The folks around here call it my own, personal "Pillow-of-the-Month Club", but say what you will, the great experiment is producing some interesting results.

Each month, I take 1 pillow out of the incredible pillow library that is Organic Sleep Products and sleep on it, for good or ill, for one month.  I am currently in month 4, so you are going to have to wait for that review, but here are my reviews of the first 3 months of this grand pillow adventure:

Month 1:  Organic Cotton Lite Fill Pillow - Vivetique (Natural Bedroom)

Let me begin by saying that I am a pretty broad shouldered guy.  14 years waving your arms as a school band instructor will do that to you.  So, my first reaction to this pillow was:  FLAT

This sucker is the flattest pillow I have ever seen.  In fact, it was hard to tell at some points if it was even there in the first place.  I found myself continually bunching it up to just try and get some loft out of it, but no dice.  In the end, I ended up mangling the pillow pretty good - although the bat of cotton fill did hold together remarkably well considering the pounding I gave this poor pillow.

Softness here was not really a factor.  There was so little of it on top of the mattress that it was only marginally softer than the mattress itself. 

While people who want just a waffer thin pillow will find this the end of the rainbow, it certainly was not for me and the end of the month could not come soon enough.

Month 2:  Organic Cotton Regular Fill - Vivetique (Natural Bedroom)

Maybe it was my dissatisfaction with the lite fill model, but this was a whole world of improvement.  The loft is much better and I found the cotton fill to be nice and supportive.  It still tended to be flatter than what I am used to, but I found this to be a marked improvement - at least for me.

Cotton tends to be firmer and this is definately the case here, although it certainly is far from a rock.  I would call this a definate "medium" on the softness scale.  In the final evaluation, I would say that this is a nice, average pillow - nothing very special about it, but I can't complain either.

Month 3:  Organic Buckwheat Pillow - Vivetique (Natural Bedroom)

OK, I LOVED this pillow.  So much so, in fact, I did not want to give it up at the end of the month!  Why did I like it so much?  Well, this pillow can be whatever you want it to be.  If you want high and lots of loft, you can shape it that way and it will stay.  If you want flat, you can make it flat.  Then you can have anything in between.

The pillow is exceptionally supportive, molding to the exact shape of your head.  Don't look for it to be soft, though.  The wool around the buckwheat core certainly gives you some softness, but this is a decidedly firm pillow in whatever shape you put it.

Many people shy away from buckwheat pillows because of the noise factor.  I have to say that this did not bother me at all.  Yes, you can hear some crunchiness with it, about like what you might get from eating a soggy cereal, but other than that I found no sleep disturbance or anything from it.  In fact, I felt I slept far better on this pillow than either of the previous two. 

In the final evaluation, this pillow is definately versitile and able to please a wide majority of people, I believe.  Let me say again, it is not soft and it is also heavy since buckwheat weighs considerably more than cotton or wool, so these should factor into your own pillow decision.

So, that's the first three.  Check back around the first of each month for new reviews.  It will definately take me some time to work my way through all of them!

As with any pillow decision, please remember that there is no pillow that is perfect for everyone.  These reviews are my own experiences with the pillows and yours may be completely different.  I've tried to give you general descriptors of my experience so that it will make it easier for you to make a decision for yourself.

Until next time, Sleep Naturally!