Foam is what most people try first, because it's what's in every pharmacy for two euros. It's also why most people decide earplugs don't work for them. Here's the honest comparison.
Foam
How it works: you roll it, insert it, and it expands to fill the canal.
Good: cheap to try, widely available, and the expansion gives a strong seal.
Bad: that same expansion keeps pushing outward for as long as it's in — which is fine standing up and uncomfortable after four hours with your head on a pillow. Foam absorbs oil and bacteria, so it's single-use in practice. It loses its spring within a night or two. The end usually protrudes, so side sleepers feel it. And a pair a night is roughly sixty euros a year, into a bin.
Silicone putty
How it works: you mould it over the ear opening rather than inserting it.
Good: no pressure inside the canal, and good for swimming.
Bad: it sticks to hair, it picks up lint, and it flattens against a pillow. Most people find it messy.
Reusable silicone
How it works: a moulded body with a soft tip that seals the canal without expanding.
Good: consistent seal night after night, no expansion ache, washable, and it lasts years. Better ones ship with multiple tip sizes, which matters more than any other single factor.
Bad: higher up-front cost, and — crucially — most of them still have a stem or ring that protrudes. That's the detail to check before buying.
The comparison
| Foam | Putty | Reusable silicone | |
| Comfortable on your side | Poor | Medium | Depends entirely on the profile |
| Reusable | No | No | Yes |
| Consistent night to night | No | Medium | Yes |
| Multiple sizes | Rarely | N/A | Sometimes |
| Cost per year | €60+ | €40+ | €29 once |
The verdict
For occasional use — one flight, one festival — foam is fine. For sleeping most nights, reusable silicone wins on comfort, consistency and cost, provided you pick one with a genuinely flush profile and more than one tip size.
That's the test to apply to any pair you're considering: look at the side-on photo. If anything stands proud of the ear, you will feel it against a pillow, whatever the marketing says.
Where LOOPLUNN fits
LOOPLUNN was designed against exactly that test. No stem, no ring, nothing past the outer edge of the ear — soft silicone and five tip sizes in every box, so the seal you need is already in the box you open.