December 2023
I am very happy to have a new night product to review at last! Seriously, it's been at least eight years since we had a new product in this category. In fact, many products in this category have been discontinued. So this is progress. - Rebecca
Blinkjoy is an excellent product, designed by a community member who truly 'gets' the problem to be solved and has gone about addressing it in a thoroughly professional manner.
What it's like
Blinkjoy is a substantially sized and very structured light blocking sleep mask with removable silicone eye cups that seal in the eyes and trap moisture.
What starts as a wide front cover continues and tapers as it wraps around the head till the ends meet and attach with velcro.
Inside the front cover are two 'donut' shaped foam cushions which can be positioned wherever you like on the front cover, adjusting for your eye size/position.
Soft, thin silicone shields, about 2/3" deep, fit into the foam cushions and with the help of a flange form a seal around each eye to trap moisture.
How Blinkjoy compares and where it fits in:
Blinkjoy fills some important gaps in the 'moisture goggle' market:
- Complete moisture seal? For people who have not been able to get a complete seal with another product, I suspect the vast majority will get a good seal with Blinkjoy. The individual silicone cups with flanges are well designed for this job.
- Customizable eye distance! The eye cup cushions on Blinkjoy attach with velcro! Slide them left or right! This is actually one of the features that I am most excited about. I am looking forward to not always having to tell people "Here's how to jerry-rig your goggle with some scissors and thread" or "Sorry, there's just no better option".
- Side and stomach sleeper friendliness: Blinkjoy seems clearly designed for this purpose - within limits and recognizing that we are all different and our tolerances vary. The silicone eye cups' depth is sufficient to provide a gap over the orbit. While I'm on the subject, though, a word of caution for face sleepers with FES, TED or other conditions keeping their lids substantially open at night: Blinkjoy may be a great product for you but for safety's sake, please make sure to consult your eye doctor before using it. (Actually, everyone else ought to ask their doctor before using any product of this kind, but I worry especially about these folks.) For those who are curious, FES = Floppy Eyelid Syndrome (yes, it's a thing) and TED = Thyroid Eye Disease (a/k/a Graves Disease).
- Super-secure strap: If your experience with moisture goggles has been "I find it on the floor in the morning", I would venture to say that that is very unlikely to be the case with Blinkjoy. The strap is not a flimsy add-on - it's a continuum of the mask itself and seems very secure, but the tradeoff is that it is bulkier.
Who should try Blinkjoy
- People with nocturnal lagophthalmos (incomplete lid closure at night): It's clearly designed with 'noclag' in mind: shaped to trap moisture while vaulting the eyes so that your exposed eye surfaces don't dry out excessively overnight but also don't touch anything else.
- People with night dry eye protection needs who also have custom fit needs: A terrific feature of Blinkjoy is that the eye cups can be positioned wherever you need them. Eyes wide apart or very close set? No problem!
- Side sleepers who couldn't get comfortable with other goggles: No guarantees, but this is definitely worth trying, as it is specifically designed for all sleep styles.
- People with severe night dry eye, in general: Many people with severe night dry eye seem to benefit from moisture shields at night even if their eye lids close fully.
Who I would not recommend Blinkjoy for
- People who know they need less bulk and/or lighter weight. Many people just cannot tolerate a 'bulky' sleep mask while sleeping. Glad Press 'n' Seal is probably still your best option.
- People who don't want the blackout effect. Some people are only able to wear transparent shields/goggles.
- People who are bothered by big thick straps: Some people cannot stand thicker velcro closures on masks. Blinkjoy's is about as hefty as it gets. For reference, the Eye Eco straps are at the exact opposite end of the spectrum (silky thin fabric wrap).
- Full face CPAP users. No way is this compatible.
Who it might be a tossup for
- All those very petite ladies with tiny faces. Are you going to fall into the "I can't deal with that much bulk" category and stick with Quartz or Saran wrap or a lightweight sleep mask plus ointment, or will you love the feel of Blinkjoy so much that it just all works out somehow? I just don't know, and I can't wait to see your detailed reviews when you try it!
- Large face-sleeping gentlemen with Floppy Eyelid Syndrome. Is the eye cup deep enough to keep you protected when you mash your face on that pillow? I hope so but I don't know so. Don't forget to get your eye doctor to check it out.
- Nasal pillow CPAP users: It's going to be model-dependent. Whether it works or not please be sure to post a review giving details of your CPAP model!
- The classic side sleeper. Such a dilemma. You pay for excellent design and ergonomics with more bulk, and I think that's going to work for some but not all of you.
Durability?
This is something that we learn over time with new products. As many of you veterans have found, this can also vary a lot from user to user. Please share your experiences. There is a 1-year warranty.
Advice for trying it out
As with all moisture goggles or shields, please try it for at least a couple of weeks before deciding whether it's going to help you.
If you are new to this category of product, consider trying at least one other product at the same time so that you can compare them side by side. This advice is partly born out of years of experience watching people buy a product and return it only to buy it again when they eventually figure out that, while nothing was perfect, the one they bought first actually worked better than everything they tried subsequently. But the other reason that I say to give it awhile is that this type of product in general typically does not give instant relief, although of course you may be an exception.
Last, something that probably no one wants to hear, though I think it will resonate with many veteran patients: Sometimes with moisture goggle type things you just can't explain the results. I mean there have been nights when I have worn a perfectly sealed goggle or shield and when it was literally dripping wet in the morning but my eyes felt like cardboard anyway. Other times they give me lots of relief. I cannot tell you why, other than (a) feeling dry is not the same as being dry and (b) there's always a bit of the random at play with dry eye.
