The One Splurge That Transformed My Sleep

Like many a young twentysomething, I've spent the majority of my adult life sleeping on the same pillows. My philosophy was more economical than functional: I hit up Bed Bath & Beyond when I moved to NYC five years ago and opted for the cheapest ones. For a while, they were great. But five years and several moves later, my trusty pillows have deflated to the point that I have to stack them up for any semblance of plushness. A few weeks ago, however, I was told to sleep nine hours a night for better skin (it worked — here's proof). Given the task at hand, I decided it was finally time to adult up and invest in some truly grown-up pillows — for the story, of course. But which pillows to buy? Throughout my rigorous googling and chatting with acquaintances, one kept coming back to me: Coop Home Goods' adjustable shredded memory foam pillow. It was $52.99 for the queen-sized option and boasted 8,000-plus reviews and an admirable star rating on Amazon; I took the plunge and bought it. Truthfully, I was most curious to discover what "shredded memory foam" meant. As it turns out, it's exactly what it sounds like — springy foam, cut up into little pieces and put into a pillow bag. If you don't inspect it too closely, it might look like a bag of popcorn. The magic happens when the pillow fluffs up; the company recommends you put it in the dryer. Afterward, you can't even tell the innards are clumpy foam bits. The pillow is a little bit like an oxymoron — it's fluffy as a cloud, but it doesn't dissipate into mist under pressure. Instead, it cradles your head at the appropriate height for you — and if it's too high, you can just remove some foam to your comfort. I sleep on my side (and at weird angles), and this support has pretty much saved my neck. After months of chronic shoulder and neck pain, I found myself surprisingly pain-free. There are a few downsides, of course. Memory foam does have an initial smell, but the aroma of mine diminished after its quick spin in the dryer. The pillow also molds itself around your sleeping form, which flattens some of the foam, reducing the cloud-like puffiness. And after a week of hearing me brag about my fancy pillow, my boyfriend has started snagging it when he can. Of course, the first two problems can be remedied with another dryer spin. The last problem? Well, let's just say that I would add "fancy pillows" to our adulthood starter kit, so he can get his own.