Didn’t get much sleep last night? If you didn’t, you’re bound to see droopy eye bags, your skin loses its glow or you just pale and pasty.
Having very little sleep, believe it or not, is also known to speed up the skin aging process – Which is why it’s known as “beauty sleep”. According to dermatologist Sonia Badreshia-Bansal, the lack of sleep causes blood vessels to dilate, causing the look of dark circles. Lack of sleep also makes you more stressed, which also contributes to making you look angry, tired, sad and older too.
But why is that sleep is so important to maintain youthful skin? That’s because the body requires sleep to let the new skin cells grow and replace older cells.
Sleep is not only important for your skin, but your entire body too. Sleep problems are link to numerous diseases such as high blood pressure, heart diseases, depression and more. Sleep allows the hormonal and metabolic changes in the body, and not allowing your body to sleep disrupts the process.
As with your skin, sleep repairs the your skin by repairing, restoring and balancing the skin cells.
Fortunately, the skin’s recovery process is pretty swift, so all you need is a good night’s sleep and you’ll notice just how much better you’ll look like compared to the day before. For really great results, you should get between 7 to 8 hours of sleep a night, and remember not to overdo it.
Sleeping up to 10 hours may seem like a luxury to your body, even your skin – but don’t be too quick to react. Studies have shown that sleeping too much is just as bad sleeping too little. Oversleeping increases skin cell breakdown, and let’s not forget the dehydration. Sleeping for 7 hours as it is already drains so much fluids out of your body, so can you imagine what 10 hours can do to you?
Since we’ve made it clear that getting sufficient sleep will be the answer to maintaining great skin, here are some additional pointers that will be good for you to keep in mind:
1. Organize and maintain a proper sleeping ritual. Go to sleep and wake up at the same time each day. It’ll improve the quality of your skin drastically.
2. Drink plenty of water before and after you to go to sleep so you keep your skin hydrated. Drink warm water instead of cold so you won’t have to wake up and run to the toilet as much.
3. Do some light stretching exercises as you’re about to go to bed. This relaxes the muscles before you go to bed and increases blood-flow, allowing a much deeper and fulfilling sleep.
4. Apply calming scents around your pillow like lavender around your pillow to relax your mind.
5. Apply a nourishing skin moisturizer, serum or facial oil as you’re about to go to sleep. Anti-oxidant serums like Ole Henriksen Pure Truth Activating Oil is perfect because it’s rich in Vitamin C and Omega 3:6:9 – detrimental for supple and youthful skin. Massage it on your skin gently and head straight to bed.
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