I Tried the Illumy Smart Sleep Mask for a Month. Here's What Happened...

It was 3 AM, yet again, on a Wednesday night/Thursday morning. I was sitting in bed, with my eyes pointed up towards the ceiling, my partner right beside me snoring away. It was yet another night where I just couldn't seem to sleep for more than four hours.

Insomnia sucks, big time. My insomnia was trying my ability to do my work at my office. Every morning, I'd struggle to fully wake up. By the time the clock would hit noon, I was ready to knock out—but I couldn't, because of work. Rinse, repeat.

The thing about insomnia, even chronic insomnia like mine, is that there's a certain point where you end up buckling to it. After being caught almost passing out on the job, I realized I needed to make a change. Something had to give!

My friend had noticed me trying to make myself sleep with grogginess-inducing melatonin syrups, and then decided to let me borrow their sleep mask for a month. He promised it'd be better for me in the long run so I gave it a go.

The sleep mask in question is the Illumy Sleep Mask, one of the smartest sleep masks on the market. I decided to catalogue what happened while I wore it.

The Illumy Sleep Mask is one of the newest pieces of smart technology to cater to people who struggle with getting a good night's sleep. It uses the exact same technology that NASA uses to help acclimate astronauts to their sleep schedules in space.

To help people sleep better, the sleep mask releases pulses of red light to mimic the light that emits during sunset. To wake you up, the Illumy uses blue light to trigger hormones that help energize you awake. You get to set the times, too, through Illumy's app.

While you're sleeping, Illumy blocks out all the light in your sleeping environment so that you get the best sleep possible. So, if you're a light sleeper, you will actually be able to stay rested.

Admittedly, I was skeptical, but I gave it a try regardless. I really wanted to get a better night's sleep.

The first night was pretty interesting, to say the least.

When I first started out, I had to download the Illumy app and link up my sleep mask to my account. That process was pretty simple. After poking around the app a bit, I noticed that the Illumy had a "Power Nap" mode that you could choose if you just needed 20 minutes of shuteye.

After reading about the red light thing, I got curious. So I set my timers, placed it over my eyes, and kept my eyes open. It was a really warm, comforting shade of red.

And...soon enough, I dozed off.

Straight up, this was one of the best nights of my life.

You would think I would be talking about a wild night at a major club, but nope. That night took the cake, simply because it was a night where I actually got to sleep at an early time, enjoyed my rest fully, and woke up in the morning feeling energized.

I honestly didn't think that I'd ever get to experience this. I'm usually so sluggish in the morning! It literally felt like I had drank two cups of coffee, or like I had superpowers.

When I'd wake up, it wasn't a rough jolt, either.

To a point, I was worried that I'd be "shaken" awake by harsh lighting in the morning after actually knocking out. This didn't happen at all; the entire wakeup process felt totally natural and gentle.

If anything I'd almost liken it to getting a soft nudge awake. It felt almost primal in nature. This got me wondering how the science behind the Illumy actually worked.

After a week of using the Illumy, I started to notice that my body felt better. My sleep schedule was way less volatile, and my mind just was more relaxed throughout the day.

More importantly, it didn't feel like I had a "sleep hangover" when I'd wake up. This piqued my curiosity. I mean, what kind of magic was the Illumy sleep mask using to make me sleep? It was just so surreal!

I took to the internet to see what scientists had to say, and as it turns out, light has a far greater impact on our sleep schedules than most of us realize. The type of light you're exposed to will impact your hormones, including the ones that you are exposed to for sleep.

The light that we get from our computers, phones, and streets actually messes with our ability to register our sleep patterns. Our bodies are wired to sleep when the sun goes down, which is why red light (like a sunset) will trigger sleepiness.

Blue light, on the other hand, is closer to what we see during a sunrise. This sparks our body's hormones to send signals of being alert.

When too much blue light enters your world, you end up having a harder time sleeping.

I looked around my room and realized how much blue light had seeped into my life. The TV was aglow. My laptops were shining out plenty of light. Even the little lights on the electrical outlet strip shimmered and shined.

The Illumy worked because it helped me block out a lot of the light that continued to make my nights sleepless. Ever since I learned that little tidbit of information, I started to get way more aware of the light in my life.

"Hey, you're looking better!"

Around week three of using the Illumy, other people started to notice a change in me, too. I never would have expected people to remark about it, but hey, apparently the change was pretty noticeable.

My coworker, Daniel, was the one to point it out.

"Are you doing something different these days? You look healthier," he said.

"What do you mean?" I said, not really registering that it could be my better sleep schedule.

"You look rested. Healthier."

Oh, well then. I felt healthier, and thanked him for the compliment.

By the end of my month of use, I decided to get my own Illumy.

I'm not usually one who goes for smart technology, because I'm not really a "techy" type of person. However, spending a month with an Illumy mask was a serious game changer.

After having gone a whole month with peaceful sleep, I just couldn't bear to go back to being a sleep-deprived insomniac. When my Illumy came in the mail, I handed my first sleep mask back to my friend and thanked him. You could say finding my Illumy mask was a dream come true.