Light fragrance to freshen your home (Avon Sleeptherapy Goodnight Pillow Mist)

Member Name: Munchkin2009

Product:	Avon Sleeptherapy Goodnight Pillow Mist
Date:	19/05/09 (86 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Pleasant light fragrance, freshens the room, can doesn't leak, easy to spray

Disadvantages: Smells artificial to me, marketed as a sleep aid, overpackaged, normal price is £4.50

The reason I bought the Avon Sleeptherapy pillow mist was because it is described as having a light fragrance and I thought it would be ideal to use in the toilet because normal air fresheners tend to get pretty overpowering and smell horrible in the process. It was also on offer in the Avon catalogue. Normally I wouldn't give a sleep aid type product a second look, but I have read favourable reviews about this being a good room spray without an overpowering fragrance.

THE PRODUCT

I bought the spray when it was on offer for £2, it normally retails for £4.50 which I think is expensive - you can only buy it from Avon's online shop, over the phone or from a representative. Besides the spray the range comprises of a sleep balm and a bodywash. It is listed in the 'wellbeing' section of the Avon brochure and on the website. In the brochure Avon claims this range will help you get a good night's sleep. I haven't tried the other products in the range, and I don't intend to.

The product comes presented in a navy blue box with clouds and stars symbolising that it is a night time product and inside there is a silver can with the same design on the blue background. The bottle is a pump action spray, and a clear lid. It contains 125 ml of spray. While the box looks impressive, I feel this product is over-packaged. I am sure the bottle could be redesigned to incorporate the ingredients list and the instructions in order to to use less packaging.

You can use the spray to fragrance linen and also a room. The instructions state that you need to spray it 15cm away from fabric and leave it to dry, and says that it doesn't stain fabric. To freshen a room spray two to three pumps towards the centre of the room.

FRAGRANCE

The brochure and website describes this as a 'soothing' fragrance, but Avon doesn't say what the fragrance is. Other reviewers seem to think that this product smells like lavender and/or chamomile, but I think that's assumed as they are obvious choices for a product like this. I have smelt lavender and chamomile before and it definitely doesn't smell of those. I was given a lavender wheatbag, microwaveable soft toy, bottle of essential oil and bubble bath as a gift, and while I won't use those things I couldn't help but notice the strong smell of lavender on the wheatbag even though I have never heated it up. I have smelt chamomile when I have had to make the tea for work colleagues and I remember that had a grassy hay-like smell. So I think using that as a guide it doesn't smell anything like lavender and chamomile, well at least it doesn't to me but it does remind me of something else though...


After a long think, I remembered London Fruit and Herb used to make a Passionfruit infusion that formed part of its tropical selection box (I'm going back about 13/14 years ago) and that spray smells similar to that, it smelt nice but tasted foul (the infusion that is). I think the fragrance might be Passionfruit, the smell is definitely fruity rather than a medicinal/grassy smell I would associate with lavender and chamomile. That said, it doesn't smell natural in my opinion, but then again Avon doesn't claim this product contains natural essential oils. The ingredients list on the box says 'parfum' and the usual list of chemicals which explains the artificial scent. It is fresh and inoffensive, but it isn't anything special. I can't really imagine this fragrance helping anyone to sleep or promoting relaxation for that matter, it certainly hasn't affected me in that way. If it did contain anything remotely sedative, I wouldn't be using it that's for sure. If this product does help people sleep then I think it is purely psychological or coincidence. That is just my way of thinking.

THE BOTTLE


The bottle is of good quality and it is easy to use, you do need to give the spray a few pushes to get it going but after that it isn't a problem. I have fallen out with non aerosol pumps in the past and have found the product leak all over my hands, but I am pleased to say that with the Sleeptherapy spray I have had no such problems.

