EDWINA INGS-CHAMBERS: Are you ready for a sleekover? 

When Vicky Tsai created her skincare brand Tatcha in 2010 she was inspired by the traditional products used by geisha (she studied with them in Japan) and combined those rituals with the power of modern science. So ingredients such as green tea and rice feature heavily in this cult range. But a favourite of mine, for the glow and tip-top condition it gives to my complexion, is The Silk Cream (1, £115, tatcha.co.uk).

The luxurious lightweight gel formula includes silk amino acids, which are similar to those in our skin and good for hydration and maintaining a healthy barrier. They are a by-product of the silk-making process, found in the water after the silk has been immersed and removed.

Silk isn’t a brand new beauty ally: Clé de Peau has been using it in its Key Radiance Care range since 2004 and in 2014 it upgraded to its Platinum Golden Silk Essence, a higher quality of silk extracted from the cocoon’s fibre. Choose from The Serum (£215), Hydro Softening Lotion (2, £100), Protective Fortifying Emulsion (£110) and Intensive Fortifying Emulsion (3, £130, harrods.com). The limited-edition packaging is in honour of the brand’s 40th anniversary.

More affordable is This Is Silk, which was founded by Sonal Keay who suffers from chronic actinic dermatitis which flared up during her pregnancies. Finding relief through sleeping on silk pillowcases, she investigated the power of the fibre and developed her Radiance, Renewed Silk Overnight Oil (4, £39.99) and Silk Cream Cleanser which comes with a silk cleansing cloth (5, £39.99, thisissilk.com). Silk, she says, performs the same job as our skin cells – repairing, protecting, maintaining elasticity and structural integrity – and ‘this all translates as anti-ageing’.

Silk pillowcases are good for hair, too. Vicky Demetriou, hairdresser and founder of Rokndol, says, ‘they give a smooth surface which doesn’t create friction and allows your hair to move without breakage’. She produces her own design (£140) as does Beauty Pie with its Sleepeasy Luxury Mulberry Silk Pillowcase (6, members pay £33.28, beautypie.com). Rokndol also has a selection of silk hair Scrunchies (7, from £24.50, rokndol.com). The ties are ‘not water absorbent, so if your hair is pulled back all day they won’t draw moisture from your hair, which encourages breakage’. For more hair protection try a Silke Hair Wrap (8, £50, silkelondon.com) which looks like a turban and can be worn at night to protect against breakage, frizz and split ends.

Personally I never sleep without a Slip silk sleep mask – or if I ever do I notice more wrinkles around my eyes and forehead when I wake up ‒ as you get older, they don’t disappear as easily. The paisley print is part of a new collaboration with Alice + Olivia (9, £50; slipsilkpillowcase.co.uk).

@edwinaingschambers