Nodpod Microbead Weighted Sleep Mask

I rarely go so low as a three star, but I remember last year, in ‘23 coming across this new fandangle contraption that was supposed stay on my eyes as I sleep on my side. I am a wide sleeper, I sleep side, back, stomach, and side again. I rarely sleep in one position for too long. So the idea of it being weighted to help it “stay in place,” well… how can it be? Gravity would have to play a hand at this while I’m tossing and turned. But the reviews at the time all were great, and saying it does what it says. So shoot! Maybe it DOES work, so like Jack trading the cow for the beans, I bought the mask! The first few nights were that “honeymoon phase” where we ALL convince ourselves “it will all work out!” Or “this is great!” But, over the weeks, it just became annoying that I’d wake in the night having to find it, flap it BACK on my face and then go BACK to sleep because with weight such as it is, you grow used to that change in weight on your body, and wake trying to put right the difference. After a few months of THAT annoyance I discovered its “glory hole.” And shoved the one end into the tiny, and I DO MEAN TINY hole on the other end. There is VERY little wiggle room to allow for the mask to come in and out of that hole without allowing for it to end up stretching that hole, so I left it in the hole for a long duration of time. Pulling it as loose as I could, and then at night, tightening it by pulling the one end towards the other. But, I began to feel VERY overwhelmed by the weight of the mask on my eyes. Having covid it made my whole body’s nervous system become very heightened and alert of anything uncomfortable. Even slightly so, it’s grown VERY annoying as the little things I DID enjoy in life, suddenly became a MASSIVE uncomfortable thing to have on my body. Jewelry, never worn anymore, and I loved my earrings. But, THAT, is not what my review is about. So, because of that overly tight feeling around my head, and the weight on my face, I ripped it out of the hole. I’d gone back to try and have it laying flat on my face. But again it was that same problem of just sliding off in the night and not staying in place as I moved. I’ve given it another way of wearing it nowadays. I tie it like Ralph Macchio in the Karate Kid with his head piece. But, I try NOT to try too tie or too close to the head as the weight resting on my eyes is NOT a comfort for me as it might have been. It’s grown very heavy. It’s very intrusive and can be hard to fall asleep with sometimes because of that weight just LAYING THERE ON my EYES! I sometimes ask myself WHY I thought it was a good idea to torture myself like this!? I have used MANY other sleeping masks over the years as I find it hard to sleep with even the FAINTEST of lights. I was a kid who shared a room with a sister who needed the TV on, needless to say, *I* got to know the Chris Farley years BETTER then I did whoever was on in the current years, which, honestly, might have STILL been Farley! But back then they’d play SNL at 11 or whenever, and then again an hour and a half later. And *I* was awake for BOTH! I can’t sleep with nose or lights. So, as an adult, I KNOW how I can have control over these shortcomings. And I plug my ears with silicone and my eyes with a mask. But the others, elastic around the head wears out over time, making it looser and easier to fall off. The pillowing pad of the lining wears down to nothing almost, and it leaves you with not much of anything. If they’re designed on one side, it makes cleaning it, a nightmare! So make sure to wash off make up before sleep! So all of these things about the sleep pod seemed like it was checking OFF these problems. But, in time, it created its OWN problems. I can’t say, “don’t buy!” Or, “this is a waste of money!” Simply putting, THESE are MY experiences with this mask. And after finding so MANY articles on Buzz Feed TELLING people that they NEED to buy this, that it IS a MUST for sleeping. I decided that *I* needed to write a review. Because BuzzFeed has it SO WRONG! I would NOT call this a “MUST.” I’d call this an “experiment” in your sleeping adventures. As I don’t know if we ever really WILL find the “Perfect” sleeping companion. AND, what is right for ONE person, does NOT make it right for others. So, I JUST want to help other side sleepers who move back and forth to back, that it’s NOT effective at staying in place. And it’s not a good value, and honestly, I think it DID have a weird smell to it when I first bought it that I had to push through. I am having to do that NOW with a massage pad. It sucks how things that are MEANT to be “aiding” and “relaxing” can have SUCH unpleasantnesses to have to work through. So this WHOLE REVIEW is a shout out to us with sensory challenges, with sleeping peculiarity, and those who just are who they are. I HOPE this was helpful to you before you buy this mask. While this one ISN’T THAT expensive, it’s STILL $35 for A SLEEPING MASK! But worst still, they have a satin one, and THAT ONE is $65! And one of the things it tones is helping with fine lines. Which to ME is laughable as it looks like it has a different inner fabric like my velvety pod. So, HOW is that helping with the fine lines? I don’t know. I find SO MANY *BIG* promises from A LOT of products on here, and then I get it, and they fall short. They are like Bart who orders that film cell of Itchy, only to receive a PART of his arm! That’s how careful we have to be with the products we buy. And why I’ve grown VERY careful with my reviews AND READING them! Because returns are NEVER fun! So I DO hope that this helps you guys in making an informed decision. That said, after ONE YEAR, it’s still in “new shape,” so for THAT, I give it the higher rating. Because I don’t know WHEN I’ll have to replace it. But, IF this was one with elastic, it’d already have had to be replaced twice over.