MY OPINION


Personally I don't believe in using any form of remedy to address sleeplessness or stress, so I won't use them - not herbs, not aromatherapy - they are a substitute for pills. All those things do is, if they work, is cover up the underlying problems. I do have some very good reasons why I can't see past the word sedative, and I wouldn't want to go down that route. I don't really have trouble sleeping, but it is something that happens occasionally to everybody at some point, but I do know that the sleep pattern does rectify itself without any need for treatment. I am going through a stressful time and suffering badly with my PMS symptoms at the moment but I am getting through it by dealing with the cause. I know things will get better. I don't want to use anything that could make me drowsy especially when the PMS makes me tired, or unable to concentrate, or otherwise prevent me from dealing with the cause effectively - for me it isn't worth the risk.

There are many products of this nature that claim to help you drift off to sleep naturally. I argue that, it if it works, it wouldn't be a natural sleep or state of relaxation as it is still artificially induced. They are still chemicals taking over your body and mind even if they are from a herb or other natural source, and irrespective of the source it is still sedation and I find it frightening. Lavender for instance is widely considered to be a gentle sedative, but this oil has been compared with sleeping pills in that they work in the same way. Nobody knows how they are going to react until they use it, what is gentle on one person might not be for another. That is why I refuse to use the lavender things I've been given as a matter of principle. I should note that sleep issues can have a medical cause, so it is a good idea to see a doctor if you have long term sleep problems rather than attempting self treatment. I am aware there are genuine medical reasons why sedatives and similar medication is necessary, but I am talking in the context of stress, a few bad nights sleep and general relaxation.


While I wouldn't use a product like this to help me sleep or relax, I recognise that many people do, and of course its their choice. In terms of it being a sleep aid, it is poor value for money when you consider the full price of this product. Looking at the list of ingredients, it doesn't seem to contain anything remotely sedative. The fragrance is listed as 'parfum' and it's artificial scent leads me to think it is synthetic. Lavender and chamomile oils are widely claimed to have sedative properties, so they would not be trade secret ingredients in a product aimed to promote sleep. As I said earlier Avon doesn't claim this product contains natural essential oils , however at £4.50 it wouldn't be unreasonable for this product to contain such oils given what it is marketed as. In comparison, Tisserand makes a similar product to this containing real Lavender oil, and it costs £6.50 for a 400 ml bottle. In order to get anywhere near that amount of the Avon Sleeptherapy spray, you would need to spend £13.50. If I am correct in thinking that it's synthetic, then it is overpriced. To put this even more in perspective you can buy a bottle of Lavender essential oil with change from £4.50, and if you know what you're doing you could even make your own pillow mist.

Anyway I have been using the spray as a household refresher spray and this is how I got on with it. I tried this out on a cushion and followed the instructions on the box to the letter and was surprised it was still noticeably damp to the touch after half an hour. After an hour it was finally dry but the smell had disappeared. If you wanted to use this spray to freshen linen or upholstery it just wouldn't be practical unless you have plenty of time to allow it to dry. So how did it fare as a room spray? I used this in the lounge spraying three times in the centre of the room as directed. I went downstairs to answer the phone 15 minutes after using the spray and I noticed that the smell had gone, though I could smell it very faintly in the centre of the room where I had sprayed it - even that disappeared when I checked again 15 minutes later. I can gauge from this that the fragrance lasts less than half an hour, it does last a bit longer in the toilet but that is the size of a shoebox in comparison. That said the room did feel fresh even though the fragrance didn't last very long. In the context of a general household spray I can't really fault this product.

In summary, I am happy to use this to refresh the house but I don't think it is worth £4.50 so I wouldn't buy it at it's full price. I might consider repurchasing if the price is right, ie significantly cheaper. I also think that Avon would be better off repackaging the spray for general household use. I think the smell could be a lot better than it is - I would be forgiven for thinking that it was a cheap air freshener not a product costing £4.50, I would expect essential oils at that price point. That is just my opinion. I would also be inclined to get rid of the box as it is just pointless packaging.

There is definate room for improvement, I would recommend it it the price was right though. I have given the product two stars because of its full selling price.

Also on Ciao under member name Munchkin2009

Summary: Light fragrance but could do better