Getting enough shut-eye comes with many coveted benefits, including reduced stress, improved heart and brain health, better mood, etc. But have you ever wondered why people call it beauty sleep? Or do you believe it to be a tired cliche? Are there any actual benefits of beauty sleep?
Is Beauty Sleep Real?
Your brain starts housekeeping once you enter into a deep sleep state. It processes and stores information gathered during the day and eliminates toxic waste. The rest of the body also does the same. Every cell, tissue, and organ starts to recover from the day’s damage, store up energy, and restore balance by secreting more hormones and proteins.
The skin, being the body’s largest organ, works on removing toxins encountered throughout the day, replacing damaged cells with new ones, boosting regeneration and production of collagen, and repairing UV-induced DNA damage.
Being in a deep sleep state combined with the absence of environmental stressors, grime, pollution, and harsh UV rays allows the skin to enter repair and restore mode. Now, can you see why you wake up with fresh, young, and radiant skin after a restful sleep?
Beauty sleep is real.
How Much Beauty Sleep Do You Need?
According to the National Sleep Foundation, adults need at least 7 to 9 hours of sleep to maintain overall health and wellness.
But you must know that sleep quality trumps sleep duration. It is not enough to sleep for the recommended hours. To get the best benefits from sleeping, you should look into improving the quality of your sleep.
To ensure that your beauty sleep is deeply relaxing and restorative, we advise that you set a sleep schedule, adopt healthy sleep habits, and create a bedtime routine that’ll help you ease quickly and naturally into a deep, peaceful sleep.
9 Benefits of Beauty Sleep
Here are nine benefits of beauty sleep.
Reduced risk of inflammatory skin conditions
Sleep insufficiency is one major cause of stress and inflammation. When you deprive your body of much-needed sleep, it will signal the production of more stress hormones, norepinephrine and cortisol, or even trigger inflammation by supporting toxin buildup and compromising immune function.
“Why is this information relevant to skin health?” you might ask. A review published in the journal Inflammation & Allergy – Drug Targets suggests that elevated cortisol levels, which are directly related to stress, can increase the risk of psoriasis and slow wound healing by up to 20%.
When you suffer chronic stress or inflammation from being sleep deprived, your risk of developing skin conditions like psoriasis, eczema, or rosacea increases. And if you are already struggling with a skin condition, poor sleep may increase the severity and make it harder to get your skin back to a healthy state.
Delayed skin aging
Poor sleep quality can speed up skin aging and cause you to experience fine lines, wrinkles, droopiness from loss of skin elasticity, dullness and dryness of skin, and increased pigmentation.
One small study confirmed chronic sleep quality to be strongly associated with increased signs of aging and declined skin barrier function.
Quality sleep allows your skin to heal from the damage caused by prolonged exposure to solar radiation, regenerate skin cells more quickly and increase its production of collagen.
Fewer breakouts
As we mentioned earlier, sleep insufficiency raises stress hormone levels in the body. High cortisol levels trigger the sebaceous gland to produce more oil. Excess oil may clog the skin pores and result in acne breakouts following the action of bacteria on the skin.
The more sleep you lose, the more tired and stressed your body becomes. And with increased stress levels comes a higher risk of acne breakouts and increased severity.
Bright, depuffed under eyes
The eyes are easily the most attractive facial feature when finding companionship, love, or friendship, according to a 2017 study led by psychologist Daniel Gill at the University of Winchester in Hampshire. They are one of the first features people notice when they look at you.
According to another study, people around you can tell if you’re sleep-deprived just by looking at your face, particularly your eyes.
Staying up late can cause the blood vessels surrounding the eyes to dilate or lead to the pooling and darkening of fluid in the area. Because the skin under the eyes is thin and delicate, it will appear visibly as what is commonly known as dark circles or puffy eyes.
Note: Dark circles might result from increased melanin production, age, diet, or medication. Still, not getting enough shut-eye can make them appear darker.
Even skin tone and glowing complexion
Aside from causing you to feel and look tired, losing sleep can cause your skin to lose its color or appear dull and blotchy.
When you are asleep, blood circulation increases throughout your body to aid your brain’s housekeeping duties. The blood carries more nutrients and oxygen to your skin and transports toxic waste away. It also aids wound healing and cell regeneration and stimulates collagen production. In the end, you will wake up with youthful, radiant, and even-toned skin.
Healthy hair
The hormone melatonin, produced at night to induce sleep, has proven to be a modulator for hair growth. In fact, there are melatonin receptors resident in the hair follicles. The hormone helps treat alopecia, hair thinning, and breakage, and it also protects the scalp against inflammation.
Additionally, increased blood circulation to the head during sleep helps deliver nutrients and oxygen to the hair follicles.
Healthy appearance
In one small study, people were said to be less attractive and perceived as less healthy after not getting enough sleep for only one night.
A sleep-deprived person would always look tired, pale, and puffy. They will also be more likely to frown and act irritably. Whereas someone who gets enough beauty sleep would look refreshed, radiant, healthy, and energized.
It is non-negotiable. You need to get your beauty sleep to look healthy, happy, and beautiful.
Improved efficacy of skincare products or regimen
It is not enough to have a 7-step Korean skincare regimen or tons of products at your disposal. Knowing the best time to apply them is key to good skincare.
Because your skin isn’t in protection mode at night, it can relax and rejuvenate. It can soak up everything you feed it and use them more efficiently.
The skin loses moisture via transepidermal water loss during sleep, so it is advisable to use a deep moisturizing cream before bed. Other products perfect for nighttime use include retinol or retinoids, eye cream, targeted skin treatments, and chemical exfoliants.