This Eye Mask Helped Me Survive Dorm Life With a Nocturnal Roommate. Now I Can't Sleep Without It.

New York Times

6 hours ago

When I started college, my biggest fear wasn't failing my classes or hating the dining-hall food. It was being paired with a roommate whose sleep habits clashed with mine. I blast white noise, keep my bedroom dark and freezing, and turn in by 11 p.m.
As luck would have it, my roommate preferred to stay up studying until 4 a.m. every night with her desk lamp on.
I knew the obvious solution was to use a sleep mask, but my experience with them was limited to those scratchy and suffocating freebies that airlines give out. I turned to Google, and the Mzoo Sleep Mask caught my attention: It's a top pick in our guide to sleep masks, and at the time it was also Amazon's top choice, with more reviews than any other sleep mask. At $20, it's the most expensive of our sleep mask picks, but it seemed like a worthwhile upgrade and was still well within my student budget.
After what felt like the longest two days of Amazon Prime delivery, I eagerly opened the package of my new eye mask. I will never forget the night I first wore it: I was returning to my dorm room after a long intramural flag football game followed by an intense studying session as I tried to finish a paper due at midnight. All I wanted was to collapse into bed, but I had become so accustomed to sleeping poorly that I reluctantly trudged up the three flights of stairs to my dorm room. Then I remembered my new sleep mask, and I felt a flicker of hope. The mask stayed snug throughout the night, blocking any light from entering. Natalie Weiner/NYT Wirecutter
As soon as I slipped the mask on, I was engulfed in total darkness. As I lay in bed, all I could think about was why I hadn't tried this mask sooner. That moment will forever stand out to me as the night that not only transformed my sleep but also drastically improved my overall quality of life.
Over three years later, I no longer live with a roommate, but I still use this sleep mask. It spared me roommate tension in those early college days, and it's now my saving grace on bright summer evenings before my morning triathlons, when I go to bed around 8 p.m. Its soft and comforting fit, coupled with its impressive light-blocking ability, allows me to get my nonnegotiable eight hours no matter where I am.
What makes the Mzoo mask stand out are its molded, convex eyecups, which are made of memory foam. They're 13 mm deep, which gives my eyelids room to flutter without letting any light in. I find that the mask's memory-foam cups feel secure but not overly compressive, more like a comfortable swaddle for my face than overt pressure. A close-up of the convex eye cups, after many restful nights. Natalie Weiner/NYT Wirecutter
Where the eyecups meet your temples, the mask has thinner, curved edges, preventing any bunching up or pressing into your skin when you turn or change positions in bed. So even though this mask is marketed for side sleepers, I've found that it works fine when I start on my back and shift around at night. (However, stomach sleepers might find the mask a bit difficult to wear, because its convex eyecups and contoured edges cause it to bunch up if you lie on your stomach.)
It also has a nose-bridge cutout that should suit most faces, according to the testing for Wirecutter's guide to the best sleep masks, as well as adjustable elastic in the back for you to tighten it to your desired feel. The strap is especially soft and never gets caught in my thick, frizzy hair. After three years of use, the strap has frayed and lost some of its elasticity, but that's okay; I can simply tighten the plastic slider, and it fits as snugly as it did on day one.
There are a few other signs that my mask is well-loved: It looks a little weathered, and the embellished Mzoo logo on the top-left corner has started to peel off. Ultimately, I don't mind, since the mask continues to hug my eyes and block out light.
The only other real maintenance I do is wash this sleep mask once a month. (It may sound gross, but I always wash my face before I go to sleep, I promise!) The Mzoo mask, like all of our sleep mask picks, is hand-wash only, but I have found that it takes just a few minutes to clean and a few hours to hang-dry. That said, if you prefer to wash yours more frequently, having to hand-wash it so much could be a hassle. While I haven't tested machine-washing myself, plenty of Wirecutter staffers and Amazon reviewers say that they have thrown their masks into the washer with no issues, although doing so could shorten its lifespan. The logo is wearing off, but the Mzoo is still going strong. Natalie Weiner/NYT Wirecutter
Despite my early-bird study hours during the school year, I am still a college kid who finds herself crashing on friends' couches and occasionally the dreaded beach-house floor. Summer is for spontaneity (outside of my Wirecutter internship, of course), but even the slightest bit of light wakes me up, so I always pack my mask. On the rare occasion when I forget it while traveling, I have to throw a T-shirt or hotel hand towel on my face, and it's hardly the same.
As a rising college senior, I will finally have a room to myself this September. I won't need to block out any late-night roommate laptop light, but I'll still be taking the mask with me. My Mzoo mask now functions as a cozy cue for sleep, almost like a childhood stuffed animal. And who knows where or why I will need it next? Perhaps I'll use it to block out the morning light through the cheap blinds in my first post-grad apartment, wherever that may be. Or maybe it will help me avoid a tiff with some future romantic partner I haven't met yet. No matter where life takes me, this mask, and a good night's sleep, will follow.
This article was edited by Christina Colizza and Maxine Builder.