The Philips Wake-up Light Plus is an official light therapy product of the Sleep Therapy Foundation which is supposed to wake you in a natural, gentle way with a light that gradually gets brighter as you slowly come round. According to the manufacturers, it mimics sunrise so that you greet the day in a more positive frame of mind and with improved energy to match. As I have found it harder and harder to crawl out of bed recently thanks to seasonal affective disorder (SAD) I was dying to give this one a try and see if it lived up to the hype.

Because we all have different sensitivity to light, the Philips Wake-up Light lets you customize the brightness setting over twenty different variations. It also allows you a choice of sounds with which to greet the day, ranging from some integral nature noise presets to your own choice of music or additional sound effects downloaded from the Light Therapy website. These sound effects were, for me, one of the Wake-up Light’s best features, with Underwater World and Forest being two of my favorites although you can also choose from twenty or so other sound files. I liked the way the volume gradually increased as the light got brighter – a combination which really did turn out to be a far more gentle way to wake up.

Although this product is pricier than some others on the market, I felt that its features more than justified the cost, particularly the quality of the light which was a pleasing clear white rather than the sickly yellow of some other, similar wake-up lights. Thanks to that light I really did feel more alert, positive and ready to tackle things. I would recommend this Wake-up Light to anyone who needs to boost their morning mood or overall frame of mind in general. It really does help you to start the day in a stress free state. For sufferers of seasonal affective disorder, in particular, I would consider it to be an essential as it helps you get your light dose early and regularly without any additional effort on your part.