How Much Can a Beauty Editor Accomplish Inside a Sauna Blanket? (A Lot)
Photo courtesy of Susan Buth/Blaublut Edition
When the HigherDOSE infrared sauna blanket landed in the goop shop over four years ago, it was an out-the-gate bestseller—and the instigator of many nascent sauna obsessions. Including mine: As a wellness editor, I was the first on our team to give it a go, and it reminded me of everything I love about hot yoga. Soon enough, my teammates got into it, too. But the editor who loves the sauna blanket most is, unquestionably, our beauty editor Brianna Peters.
Since getting her sauna blanket a couple years ago, she’s become the most dedicated among us: She pulls it out three to five times a week. As a chronic dabbler (I love trying new stuff, but keep few habits going very long), I was dying to know what about it she loved—and what her sauna setup looked like now—over two years down the line.
Her trick for consistency is habit stacking: Lumping new habits and old ones together into one great mega-habit. On sauna nights, she works out first, then, already sweaty, schvitzes half an hour in the sauna blanket. Her sauna routine often involves something good for her skin, like a face mask or red light. (She uses the red light mask from Therabody; HigherDOSE has one, too, as does Dr. Dennis Gross. But she says the best device for you is the one you’re going to use.)
She’ll spend however long feels right in the sauna, somewhere between 20 and 45 minutes, passing the time with whatever podcast she’s into lately—or read a book, although she considers it cheating to have an arm out of the blanket. And then she scrubs down in the shower before getting in bed, feeling refreshed. (Brianna never used to shower at night—until she got a routine shake-up from a world-famous facialist. “Joanna Czech told me, ‘Don’t bring the streets to the sheets,’” she says.)
And then she sleeps really well—even after her most hectic days. “I’m the least chill person on the planet. I have zero chill,” she says. But half an hour in her sauna blanket forces her to slow down: “It really helps me come back to myself and calm down, relax. And doing that at night has changed my sleep.”
And, of course, there’s the benefit every beauty editor will notice: “I do feel like I have the best glow after. That orgasmic glow that you’re just like, ‘Oh, I have a little flush.’”
BRIANNA’S POST-SAUNA SHOWER
Brianna’s must-haves include: Our body scrub, which sweeps away sweat and dead skin cells and feels so good on your skin. A cult-favorite bodywash that fills the room with citrusy steam. And our secret to better hair days, the Restore + Shine preshampoo serum (smooth a dropperful through your hair before getting in the sauna and wash it away in the shower afterward).
