13 IMAGE staffers on the Irish artists they can’t get enough of
13 IMAGE staffers on the Irish artists they can’t get enough of

Sarah Gill

What to eat this weekend: Trofie pasta with prawns and homemade pesto
What to eat this weekend: Trofie pasta with prawns and homemade pesto

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Write now: This stunning museum is an ode to penmanship
Write now: This stunning museum is an ode to penmanship

Lizzie Gore-Grimes

The soft power of the female gamer
The soft power of the female gamer

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This picturesque West Cork home with separate basement apartment is on the market for €695,000
This picturesque West Cork home with separate basement apartment is on the market for €695,000

Sarah Finnan

Ingrid Hoey: ‘This serum reversed visible signs of sun damage on my skin’
Ingrid Hoey: ‘This serum reversed visible signs of sun damage on my skin’

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Design coach Karen Douglas shares her tips for working with an architect
Design coach Karen Douglas shares her tips for working with an architect

Megan Burns

How to spot a scammer (according to someone who was actually scammed)
How to spot a scammer (according to someone who was actually scammed)

Sarah Finnan

Cillian Murphy’s book about empathy is essential reading for everyone
Cillian Murphy’s book about empathy is essential reading for everyone

Sarah Gill

Supper Club: Hot-smoked salmon rice and asparagus salad
Supper Club: Hot-smoked salmon rice and asparagus salad

Sarah Finnan

Image / Beauty

Using This Could Help Revive Your Skin


By Jennifer McShane
12th Sep 2015
Using This Could Help Revive Your Skin

When it comes to reviving and revitalising our skin, few women would argue they have their night routine down to a tee. Whether it’s using that special serum, oil, moisturiser, or a combination of all three, we are constantly hopeful that our favourite product will do as it says on the tin and take care of our skin accordingly. However, before you rush to replenish your drawer/wardrobe full of products for the winter season, simply changing your pillowcase before you hit the hay could help your whole skin revival process. Copper pillowcases are currently having a moment with a few on the beauty circuit saying they contain certain elements that will work favourably on skin while you sleep.

While some may not be in favour of its rustic colour, copper has long been associated with having many anti-ageing benefits. As far back as Ancient Egyptian times, its antimicrobial properties have been used for healing and maintaining optimal health. When you sleep on a pillowcase packed with microscopic copper particles, they transfer to your face throughout the night during prime cell regeneration time, according to Marie?Claire.

For skin that means two things. Firstly, this can help to treat acne and prevent breakouts and’sleeping on a copper-toned case also aids?the production of collagen, which improves elasticity, plumps, smooth, and reduces the appearance of fine lines and wrinkles. This?copper technology has reportedly been tested by NASA for its skin-healing and microbial properties too, so you have a scientific seal of approval right there. And the potency of copper has also been tested by some brands in their beauty lines, particularly in the United States. “Copper definitely plays an important role in maintaining healthy skin,” dermatologist Joshua Zeichner, director of cosmetic and clinical research at Mount Sinai’s Department of Dermatology in New York told Harper’s Bazaar. “It helps to develop collagen and elastin, which maintain the strength of the skin, and it promotes the production of skin-plumping hyaluronic acid (this treats those fine lines and wrinkles).”?”It also has anti-bacterial and anti-fungal properties, which help prevent infections,” he added, which is why it has been used in wound care since the ’60s (and shows high hopes for acne treatment too).

iluminage Skin Rejuvenating Pillowcase With Copper Oxide
iluminage Skin Rejuvenating Pillowcase With Copper Oxide

With all this in mind, a US developer has invented a pillow case for this very purpose.?Cupron, a Virginia-based copper-technology developer, has invented Iluminage ($60), a satin pillowcase embedded with microscopic copper particles, which are absorbed by the skin while you slumber. Biochemist Gadi Borkow, a professor at Hebrew University in Jerusalem and the chief medical scientist of Cupron, was involved in several double-blind trials. “After just one month of sleeping on the pillow, we saw a significant reduction in wrinkles and fine lines,” he said.

Those Egyptians were definitely onto something, and it does take the term beauty sleep to another level. For those eager to reap the benefits, the case can be bought online and Christmas is just around the corner…

Via Marie Claire/Harper’s Bazaar