Got it 2 days ago in the mail. So far I’ve slept one night without my 3" mem foam topper, then 1 night with it on.
First, just a few words about the mattress. And then my essentia matty tale incl how it’s working for me so far. It’s a 2-layer 8" (5+3) natural dunlop mattress with a stretchy removable/washable cover. It is described as a medium firm, which is the case, but also not*. Arrives in a box, indeed latex is mad heavy. wow.
The funny thing is there’s a few things I’d discovered after my mattress search that entailed trying dozens and dozens of mattresses and actually buying 5 that i hadn’t tried in store. HA!
I determined that i didn’t like latex and that i wanted soft, and yet I ended up with a medium firm latex mattress. So weird. So how did I end up here? Honestly, the mem foam and spring beds i really liked were out of my price range, they tended to be over $3k (TP, ViSpring, Essentia, etc) or didn’t have quality foams (looking at you, big brand coil mattresses). And nothing under 3k in my area was working for me! Prolly coulda done a nice under $2k custom made at dixie foam (as I found his zoned dunlop core quite comfortable), but wasn’t sure so kept looking.
I had been to the Essentia store in the past before they even had these models and fell in love with their memory foam mattresses. I’m not a stickler re: natural products so their padded “natural memory foam” claims passed right over me. Didn’t care. But just couldn’t afford them.
I went in again last month to show a friend the pillows and saw their 2 new latex only models, Stratami and Bionda. Got on the Stratami (the firmer model) and was shocked that I didn’t have pressure on my hip! Tried the soft version, the Bionda and while it felt softer, for some reason I it didn’t suit me as much as i felt it on my hip MORE. Actually, I didn’t feel like the Bionda was much softer, just…more lively, or less substantial or something. Who knows. So after trying the Stratami on 2 different days I bit the bullet during a sale and bought the $2,100 for a full sized mattress, (2nd lowest price point of their line) planning most likely to use with a topper. Even though technically an 8" latex can be bought cheaper elsewhere, no finished latex model I tried in any store at even $3K models felt right, except for one $3,500 one at Scott Jordan). Heck, half of them made me feel as if it were trying to bounce me off them. And the others I felt just wouldn’t conform and feel cuddly enough to take care of pressure relief. I was just rolling around on a flat surface and my hip just wasn’t comfortable. That’s just how i felt, of course every one is different.
Why didn’t this one give me pressure pain? Well, i think it is a few reasons maybe: the scalloped design on top (I remember the IMO wave latex topper had the same result) and maybe b/c no wool padding perhaps (OMI mattys use a wave design too but top it with wool and they don’t suit me), Their super stretchy cover could also be the reason. Great cover by the way, super stretchy and feels really nice- soft and high quality. And also possibly b/c (strangely) the core is quite soft! So much so that when squeezing, I could swear it’s softer than the top! If it weren’t for the top wave design i would swear i have the mattress upside down. Weird.
So, strangely, while it is feels firm in a way to lie on, and after 1 full night of tossing and turning because of the firmness, there was still zero pressure pain. Usually on any firm even most medium mattress my thigh and hips are on fire, not so for this. Bizarre, but hey, no complaints. Maybe the Bionda would also work for me with a fairly thin topper but I was so worried about alignment i felt the Stratami would also be a safer bet even though it was $500 more. Hopefully this lack of pressure points remains the case, only been a day or 2.
I haven’t decided whether I will try to stick it out sans topper for a couple of weeks to see if I can adjust to the firmness (prolly will try) or test it out with my 3" memory foam topper and see if alignment becomes an issue. But I’m excited b/c for sure this is better FOR ME than the other the memory foam and latex mattresses i tried (owned Cocoon Soft, Novosbed Soft, MyCloud, Nest Alexander Medium, 12 in 1 dreamfoam, latex toppers, mem foam toppers), the many latex mattys i tried in stores… i just couldn’t get them to conform to or feel right for my light and apparently quite sensitive and fussy frame, except for MyCloud Nimbus which felt great but threw my alignment off something crazy.
Anyway, while my dream bed is the Essentia Dormeuse memory foam mattress (It’s over $4K when on sale! ay yi yi) I think this one has potential to work for me. fingers crossed
I think Essentia is very clever, they seem to have done something quite right in all their mattresses, at least for my frame and my preferences. There’s not a mattress in the darn store I wouldn’t have in my house (except Classic 8, too firm for me).
So there is hopefully the tail end of this saga, and I will tweak the matty as needed. I am dying to try the new Tempurpedic “Adaptive topper”, (supposedly matches their ‘Cloud’ series, my fave TP line) but since i already have the “supreme” i might just be being silly. I almost feel like I could go for a 2" instead! But last thing I want to do is start topper buying. :P. I’ve been through enough as it is.
Customer service was fine. The first woman i talked to was an awesome doll. The one I met on the 2nd day was a little annoyed with how back and forth i was after I came in AGAIN after purchasing before they shipped, to make sure I made the right choice. Oh well.
Mattress arrived about 10 days after I ordered, which she told me before hand might be the case.
Hopefully this mattress will work out, good price point, seems well made, and should last a long time.
And this pic is for you Phoenix, i thought you might find it interesting. Interesting top layer. Those lengthwise cut outs in the top layer seem to go all the way through. How inventive.
