Shopping for a wool bed at Dreams usually means choosing between something traditional and something that looks lovely in the bedroom, and the Sophie Conran Aura is made to be both. It's a pocket-sprung mattress that Sophie Conran, the designer and writer, designed exclusively for Dreams: British wool, bamboo and latex laid over two layers of springs, with a squared-off box top built on above them. Of the four mattresses in the designer's range, it's the one with a soft top built in, graded Medium. When I spent time on one in a Dreams store at the end of October, it won me over. It's springy and wool-topped, and it was comfortable whichever way I lay.
At 61kg, on my side, I had enough give at my shoulder while the springs kept my waist supported, which is the balance side sleepers hope for and rarely find in a medium. On my back and front it was just as comfortable, and turning over took no effort at all, because the push-back comes from bouncy springs and latex instead of a slow foam sink. Dreams sells it as Medium, and I'd put it closer to medium-firm.
If you're weighing up the Dreams Aura, the Sophie Conran Solace is the bed to hold it against, and the difference that decides it is the top. The Aura has its box top and turns end to end only. The Solace has no top at all, is graded Medium Firm and flips over. Elsewhere in the range, the Nest is the Very Firm one, and the Sanctuary keeps its soft layer in a topper you can lift off.
So the Aura is for average-weight sleepers who want natural wool and a springy feel, and it's especially good if you move between your side and your back in the night, since it's easy to roll on and comfortable in both. Back sleepers get even, lifted support, and warm sleepers get wool and latex under them in place of foam. Anyone who wants to sink into memory foam should buy elsewhere, because it will never give you that hug. The same goes if you're light, sleep only on your side and like a soft bed, because it reads firmer than its label. For everyone else, it's a lovely bed and an easy recommendation.
Sold as Medium, closer to medium-firm when you lie on it
The feel comes straight from the layers. Under a soft damask cover sit bamboo and British wool, then a latex comfort layer, then a sheet of micro pocket springs, then polycotton and polyester padding over the main layer of individually wrapped pocket springs. The wool gives first under you, so your shoulder settles in, but only so far. The latex and the micro springs push back quickly, and the full-size springs underneath stop your hips going any lower. So it never turns into a hammock, and it sits a notch firmer than Dreams' grade.
Your weight changes the feel more than your position does. At 61kg it felt medium-firm to me. Heavier bodies press further into the springs, so if you're heavier it will feel closer to the Medium on its label, with the same springy push-back.
The Aura has a box top, and it doesn't worry me
The top on the Aura is a box top: a comfort layer stitched on with straight, squared-off sides, so it sits square with the rest of the mattress. If you know my views you might expect me to send you away from a built-on top. I steer people off pillow tops because a soft, rounded pad sewn onto the bed keeps softening and you can't turn the mattress over to rest it. I trust a box top to keep its shape better than a pillow top, and this one doesn't put me off at all.
It is one-sided, so you swap the head end for the foot end and never turn it over. Dreams asks for that every week for three months, then once a month, and it's the one bit of care that spreads the wear across the whole surface. Expect it to settle a little where you lie in the first weeks. Dreams' own staff call that normal, especially on a bed with a top like this, and they suggest pulling the bedding back every day so the fillings can dry out and recover. I'll happily defend leaving a bed unmade to air, and a wool-filled one is where the habit pays off.
Wool, latex and two layers of springs, beautifully finished
The build is the reason I'd buy it. The wool is British and breathes well, and wool is my favourite filling for anyone who runs warm, because it stays dry against you and lasts. Latex is a material I wish more people tried, because it's lively and cool and it lasts, and here it gives the top its spring. Dreams describes the bamboo as antibacterial and cooling. The credit for the fresh feel goes to the wool and the latex, and the bamboo is a pleasant extra.
Micro springs I usually see as padding for a spring count, and I normally want the money spent on fillings. On the Aura the fillings are real wool, bamboo and latex, and the micro layer sits right under the latex, where it adds bounce at the surface you feel. The bed is hand-tufted to keep the fillings in place, and it's made in the UK. I judge a bed by its spec more than its story, yet the finish here is lovely, and the quality shows in the materials.
Does the Sophie Conran Aura sleep hot?
No, and it's one of the better beds at Dreams for someone who runs warm. Nothing in it is memory foam. Wool and bamboo sit on top, latex under them and springs below, and air moves through all of them. Latex doesn't sleep hot, whatever anyone tells you, and the wool breathed well when I lay on it. The temperature-regulating fillings were "noticeably effective from the very first night" for one owner. If you wake up too warm on a foam bed, this is the kind of mattress to move to.
What owners say about the first few weeks
The owners are a happy lot, and comfort and back support come up far more than anything else. One describes the top as cosy and the mattress underneath as robust and sturdy, and another says it supports their back well enough that the morning aches have stopped. The story worth reading is a couple who doubted it for their first three or four nights, got as far as researching toppers, then found it improving every morning, and put it down to "having the patience for the mattress to settle down".
Give it the same patience. The first fortnight on any new bed is a poor guide to the years after it, and a wool bed with a built-on top needs a few weeks to bed in around you. I couldn't find an owner calling it too soft or too firm, which fits what I felt: it lands on the firm side of medium, right where I'd start most people.
The designer name adds to the price
The quality is there, though the designer name adds to the price. You're paying for good materials and a careful finish, and also for the Sophie Conran name, which tells you who designed the bed and nothing about what's inside it. Within the range, the extra buys you the soft top and a much longer guarantee. The Solace costs less, flips over and has more pocket springs, but its guarantee is far shorter.
Step outside the range and the Dream Team Frome 4200 Pocket Wool is the plainer wool bed at Dreams, with no top, wool on both faces and none of the latex. It's graded Firm and made to be flipped, so it's a back sleeper's bed. If all you need is firm, steady support on your back, the Frome does that job. If you want the feel the Aura gives you, the latex and the soft top are what you're paying for, and they're worth it.
Sheets, weight and the comfort exchange on the Aura
It's 32cm deep (about 13 inches), so buy deep-pocket fitted sheets, and a double is 39kg, so plan on two people for the rotations in those early months. Super king buyers can also order it zipped, as two single-width Auras joined together, which makes each half lighter to rotate. You can lie on one in a Dreams store first, and I would: ten minutes in your usual position will tell you whether its medium-firm feel suits you. Dreams' 100-Night Comfort Guarantee is an exchange, not a refund, and it asks for a mattress protector in place from the start, so have one on the bed before you sleep on it.
When the Solace or the Bakewell suits you better
If you want to turn your mattress over, buy the Sophie Conran Solace. You get the wool-and-springs idea without the top, graded Medium Firm, double-sided and cheaper. Slimmer side sleepers after something soft should go to the Dream Team Bakewell 2000 (the Ashbourne until Dreams renamed it), the only Soft-graded bed at Dreams you can turn over, and best bought on sale. If you want natural wool with a bit of bounce and you sleep in more than one position, stay with the Aura.
