Scent has long been known to have an immediate impact on emotions, which is exactly why de Mamiel’s Anchor and Settle have earned a permanent place on so many nightstands. Yet scent tends to get overlooked these days in the bedtime arsenal of the tired but wired, especially given how intriguing some of the techy tools can be: the intelligent bed that cools you down! The world’s smallest earbuds! The EEG-powered smart headband! They’re so exciting.

Luckily, Annee de Mamiel is still taken with the low-tech but enormously impactful power of scent, and she’s here to remind us all about it.

During her recent visit to Ayla, she told us, “The two aromatherapeutic sleep products, Anchor and Settle, have been with me for a while. And as the stresses of modern life continue to grow, I felt like they needed a bit of boosting.” The new formulas from her Sleep Series are must-haves whether you have trouble falling asleep, staying asleep, or both. (The simplest way to tell them apart, in Annee’s words: Settle helps you fall asleep. Anchor helps you stay asleep.)

Find out what’s new about them in Annee’s own words in this video.

Annee de Mamiel on the New Anchor and Settle (Video)

[Shop Anchor] | [Shop Settle]

The transcript, for those who would rather read:

Anchor and Settle have been with me for a while, and as the stresses of modern life continue to wreak havoc on everything that we do, I felt like they really needed a bit of boosting, a bit of a change. So I’ve really dived into them and tried to make them easier for people to understand.

de Mamiel Settle: For When You Can’t Switch Off

Settle is for creating that stillness before we go to sleep. It’s really about when we’re still carrying the day with us, and we really can’t switch off. Even when the emails have been shut down, our body’s still moving. So Settle has been formulated to really create that pause where we can start to properly unwind.

One of the other things that I’ve done with Settle is really boosted the oils around the glymphatic system of the brain, so we can use it in different ways as well. The glymphatic system is a really exciting area of research: it’s where the brain washes itself, cleans itself of the day. And it only happens when we’re in deep sleep. So it’s been formulated all around those principles. But mainly it’s about creating that stillness.

de Mamiel Anchor: A Magnesium Balm for 3 a.m. Wake-Ups

Anchor, selfishly, has been made for me. It is for that 3:00 a.m. screaming wake-up when everything’s ON. You wake up and you really can’t go back to sleep. It still has the same scents, because I felt that was just really calming. But I’ve made it into a magnesium balm, so I’ve increased the magnesium in it. That way you can use it before you go to sleep, on your chest, on the soles of your feet and on your wrists, and then reapply it when you wake up. It works beautifully on its own or with Settle. But I find it the most beneficial when you’re able to have a bath as well.

Anchor is also the product that I travel with. Because of the change in time zones and sleep, I find that it really helps bring me back and settles me down for sleep in a foreign environment.

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Anchor vs. Settle: Which One Do You Need?

Settle: unwind into sleep

• For the evening wind-down
• When you feel wired, overstimulated or unable to switch off
• Supports a smooth transition into rest
• Think: exhale, soften, let go

Anchor: stay deeply asleep

• For the middle of the night or disrupted sleep
• When you wake at 2 to 4 a.m., or sleep feels broken
• Helps calm the nervous system and guide you back to sleep
• Think: ground, hold, return to stillness

As Annee explains, Settle helps the body unwind so it can enter the deeper phases of sleep, where true repair begins. Anchor supports you through the night, helping you stay in those deeper states, where she says the glymphatic system can clear, reset, and restore both mind and skin.

Annee’s Sleep Rituals

Settle: a ritual of release

“You know that moment at the end of the day — when you’re tired, but you’re still holding on. The mind is busy, the body feels tense, and even though you’re ready for bed, you haven’t quite let the day go. I created Settle for this moment.”

This is how Annee closes her day. She applies Settle to her wrists, neck and over her heart, taking a few slow breaths as she does. Then she gently presses Pericardium 6, an acupressure point on the inner forearm about three finger-widths below the wrist crease, between the two tendons. “It’s a point I return to when my mind feels busy or I’m holding tension,” she says. “It’s a way of telling the body it’s safe to let go.”

Anchor: for the 3 a.m. wake-up

“You know that moment — when you wake in the night and your body is still, but your mind is not. It’s often around 3 a.m. You’re tired, but alert. Your thoughts begin to move, your breath becomes shallow, and sleep feels just out of reach. This is why I created Anchor.”

Before bed, Annee applies Anchor to the soles of her feet, across her chest and onto her pulse points, breathing slowly as her body softens. She gently presses Heart 7, on the inner wrist crease on the little-finger side, which she calls “a great point to help calm the mind and support deeper sleep.” If she wakes in the night, she reapplies and focuses on lengthening her exhale.

Annee’s travel ritual

Anchor is what Annee comes back to whenever she travels or life feels a little chaotic. “Our circadian rhythm can shift so easily, and it shows up as those early wake-ups or restless, light sleep where you never quite drop in,” she says. She starts using it on the flight, then again before bed when she arrives, and keeps it up for the first few nights away. “Sleep feels deeper, more continuous, and I wake feeling ready to go, in both my skin and my energy.”

Frequently Asked Questions

What’s the difference between de Mamiel Anchor and Settle?

• Settle helps you fall asleep, and Anchor helps you stay asleep. Use Settle as part of your evening wind-down, and Anchor before bed and again if you wake in the night.

Can you use Anchor and Settle together?

• Yes. Anchor works beautifully on its own or alongside Settle, and many people use Settle at bedtime and Anchor during the night.

What’s new in the reformulated Anchor?

• Anchor keeps its calming scent but is now a magnesium balm with more magnesium than before, made to apply at bedtime and again when you wake.

Do Anchor and Settle do anything for skin?

• Annee designed the Sleep Series around the idea that better rest shows up on your face. She describes the goal of Settle as skin that looks “calm, settled and restored,” and of Anchor as skin that looks “deeply rested, replenished and restored.”

Shop de Mamiel at Ayla.