MY NIGHT TIME ESSENTIALS Updated two years later
Hi guys!
It has officially been more than two years since I shared my original nighttime essentials blog post that I did back in March of 2024, which is crazy because it doesn’t feel like two years ago! But when I wrote that post I feel like I had nailed down my sleeping routine and I loved the products that I was using! Well here we are two years later and a couple of things have changed but there are many things that have very much stayed the same! I thought it would be fun to take another look at that original post and update is and share what I am still using, what I stopped using, and the couple of things that have made their way into my nighttime routine since then. You can read my original nighttime essentials post here if you want to see what I was loving back in 2024! One of the biggest things I realized when I was writing this post is that I don't have five new products to replace my original five which is great because I am still loving the majority of the list and I don't want to add something just for the sake of making a list longer. These are genuinely the things that I use consistently and would recommend. Anyways, I will stop blabbing and here are my current four nighttime essentials that I currently love for a comfortable and relaxing bedtime routine!
Happy reading!
What's Changed Since My Original Nighttime Essentials Post?
Looking back at the original post that I wrote was interesting because three of the five products are still very much part of my life! My knee pillow, eye mask, and air purifier have officially stood the test of time! The other two are a little different. I don't use the Wrinkles Schminkles Forehead Patches anymore, and while I still own and like my This Works Deep Sleep Pillow Spray, I definitely don't use it as frequently as I did when I originally wrote that post! I've also added one skincare product to my nighttime routine that I have been LOVING lately, the CeraVe retinol moisturizer. I feel like my nighttime routine has actually gotten a little more simple over the last two years. I feel like I've figured out which things I genuinely use and which ones make enough of a difference that I continue reaching for them.
1. My Knee Pillow –The nighttime essential I actually refuse to sleep without! We're starting with the MVP and if I could only keep ONE thing from this entire list, it would be my knee pillow. No hesitation. I am naturally a side sleeper, and this little pillow that sits between my knees has become such a normal part of sleeping for me that I don't want to sleep without it. I have now been using a knee pillow every single night for years, and it is probably the product from my original nighttime essentials post that I recommend the most! I mentioned in my original post that I had literally packed my full size knee pillow in my suitcase for trips to Iowa because I didn’t want to sleep without it. Well, we've evolved since 2024. 😂 I now have a travel knee pillow that comes with me on trips and it’s perfectly compact! It takes up zero room in my luggage and works just as well as my knee pillow at home. At this point, traveling without some version of my knee pillow isn't happening. I also personally feel like sleeping with a knee pillow has helped me with the sciatic nerve pain that I get sometimes. Obviously, I am not a doctor and this is absolutely not medical advice, I'm just sharing my personal experience. I notice a difference in how comfortable I feel when I sleep with it versus without it, which is enough for me to keep using it every night! I feel like if you're a side sleeper, this is probably the first nighttime essential from this post that I would tell you to try!
2. My Eye Mask - This one still makes me laugh because if you had asked me a few years ago whether I would become an eye mask every single night kind of person, I probably would have laughed in your face and yet here we are! I first started sleeping with an eye mask because my eyes would feel really restless when I was trying to fall asleep. I happened to have an eye mask that came with a pair of pajamas that I tried one night, and I’ve never looked back. Since the pajamas eye mask I have upgraded to a much nicer eye mask from Amazon, and the biggest difference for me is the material and comfort of this one, it's just so comfortable to sleep in. I also feel like second the eye mask goes on, my body seems to understand, okay, it’s time to wind down, we're going to sleep now! And somehow I converted Dustin too because he sleeps with an eye mask now! We both bring our eye masks every single time we travel. Mine immediately goes on the packing list because between hotel lights, random glowing electronics, curtains that don't completely close, and changing time zones, I want my little portable pitch black sleeping situation wherever we go!
