Does Sleep Help Your Skin?

Sleeping is a beautiful thing. Sleeping during the night, day or even afternoon for a quick pick-me-up, is a beautiful thing. Personally, I love to sleep. Getting home after a very long day at work and going to sleep is the best feeling in the world. So good, it can even make me want to stay in on a Saturday night. It’s that special part of the day when you can really shut your brain off, drift into deep slumber, and forget about the world.

I believe in beautiful skin and keeping it looking as best as possible, so part of the reason of getting my good set of hours of sleep at night is because of the benefits it brings to my skin. Aside from the fact that I might be part bear.

Sleeping is considered to be one of the closest things to the mysterious and still-elusive ‘Fountain of Youth’. It is recommended that you sleep 7-9 hours every night to facilitate and help your body repair and recover itself. Think of it in terms of recharging batteries. It is impossible to achieve anything with lifeless batteries. You need them fully changed and functional in order to use them. So when thinking about having better hours of sleep, think of your body as a battery that needs to be recharged in order to function properly for the next 24 hours.

The phrase ‘beauty sleep’ simply refers to the 7-9 recommended hours of sleep for your skin to rest, regenerate, and restore itself. Without these hours of sleep, your skin will be paying the price. No one wants a bad-looking complexion when waking up in the morning to go to work, school, or a business trip. Everyone wants to look their best, and a healthy sleep routine is key.

Some people choose to complement their sleepless hours with napping. Now, napping can be a wonderful thing. It can be easily incorporated into your sleeping schedule by setting an alarm and taking a well-deserved 20 minutes to restore energy and life to your body. But naps don’t work for everyone. Some, including myself, tend to get groggy and even less energized after taking a nap. The decision to nap depends on the person and whether he or she sleeps less than 7 hours a night.

The Benefits of Sufficient Sleep

• A glowing complexion: While sleeping, the body starts to boost blood circulation which can promote a healthier skin glow. When having sleepless nights or insufficient hours of sleep, blood flow tends to slow and can end up making skin look dull. For example, when not getting enough sleep I end up feeling worse than ever before. My skin feels dried up and does not look its best.
• Fewer wrinkles: Skin creates new collagen as part of the general body repair process during sleep. Getting fewer than 6 hours of sleep can increase the number of wrinkles and fine lines on the face. It can also cause skin to dry out, making lines more visible.
• Less puffiness: Puffiness is something no one wants, believe me. Dark circles or bags under the eyes can occur after a night of few hours of sleep. It’s one of the first things we see when we don’t get enough sleep, according to Doris Day, MD. Drinking a lot of water can help reduce the swelling around the eyes and allow us to wake up with less puffiness. I know very well the effects of having puffy eyes and I get 7-8 hours of sleep every night. I manage with under-eye pads and drink a lot of water during the day.
• Better results from beauty products: As mentioned before, when getting longer hours of sleep, the blood flow can be more consistent and this can be a huge help when it comes to absorbing the ingredients provided by your beauty products.
• Better-looking appearance: When getting fewer hours of sleep, this can lead up to frowns on your appearance and make you look sad. This can cause swollen/red eyes, sageness, dark circles and can make your skin look paler. This can trigger a more exhausted looking expression. Those who don’t get enough sleep generally look less healthy than those who sleep for 7-9 hours a day.
• Better looking hair: Yes, even your hair can benefit from a good night’s sleep. Common signs of sleepless nights include hair loss, damaged hair, weak hair, and stunted hair growth.

Everyone wants a beautiful, glowing complexion. Our skin is our unique way of presenting ourselves to the world, and no one wants to look bad, tired or unhealthy. But without enough sleep, even the best skincare routine, diet plan, or exercise habit will not result in beautiful skin.

The Potential Effects of Sleep Deprivation

• Unwanted skin conditions: By lack of sleep, your skin could experience increased inflammation, leading to breakouts. Lack of sleep also affects sensitive skin and could increase your chances of experiencing allergies and irritations.
• Undermines your natural beauty: Lack of sleep could affect and create a breakdown of hyaluronic acid and collagen, causing you to lose your skin’s natural glow, translucency and balance.
• Less beautiful?: When sleeping, damaged cells are able to undergo the body’s natural repairing process, allowing for hormone growth. Lack of sleep hinders this process, which could result in notable signs of aging.

There are numerous reasons as to why people suffer from a lack of sleep. It could be anything from stress to work-related schedule hours, among others. But sleep deprivation can severely affect the skin, as well as contribute to weight gain, heart disease and diabetes. There are people who are considered “good-quality sleepers” and others who are “poor-quality sleepers”. Unfortunately, according to the Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index, there is a higher percentage of “poor-quality sleepers” than good ones.

It also shows that those good quality sleepers recover better from stress-related issues to the skin, while poor-quality sleepers have a more difficult time recovering from skin-related damages like sunburns, inflammation and redness. It’s even worse in women than in men, as the signs of premature aging and a lagging skin recovery process tend to be more visible on female skin.

Additional Care for Your Skin

Note that it is always important to:

• Use a moisturizer: Lack of sleep can damage of the skin’s ability to hold on to moisture, so using a moisturizer every morning and night to keep your skin as smooth as possible is a huge help. There are a number of great moisturizers for every skin type in the market. This means that even if you’re suffering from sleep deprivation, it is still possible to care for your skin in other ways.
• Use sun protection: When it comes to protecting the skin, UV rays are considered the ultimate enemy. If you’re having problems sleeping, it’s important to protect your skin from the sun. It is recommended that you always wear sunscreen, a hat, or even an umbrella.
• Antioxidants: After sleepless nights, it’s important to benefit your skin with skin-boosting antioxidants like basil, hazelnut oil or
• Rejuvenate yourself: Even though lack of sleep can affect your skin’s radiance, there are a number of products that can temporarily hide the effects of a sleepless night. Nevertheless, it’s always important to aim for 7-9 hours of sleep the next time you go to bed.

Sleep is absolutely critical for healthy glowing skin, and while there are many products to temporarily disguise the harsh consequences of poor sleep, it is still important to establish a healthy sleep routine so that your skin is given a chance to regenerate and heal.

‘Beauty sleep’ isn’t just a catchy phrase; it’s the real deal.