Yes, silk is beautiful & I love it it has been medically reviewed.
7 Surprising Benefits of Silk
Silk can improve your skin, appearance, and overall health. Make this affordable luxury a beauty mainstay.
Actress Jane Birkin’s mother may have been onto something when she told her daughter, “When you’ve got nothing left, all you can do is get into silk underwear and start reading Proust
Actress Jane Birkin’s mother may have been onto something when she told her daughter, “When you’ve got nothing left, all you can do is get into silk underwear and start reading Proust.”
Silk underwear — or silk anything, really — is a small luxury, but it has big benefits. The soft, strong substance not only makes great protection for a silkworm’s pupal stage but also has tremendous effects on women’s health. When spun into sheets, pajamas, and scarves, silk may help ease menopausal hot flashes, prevent the effects of aging, and relieve certain skin conditions. Read on to find out more about why silk may be the other fabric of our lives.
A Youthful, Glowing Complexion
The tightly-woven, smooth fibers of silk help keep moisture close to the skin, says Jennifer Peterson, MD, a dermatologist at the Dermatology & Laser Surgery Center in Houston. When you wake up after sleeping on a silk pillowcase, your face will be better hydrated than if you slept on cotton. This is a great beauty tip for those with dry, flaky skin. As a bonus, she says, hydrated, plump skin cells show fewer fine lines (wrinkles!) and more luminosity than dehydrated skin cells.
Relief for Skin Irritation
“Multiple studies have pointed to the antimicrobial properties of a special European silk fabric called DermaSilk,” Dr. Peterson says. Dermasilk differs from regular silk in that it’s free of sericin, a protein produced by the silkworm. Sericin and other protein or bacteria can aggravate eczema and other skin conditions, so antimicrobial agents help skin stay clear and free of irritation. “One particular study showed improvements in patients with the skin condition eczema who used Dermasilk, but not in those who used cotton,” she adds.
Additionally, because it is composed of long, smooth, natural fibers tightly woven together, silk helps decrease skin’s loss of moisture and is better tolerated than other fabrics by people with sensitive skin, Peterson says. Stay away from synthetic fibers, wools, and even some cottons that may contain small, stiff, woven fibers that can cause irritation.
Help for Vaginal Yeast Infections
In the area of women’s health, new Italian research shows that silk underwear may reduce itching and redness associated with recurrent vaginal yeast infections. Half of study participants wore briefs made from Dermasilk, and the other half wore cotton. After six months, 90 percent of the silk group had fewer symptoms, and recurrences were decreased by 50 percent. “DermaSilk’s antimicrobial properties and unique fiber weaving prevent it from accumulating too much moisture, one of the risk factors for recurrent vaginal yeast infections,” Peterson says.
A Break From Allergies
“People are very rarely allergic to silk,” says Neal B. Schultz, MD, a New York City dermatologist. This is because silk is free of any potentially irritating added chemicals and contains natural substances that ward off various environmental allergens (and resulting skin conditions), including dust mites, mold, and fungus, he explains.
