Struggle To Drift Off? This One Product Is A Game Changer

Our beauty director is in a committed relationship with these sleep gummies.

Ask anyone who considers themselves a ‘good sleeper’ how they do it and usually they’ll mutter something along the lines of “I don’t know, I just get into bed and it sort of happens.” It’s an annoying yet truthful response. For the most part, these sleep unicorns really do just place their head on the pillow, close their eyes and drift off in a matter of minutes. Ugh.

The rest of the population, however, are eternally doomed to be students of sleep, always looking for the latest hack/product/practice to help lure us into a deep slumber.

Personally, I switch between a) falling asleep on the couch at an ungodly early hour and b) staying up ‘til 1am wondering whether I’ll choose almond or oat milk for my coffee in the morning. Will it be a) or b) tonight? Who knows! Can’t wait to find out!

My tendency to fluctuate between being a good and average sleeper means that I’m always down to trial a new sleep aid. I’ve tried CBD oil (with some success – read about it here), The Beauty Chef Sleep Inner Beauty Support and more. The latest? BetterBare Co. SleepyBare Gummies. And just between the two of us, I think we might be onto a winner here.

The name: BetterBare Co. SleepyBare Gummies

The sell: “Cherry & Vanilla gummies for your restful sleep.”

The price: $59.99 for a pack of 60.

The ingredients: SleepyBare Gummies won’t knock you out – there’s no pharmaceutical grade ingredients here. If you’re desperate and looking for a sure-fire way to promote sleep, see your GP. For a supplement though, there is an assortment of snooze-inducing ingredients including:

• NZ Manuka Honey (450mg) a sweet prebiotic with anti-inflammatory effects;
• Tart Cherry Extract (360mg) a type of cherry rich in melatonin, the hormone that makes you sleepy;
• Lemon Balm Extract (60mg) a herb that helps reduce the symptoms of anxiety and stress;
• L-theanine (100mg) an amino acid found in green tea that lowers stress levels and helps with sleep disturbance by making us feel less alert;
• Vitamin B6 (1.24mg) a vitamin that promotes relaxation;
• Magnesium (6mg) a mineral that is linked to muscle relaxation and recovery.

How to take them: The brand suggests taking one to two gummies 30-60 minutes before bed. These pastilles are shaped like a bear and almost as tasty as a lolly. They’re designed to be chewed, not swallowed so there’s no need for water (unless you’re thirsty). Thinking that these supplements weren’t going to do anything, I started at the highest dose (two gummies) from the get-go and haven’t looked back.

The verdict: I have been taking SleepyBare Gummies religiously for over a month now and hand on heart, I can honestly say I have had a bad night of rest since. As they’re kind of like a gummy bear (if you close you close your eyes and use your imagination) I look forward to taking them each evening. Because I actually enjoy eating them, this is the most consistent I’ve ever been with a sleep supplement.

Sleep is a complex thing. The best way to set yourself up for a restful night is to practice good sleep hygiene. (For everything you need to know about sleep, read our In Your Dreams feature in the Winter 2020 issue of Gritty Pretty Magazine.) If you’ve got the sleep hygiene thing down-pat, I don’t see any harm in trying a supplement, especially if it’s part of an enjoyable wind-down ritual.

Before writing this story, I spent time wondering whether the gummies were just a placebo. Perhaps I started taking them at a time when I wasn’t stressed so sleep was always going to come easy? And now that I think they’re working, they keep working because I blindly trust that chewing on two each evening will make sleep come sooner? So to get to the bottom of it, I made asked my boyfriend politely to try them. Long story short, he took two gummies once and now refuses to participate again because they knocked him out too quickly. I’ll leave you with that.

The score: 9/10

Tell us, have you dabbled in sleep supplements before? Do you have a favourite sleep-inducing trick? Leave us a comment below.