A Sleep Spray Can Help Train Your Brain to Relax—Shop Our Favorites

You already know that getting high-quality z’s helps keep you healthy. But when life gets hectic, it can be tough to squeeze those essential eight hours into a packed schedule.

If you’ve been living off of half-baked REM cycles lately, even little things—like adding a soothing sleep spray to your nighttime routine—can help move the needle. The best sleep sprays are made with calming scents, like lavender, and can be spritzed on your body or bedding to help you drift off.

Here at SELF, we’re all about making small changes that can add up over time, so we put several sprays to the test to find out whether they really work. We also tapped a board-certified physician and a sleep psychologist for their expert advice on what these mists can (and can’t) do for you. Find their tips and shop our winners below.

Our top picks

1. Best Overall: Lush Sleepy Body Spray
2. Best Budget: The Laundress Beauty Sleep
3. This Works Deep Sleep Pillow Spray
4. L’Occitane Cocon de Sérénité Relaxing Pillow Mist
5. NEOM Perfect Night’s Sleep Mist
6. Bath & Body Works Aromatherapy Lavender Vanilla Pillow and Body Mist
7. Being Frenshe Hair, Body & Linen Mist Body Spray

FAQs about sleep sprays

How we tested these sprays

SELF staffers each took home one of the sleep sprays below to judge its scent, packaging, and how much they enjoyed using it. As they spritzed them each night, testers noted how the mists affected their sleep schedules (for better, for worse, or not at all). The winners smell great and truly helped staffers take a load off at the end of a long day.

Shop the best sleep sprays

We have recs for catnap champions and serious snoozers alike.

Best Overall: Lush Sleepy Body Spray

Pros

• Mister has a lock
• Creates a fine spray
• Can use it on your bedding or your body

Cons

Years ago, I visited a friend and watched her douse her room in Lush’s Sleepy Body Spray before getting into bed. I was immediately hooked on the scent and ended up buying the matching body lotion to keep on my nightstand. The smell reminds me of the best dream I’ve ever had, the coziest blanket, or the perfect morning coffee, with notes of tonka bean and ylang ylang.

While this is technically a body spray, it contains essential oils that can irritate sensitive skin, so you may want to mist it over your sheets or pj’s instead. (Plus, there’s not a lot of research that says sleep sprays are any more effective when used on the skin, Shelby Harris, PsyD, a sleep psychologist, the director of NY Sleep and Psychology, and the author of The Women’s Guide to Overcoming Insomnia, tells SELF.) Personally, I like spritzing it over my bed—and I love how the sweet scent lingers all evening.

Best Budget: The Laundress Beauty Sleep

Pros

• Budget-friendly
• Large bottle will last a long time

Cons

• Layered, perfume-like scent isn’t for everyone

Sandalwood gives this spray an earthy, sophisticated aroma that you’ll daydream about until it’s bedtime again. “Honestly, I’d wear this as a perfume on a regular day (if I wasn’t worried about needing a nap at 3 p.m.),” one SELF tester says. “For how fancy it smells, I thought it would be more expensive.”

Another perk: It’s less than $20 and it’s the biggest bottle on this list—talk about a steal.

Thisworks Sleep Plus Pillow Spray

Pros

• Packaging feels high-quality and high-end
• Doesn’t smell too sweet
• Very fine mist

Cons

“I’m a pretty problematic sleeper—I can’t seem to sleep through the night regardless of anything, but I feel pretty confident that this has made a difference,” one SELF tester says, adding that she uses two to three sprays on her side of the bed every night. “Falling into my already-very-comfortable bed and having that added burst of lavender and chamomile really calms my mind.”

If the scent speaks to you, This works also makes a calming body butter with magnesium, a bath soak, and even a rollerball for travel (long flights just got a major upgrade).

L’Occitane Cocon de Sérénité Relaxing Pillow Mist

Pros

• Unique fragrance
• Light scent—not too strong
• Packaging feels luxe

Cons

• Some Amazon reviewers say the scent doesn’t last long

This spray will lull you to sleep with a fresh citrusy blend that’s relaxing in its own way. It combines lavender with orange, rose, and bergamot oils for a “floral scent that makes my bedroom feel like a spa,” our tester says. “I have never used a sleep spray before, but this one truly makes me never want to live without one!”

Not super into florals? Don’t worry—our tester says the fragrance isn’t overpowering in the slightest.

NEOM Perfect Night’s Sleep Mist

Pros

• Sleek packaging
• Can be used on yourself or your linens

Cons

• Some may find the patchouli scent too strong

One tester is hooked on this mist: “I’d been using it for a few nights in a row, and when I forgot it in the living room last night, I found myself tossing and turning more (and even contemplated getting out of bed to spray it),” she says. “The bottle recommends you spray it on your body or on your pillow and sheets—I tried both and I vote pillow!”

Bonus: “I think the packaging is elegant and the bottle looks nice on my dresser,” she added. Choose from three sizes (or grab an extra to toss in your suitcase for your next trip).

Original video by SELF fitness and food director Christa Sgobba

Bath & Body Works Aromatherapy Lavender Vanilla Pillow and Body Mist

Pros

• Light scent
• Budget-friendly
• Use it on your body or your linens

Cons

• Some Bath & Body Works reviewers don’t like that it smells like baby powder