The Essential Memory Foam Pillow

Two heights, one pillow.

The surface isn't flat. It curves down in the middle and rises into two ridges of different heights, so you pick your side depending on how you sleep — the lower lobe for back sleeping, the taller one for side sleeping, where there's more shoulder to fill.

The foam is slow-response, so it softens under the weight of your head over about a minute rather than pushing back the way a spring pillow does. It holds that shape through the night and comes back flat by morning.

The cover is a soft dotted knit that unzips and goes in the machine. The foam core stays out of the wash — spot clean and air it instead.

The details

• Contoured shape with a high and low side

• Slow-response memory foam core

• Removable, machine-washable zip cover

• 55 × 35 × 11 cm (21.7 × 13.8 × 4.3 in)

• Five colours: white, grey, pink, blue, [fifth]

First few nights

Contour pillows feel strange at first if you're used to a flat one. Give it about a week before deciding.