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This Works Sleep Plus+ Pillow Spray review

Can This Works Sleep Plus+ Pillow Spray help you get your beauty sleep? I’m not sure I’m the best person to answer this question. Two hours before my head hits the pillow, I turn off all electronic devices (yes, even my phone!). I dim the lights, grab a book and let it lull me to sleep. Works a charm.

Or at least it worked until a couple of weeks ago. That’s when I started looking for a new flat. If moving houses isn’t stressful enough, I’ve also had to move web host (the internet home where BWB lives) due to my old server crashing all the time. Neither move is going smoothly…

True to Murphy’s law, everything that could possibly go wrong IS going wrong. Cue endless sleepless nights wondering if I picked the right web host, figuring out how to fix the glitches that went along with the migration and making plans for the flat move (with 2 weeks to go, I still have NOT found a decent place to live in…).

That’s when I remembered I had a bottle of This Works Sleep Plus+ Pillow Spray lying around somewhere. Could this baby relax me so I can sleep better, be more productive and get rid of those pesky dark circles? It was worth a shot…

About The Brand: This Works

This Works was founded in 2003 by the former Beauty Director of Vogue UK, Kathy Phillips, an expert in beauty and fitness. The skincare brand has been investing in the science of sleep since 2011, developing award-winning, natural sleep solution that feature a Superblend of three naturally derived and scientifically proven ingredients used at therapeutic levels.

The brand believes their customers are their ultimate judge: only they decide ‘This Works’. They have a This Works Panel, a dedicated testing system of over 750 women, to ensure every product delivers what they promise (at least 70% of its chosen panelists must agree ‘This Works’ before a product is launched).

Key Ingredients In This Works Sleep Plus+ Pillow Spray: What Makes It Work?

LAVENDER TO HELP YOU FALL ASLEEP

Lavender oil is an old wives’ tale for restless sleepers and insomniacs. But… it sounds too easy, doesn’t it? Where’s the catch? Lavender works only in MILD cases.

I’ve scoured the scientific literature and found plenty of studies showing that a few drops of lavender oil on your pillow “improved quality of daytime wakefulness and more sustained sleep at night” and has a “significant beneficial influence on quality and duration of sleep and improved general mental and physical health” without the side effects associated with drugs.

But the results aren’t so staggering to trumpet lavender as a miracle cure for sleep. Far from it. Those same studies also showed that “milder insomnia also improved more than severe ones“. Still, even a little bit is better than nothing, right?

The Rest Of The Formula & Ingredients

NOTE: The colours indicate the effectiveness of an ingredient. It is ILLEGAL to put toxic and harmful ingredients in skincare products.

  • Green: It’s effective, proven to work, and helps the product do the best possible job for your skin.
  • Yellow: There’s not much proof it works (at least, yet).
  • Red: What is this doing here?!
  • Linalool: The fragrant component that makes lavender smell great. But it can cause allergies and irritations.
  • Cinnamomum Camphora (Camphor) Leaf Oil: Extracted from the wood of camphor trees, a 2019 study done in mice shows it helps to reduce headaches, which is conducive to better sleep. But its fragrance may be irritating.
  • Ormenis Multicaulis (Chamomile) Flower Extract: Soothing and calming, chamomile has a mild sedative effect that helps induce sleep. If you’re allergic to chamomile, you may want to avoid this.

Texture

There’s nothing much to say about the texture of This Works Sleep Plus+ Pillow Spray. Like the name says, it is a spray.

Fragrance

It smells exactly what you’d expect it to smell like: it has a faint lavender scent. A little flowery, a little herbal. Lovely – unless, of course, you hate the smell of lavender. Then this will put you off. Oh, fragrances can be irritating for sensitive skin. If that’s you, be careful.

How To Use It

Using this spray is very easy. Just press the pump and spray it on your pillow before going to sleep. This way, you can inhale the scent while you’re lying down and, hopefully, be lulled to sleep.

Packaging

The spray comes in a white bottle with a spray applicator. I find the bottle, including the fonts and style, very elegant and pretty. It’s definitely something I’d like to have on my vanity or to bring with me when I travel. The applicator also makes it practical to use.

this works sleep plus pillow spray

Performance & Personal Opinion

It didn’t work. There, I said it. I spray a generous dose of This Works Sleep Plus+ Pillow Spray on my pillows, went to bed and… tossed and turned for 3 hours before finally falling asleep. And I barely got a wink of sleep the past two nights. It’s not like I wasn’t tired already.

This Works says natural nighttime movements are supposed to release the fragrance into your pillow. Maybe it does, but I could hardly smell it. This stuff is so faint, my nose barely picked it up (and nope, I don’t have a cold). I get it that you don’t want the scent to be too strong and overwhelming, but how can a scent help if you can’t smell it?!

Maybe that’s the issue here. This Works Sleep Plus+ Pillow Spray is too faint. Or maybe this “lavender helps with sleep” thing is just a placebo effect. If you don’t believe it helps, it won’t. Guess I’ll have to stick to concealer to get rid of dark circles then. If only it were so easy to get rid of the cranky mood, too…

What I Like About This Works Sleep Plus+ Pillow Spray

  • Lovely lavender scent.
  • Beautiful packaging.

What I DON’T Like About This Works Sleep Plus+ Pillow Spray

  • It didn’t work for me.

Who Should Use It?

If you have a mild insomnia case, or you just believe in the placebo effects of lavender, this may work for you. But if you have severe insomnia or are sceptical of products like this, save your money.

Does This Works Sleep Plus+ Pillow Spray Lives Up To The Hype?

CLAIM TRUE?
A fast-acting natural remedy to help restore healthy sleep patterns for restless sleepers. Proven to provide a better night’s sleep. I’m not sure how they proved it. It did nothing for me.
96%
of panel users felt they had a less disturbed sleep*
94% 
of panel users felt less restless in the night
92% 
of panel users felt they had a deeper night’s sleep
89%
of panel users woke less often in the night		 The only measurable claims is the last one.
All the other claims use the words “felt”. In other words, researchers asked subjects if, in their opinion, the spray worked. But opinions aren’t scientific facts. Subjects may have answered positively to please the researchers or it may just be the placebo effect. Without proper scientific data, we won’t know.
Good skin starts with a good night’s sleep as it uses this time to repair damage and remove toxins. This modern sleep saviour will leave you looking and feeling refreshed come morning and keep your skin looking the best it can. The first sentence is true. But, again, this didn’t help me fall asleep faster or sleep better.

Is This Works Cruelty-Free?

Yes, This Works is cruelty-free. They never test their products on animals, not even through third-parties.

Price & Availability

£27.50 at This Works

The Verdict: Should You Buy It?

I personally don’t recommend it. I’m not convinced it works for most people. Plus, it’d be just a quick fix. Like it’s often the case, the best approach is to target lack of sleep at the root and treat the stress or whatever else that’s causing it. Harder to do, but more effective for sure.

Dupes & Alternatives

I don’t know of any effective alternatives to this product.

Ingredients

Contains Linalool, Cinnamomum Camphora (Camphor) Leaf Oil, Lavandula Angustifolia (Lavender) Oil, Ormenis Multicaulis (Chamomile) Flower Extract. May produce an allergic reaction.

About Gio

Hi, I'm Gio. I'm a no-nonsense, tell-it-like-it-is skin coach and writer on a mission to help you achieve your best skin day ever - every day. I bust skincare myths and debunk marketing jargon to help you figure out what's worth the splurge and what's best left on the shelf - using science, not hype. I also offer skincare consultations to help you create the best skincare routine for your unique needs.