep vibes with a pillow mist
A pillow mist brings a calming freshness to your bedroom enabling you to still the day’s worries and settle into the night’s calm.
What makes a good pillow mist?
Naturally you’ll want your mist to be light and airy, it’s got to do its work in a few quick spritzes, not a soaking. It therefore needs to be densely packed with aromas to create an intense scent. Remember, you’re not trying to fill the whole room, just to create a calming haven around where you’ll rest your head.
When you blend your own you can create it exactly how you want, so select the herbs and essential oils that tick all the right boxes for you: things that settle your mind, fill you with good memories and make you smile.
How to pack your mist with aroma
To ensure you get the most out of every misting, think how you can load scent into each ingredient in your mist. Use herb-infused waters, rich hydrosols and your favourite essential oils.
Here’s how I go about making my calming and sleep-inducing mist
First I’ll prepare a herbal infused water. For this I chose chamomile as a calming and soothing herb. There’s a list of others you could opt for below, or combine a few.
I simply put a teaspoon of chamomile flowers into a cup and cover with boiling water leaving it to infuse for 10 minutes. You could use a chamomile teabag instead.
Once cool, I’ll strain off the flowers and then add 3 tablespoons of rose hydrosol to my chamomile infused water. This is the purest form of rosewater with a beautiful deep scent which adds a touch of luxury.
A tablespoon of witch hazel (another hydrosol) added to the blend brings more calming astringency (helping you to keep your cool at night time).
Finally I add essential oils. If you’re just going to use the mist on your pillow you can be quite generous here, up to 20 drops, but lower this to about 10-15 drops if you’d also like to use the mist to spritz your face (lovely on a warm summer night, or to manage any hot flushes). My favourite essential oil to use at night time is the classic sleep-inducer lavender. There are some other calming suggestions below that you might like to try.
Pillow mist recipe
1 tsp (5g) chamomile flowers (or a chamomile teabag)
1 cup boiling water
3 tbsp (45ml) rose hydrosol
1 tbsp (15ml) witch hazel
up to 20 drops lavender essential oil
Make
Put your chamomile into a cup and pour on the boiling water. Leave to infuse for 10 minutes then strain off the herbs.
Add the rose hydrosol and witch hazel, followed by the essential oils.
Stir well, then pour into a bottle with a spray nozzle.
Use
Spray over your pillow just before bedtime. You can also spritz your face if it is a warm evening. Keep by your bedside for use if you wake in the night.
Store
During the day, keep this in the fridge and it will last for a couple of weeks. Replenish as needed, varying the blend with different herbs and essential oils if you chose.
Pillow mist alternatives
Alternative herbs for your pillow mist
When preparing your infusion, there are a number of calming herbs which you can use along with or instead of the chamomile. Blend your herbs for your own unique combination.
Chose from: Cowslip, hops, lemon balm, marjoram, red clover, sweet woodruff, and valerian.
Alternative essential oils for your pillow mist
You could try frankincense, geranium, lemon, nutmeg, orange, peppermint, rose or rosemary.
Other uses for your pillow mist
You can also use your pillow mist as a laundry spray while ironing your bed linen or night clothes.
If you have a book by your bed, you can use the mist to gently scent the pages – fan out the pages and spray from a few feet away, leave the pages open for a few minutes to air dry before closing.
Use to spritz to rehydrate your skin, especially good if you’ve used an oil cleanser before bedtime.
Use your pillow mist to cool your face and body if it’s too warm to sleep.
Take your pillow mist with you when you travel to personalise any hotel rooms and make you feel at home.
Of course you can use your pillow mist anytime you want to catch 40 winks, wherever you are.
