If anyone has recommendations for good (cupped) eye masks, I'd love to hear them.

I currently use the cheap contoured cupped kinds (I think Bucky, currently), which are adequate. I find the cups vastly preferable to having something pressed against my eyes, and I dislike masks that feel heavy. A cheap mask will keep out most light (but not all of it). For the most part, they work. Sleeping with a mask is better than sleeping without one.

The problem with the cheap brands is that they always inevitably fall apart 3-5 months after being purchased, especially if you wash them. They're almost all glued, not stitched. They use materials like velcro everywhere.

A while back I tried to do some research to see if there was a premium market for nice, really durable, stitched brands. I couldn't find anything that stood out, it was a big surprise. I've considered trying to find someone on Etsy to try and custom make something.

Right now I'm paying $10-16 every 4 months for a disposal mask. I'd happily pay a ton more for a lightweight, cupped mask that actually blocked 100% of the light and that would last me a few years.

These are my favorite: https://dryeyeshop.com/collections/nights/products/tranquile...

I went through about a dozen different masks over the course of 6 months and these were the most comfortable. I like the removable inserts -- sometimes I want the pressure on my eyelids, sometimes I don't. They completely block out the light. And they trap moisture so your eyes stay moist overnight.

Check out the Mindfold.

Just make sure to keep the eyemask clean. I got conjunctivitis once from wearing an old one I forgot to wash

Travel with a roll of electrical tape.

It may be a bit of an extreme solution, to go around a hotel room, covering every tiny LED with electrical tape, but if you are very sensitive to light while you sleep, it can make a world of difference in the quality of your rest.

Black "Gaffers tape" is a tape designed to hold things temporarily and be removed without leaving a residue (or as little residue as possible). You can tear off a perfectly square piece with your fingers since the fabric of the tape is aligned with the tape. It's great for covering those always on LEDs.

It is better than electrical tape for this purpose IMO.

Came here to say gaff tape, so seconding this. And I'm an actual gaffer, so you can believe me. I have it on every tiny spot of light in my room.

I definitely thought you were going to suggest just putting electrical tape over your eyes.

I'm so sensitive to light at night that I actually thought about it.

Sleeping with an eye mask changed everything for me, making sleep possible under a number of conditions where it wouldn’t have been before.

I've never gotten used to wearing a mask, so when I travel I make every effort to get a room away from the street so I'm less likely to have either street lights or the hotel's own lights shining in the window. I unplug everything I can, and I bring tape for the rest. Nightlights built into bathroom power outlets have been a particularly annoying trend lately, and most kinds of tape don't completely block the light themselves, but the tape can hold whatever thickness of paper or cardboard I need. Band aids will work in a pinch, but tape is cheaper.

Black electrical tape is great for blocking light.

My silk eyemask totally changed how I sleep. Best $10 I ever spent. For me, my problem is I tend to sleep in later so when the sun is out, sometimes it's hard to get woken up midcycle.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00GSO1D9O/

Also, noise is usually a problem for me. I keep a fan running at night to provide a good background hum of white noise to help drown out any external sounds.

I use the same eyemask. I travel a lot for work and find it psychologically reassuring because I only put it on when I'm ready to go to sleep.

I've found that if you sleep on the back and not move much, a light scarf can do the same job as an eye mask, which can be handy if you're traveling and don't have one.

Which mask do you recommend? I have big eyes and never found a comfortable one.

I have this one and would absolutely recommend it :

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0015NZ6FK/

I use an eyemask that also has soft headphones, so I can listen to pink noise or meditations.

Is it comfortable? What's the brand?