How the Founder of Vitruvi Uses Scents and Essential Oils to Sleep Better

Welcome to Pillow Talk: A series where founders, designers, and other inspirational creatives share their dreamy bedtime routines and nighttime rituals. Today, Sara Panton, co-founder and CEO of Vitruvi, home of the sleekest and chicest diffusers and essential oil blends, spills on her favorite pre-bed beverages, the 10-minute-long beauty routine she excitedly looks forward to, and how scent sets the tone for her sleep.

The first thing I do to kick off my bedtime routine is take my dog for a quick walk in the evening. It's something that my parents used to do with my brother — and co-founder — each night and I just think it's so important to get a little fresh air before bed. Once I'm back, I'll put water on to boil for my Natural Vitality Calm Magnesium drink — I love the rasperry lemon flavor. It helps me to unwind and calm my mind a little bit. I'll also occassionally drink the Vega Sport Nighttime Rest and Repair with melatonin in it. It tastes like dessert; I actually look forward to drinking it each night. I usually drink the Vega protein drink first and then sip the Calm tea while I get ready for bed. Then, I do some stretching and foam rolling, which is especially great for travel. It just really doubles down on calming my body and mind for rest.

Then, I start my face routine, which is really like my full indulgent time. I set aside like five to 10 minutes for it each night. I like to try a bunch of different stuff, so I don't really have a regular skincare routine, but I'm currently loving the Drunk Elephant Cleansing Bar: I use the JuJu Exfoliating one for morning and the Pekee Blueberry one for night. I also am using the Osea Vitamin C Probiotic Face Polish. I end each night with a Vitruvi carrier oil blend (you can take our quiz for your perfect custom blend!) I use that with facial cups and a gua sha facial tool — feels like a massage on my face. All of this while sipping on my drinks really helps me to calm down and process the day.

Then, I go into my bedroom and turn on my Vitruvi diffuser. Right now, I shuffle between the Eucalyptus, Lavender, or our newest Dusk Blend which has those two, plus Frankinscence and Ho Wood. It was inspired by a trip I took to Joshua Tree with my girlfriends; I just wanted to channel that warm, sunset glowy feeling. As that starts to flow, I close my bedroom door so the scents can really fill the room.

Then, I'll brush my teeth and do some scheduling, emails, and last-minute tasks for the morning. That takes about 40 minutes and the scent of my diffuser is really flowing by then. Then, I'll get into bed and try to do some moments of mindfulness. We have Parachute cotton sheets, which really feel like a luxurious treat.

I use the Insight Timer app. There are a lot of different mediations on it; right now, I'm listening to Tara Brach and Sara Blondin, who's from Vancouver. I like this app in particular because all of the guided meditations are under 10 minutes and it keeps track of how many days you do it in a row. I don't like to do stuff just for the sake of doing it, but I find that this routine really helps me to find more gratitude and fall asleep more quickly.

Once it's done, I try to turn my brain off and go right to sleep. I think my diffusers and scents are really most important — they almost are like treats to me. I don't love sleep as I have a pretty busy brain, but I believe the quality of sleep is more important than the length, so I try to focus on getting the best night sleep I possibly can.