Sleep & Skin

“BEAUTY SLEEP”, IT’S A THING - HOW SLEEP IMPACTS YOUR SKIN 

 

“Get your beauty sleep”, it turns out our mothers might have been right!

 

Sleep is one of the most universal prescriptions for disease prevention, metabolic balance, and overall health - that includes the health of your skin! When you don’t get enough sleep (fewer than 6 hours), it can start to have noticeable effects.

 

Before we dive in, I think it’s important to acknowledge that sometimes life gets away from us. We can’t always get the ideal amount of sleep, and shouldn’t beat ourselves up over it! Some days will be better than others and the best thing to do is be more conscious of the impacts our lives have on the skin!

    

HOW SLEEP AFFECTS YOUR SKIN 

 

While you sleep, your body is hard at work performing several functions including combating free radicals and producing hormones that ultimately contribute to your skin’s overall health. Amongst these hormones is collagen - one of our favourites! 

 

Collagen is responsible for repairing and connecting skin tissue which helps the complexion look tighter and more lifted! A lack of sleep can cut the collagen-production process short leaving the tissues that need repairing untended to. This translates into your face looking increasingly tired in the morning after a short nights’ sleep. 

 

Another key contributor to healthier-looking skin is antioxidants. Antioxidants are responsible for fighting free radicals and oxygenated stress that can cause premature signs of aging such as fine lines and wrinkles. When we lack sleep, our immune system can’t produce enough antioxidants to fight off these organisms, making the dark circles around our eyes more pronounced and our complexion not as bright. 

 

Essentially, when the body doesn’t have enough time to take care of itself, everyone suffers, even the skin. Don’t get discouraged - below are a few small tips to help you get more sleep!

     

HABITS TO HELP YOU GET MORE SLEEP

 

Use an app to remind you it’s time to unwind!

  

The iPhone comes equipped with an app called Health, (an Android equivalent is Sleep Time) which doesn’t just track your steps, it can also be programmed to monitor your sleep schedule as well. 

 

Open it up, go to Browse and filter through the list of Health Strategies and hit Sleep. From there, you can customize your sleep pattern by programming your phone to notify you when it’s almost time to go to bed. 

 

The most impactful feature that comes with programming your sleep schedule is automatic silencing. As soon as the reminder pops up that it’s almost time to go to bed, your phone will automatically silence all incoming notifications, allowing your brain to actually calm down and unwind for bed. 

 

Let’s be honest, going to bed on time doesn't happen every night, but at least we can be conscious of the impacts that come with ignoring the notification and be reminded again tomorrow to adjust our routine.

     

Avoid caffeine past a certain time!

  

Believe it or not, your afternoon coffee has a half-life of about 4-6 hours, which means it can take up to 6 hours for it to be completely metabolized. So crazy! This means that you won't be able to fall asleep if you had your last coffee too close to bedtime. For instance, if your health app notification is set for 10pm then your last coffee shouldn’t be any later than 4pm to ensure that the caffeine is out of your system before it’s time to sleep!

  

Avoid working in your bedroom!

  

Productivity experts have outlined that working from your bedroom can trick your brain into associating the space with productivity. This means, come time to go to bed, although you have programmed your sleep app, and haven’t had coffee in the last 6 hours, you still can’t fall asleep. If this resonates with you, maybe try taking your work into another room, at least for a few hours, to reduce the psychological burden.

 

On that note, we’re downing our last cup of coffee and going to set our sleep timer - have a great and restful week!

 

The BSE Team.