Finding the “right” pillow is my white whale. I’m a side sleeper, tend to toss and tense up, and have mind-numbing, days-long migraines if I sleep in the wrong position, even for an hour or two. My doctor has chalked it up to a mix of poor posture and a bad sleep schedule. The threat of physical therapy led me on the search for a better pillow (and work habits), and nothing has come close to the Harmony pillow from Purple.
Yes, Purple, the mattress company that sells those lavender polymer honeycomb-gridded beds. Its luxury pillow line—featuring the $159 Harmony Pillow—is available in three heights, with 1-inch differences between them, to accommodate different frames and sleep positions. I chose the Medium, which keeps my neck supported and squarely horizontal when sleeping on my side.
There are a few key details that make these pillows amazing: They are wrapped in Purple’s signature Grid Hex tech, for an extremely squishy outer that encourages both airflow and hyper-responsive support. Its core is made from ventilated Talalay latex, which won’t trap heat but will keep its shape. My head has stayed cool through the recent miserable heat waves and I never find myself fluffing or flipping my Harmony during the night.
Purple’s dedication to developing no-fuss comfort is long-standing. Founders and brothers Tony and Terry Pearce fueled exploration from the development of their Hyper-Elastic Polymer, originally created to provide support and comfort to a range of consumer products, from footwear to wheelchair cushions to, naturally, mattresses. Fast-forward to 2016, the Pearce brothers took their pursuits in-house with the launch of Purple Bed, what they deemed a “no pressure” mattress at the height of the direct-to-consumer mattress-in-a-box boom. Since then, Purple’s extended its tech to cushions, pillows, and a range of bedding accessories, most featuring Purple Grid—the brightly colored, textured geometric material that acts as the brand’s calling card.
I grew partial to down during my pursuit of the perfect pillow, thinking anything foam-related would be miserable and swampy in the heat of summer. But the Harmony’s gel-like outer shell is designed with more than 2,000 honeycomb-shaped ventilation chambers, allowing for airflow and pressure distribution. It’s fairly heavy at 4.2 pounds, but I’m also no longer spending the night repositioning it for better support. I wake up more refreshed and less achy than I have since I started working from home full time, and I can tell a significant difference mornings after I’ve slept without it. And now that the world’s reopening, I’m already looking into whether I’d have to check a bag to travel with it.
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