3. Our Levoit Air Purifier - This is probably the funniest update from my original nighttime essentials post. When I first wrote about our Levoit air purifier, we had one and would move it around depending on where we were spending time during the day. Then at night, we would bring it back into our bedroom. Two years later? We’ve evolved and just bought another air purifier, problem solved haha! We've had our original Levoit air purifier for just over two years now, and it runs basically all day, every day. With having our two dogs in the house, I really like having them running because I personally notice a difference with dust, dog hair and just general odors. We also clean and change the filter pretty frequently, usually about once a month but sometimes it ends up being closer to every three weeks depending on how it’s looking or if I think about it before a month comes around. Also, seeing what ends up in that filter is enough to convince me to keep these running! I originally loved having the air purifier in our bedroom because it also provided a little bit of white noise while we slept, and I still really like that aspect of it. It's one of those things that just became part of the background of our house. I don't really think about turning it on anymore because it's basically always running!
4. CeraVe Resurfacing Retinol Face Serum- And finally for something that wasn’t in my original post that I wrote. I have recently (like about 4 months ago) started using the CeraVe Resurfacing Retinol Face Serum into my nighttime skincare routine and I have been loving it. When it comes to skincare, especially at night, I am really just trying to get into bed so the fewer the products that I am trying to use the better. This is one of those worth it products that I absolutely love. I'll keep you guys updated as I continue using it, but right now it has definitely earned a spot in my current nighttime essentials!
My Current Nighttime Routine
My nighttime routine isn't anything crazy, which is honestly exactly how I like it. Once I'm getting ready for bed, I'll do my normal skincare routine and use my CeraVe retinol moisturizer on the nights that I'm using it. Every once in a while, I'll spray a couple of sprays of my This Works Deep Sleep Pillow Spray onto my pillow. Then it's basically time to assemble my sleep situation. 😂 The air purifier is already running, my knee pillow goes between my knees, the eye mask goes on, and that's pretty much it. I think I've learned over the last couple of years that my favorite nighttime products are just the little things that make me more comfortable and signal to my brain that the day is over! And clearly, if I'm willing to pack something in my suitcase and take it across the country, or buy a special travel version of it, it has officially earned nighttime essential status!
What Didn't Make the List This Time
I think this is one of the most important parts of doing an updated post because I don't want to pretend that I still use every single product I've ever recommended. Things change! There are two products from my original nighttime essentials post that didn't make my updated list.
Wrinkles Schminkles Forehead Patches
I actually really liked the Wrinkles Schminkles Forehead Patches when I was using them! I originally found them because TikTok influenced me after I saw them approximately 10 million times, and I eventually gave in and ordered them. I liked that they were reusable and I liked adding them into my nighttime skincare routine. But ultimately, they just weren't sustainable for me to continue purchasing and that is really why I stopped using them. I didn’t not like the product, I just didn’t love them enough to continue spending money on them over and over again!
This Works Deep Sleep Pillow Spray
This one is technically somewhere in between still an essential and didn't make the list. I do still have it and still use it, just nowhere near as often as I did when I wrote my original post. I originally discovered the This Works Deep Sleep Pillow Spray because Dustin got me an Anthropologie advent calendar for Christmas in 2022. One of the days had a little travel size bottle of the pillow spray inside, and when I finally started using it, I loved it enough that I asked for the full size version for the following Christmas. I used to spray it on my pillow constantly. Now I probably reach for it a few times a month. I do still really like the scent and spraying it onto my pillow is relaxing, but it isn't something that I feel like I need every single night anymore. I would still recommend it if you're looking for something to add to a relaxing bedtime routine, but after two years, I wouldn't put it in the same category as my knee pillow or eye mask and that's exactly why it didn't make my updated essentials list!
If I could only buy one of these night time essentials I think it would hands down be my knee pillow. If everything on this list disappeared tomorrow and I could only replace one thing right away I would be ordering another knee pillow for sure! I use it every single night and I absolutely love it! A close second though would be my eye mask for sure! I actually really love looking back at posts like this because it's interesting to see which products were a temporary obsession and which ones have genuinely became part of my everyday life. Like I have said, my nighttime routine isn't super elaborate, but I feel like I've figured out the little things that just make me comfortable and help me transition from doing all the things to actually getting into bed and getting a good night of sleep. Obviously things could always change, hence this blog post but for now these are my nighttime essentials! If you've found a nighttime or sleep essential that you absolutely refuse to go without, let me know because clearly I am very easily influenced when it comes to making my sleeping situation more comfortable! If you have any questions or anything at all you can leave a comment down below or you can email me at hello@emmatarynjones.com and I will get back to you as soon as I can!
Emma