If Disney’s Sleeping Beauty has taught us anything, it’s that beauty and sleep are like peas in a pod. And it’s not just a fairytale – science says that while we sleep our body goes to work repairing and renewing damaged skin cells and making sure we wake up looking refreshed and beautiful.
Going to the bed at the right time and nabbing those eight hours of quality sleep is the best way to make a noticeable difference to your skin, as your body can prepare itself for the process that happens when we sleep. If you don’t manage to clock in the right amount of sleep, it can leave you not only feeling worse for wear but also looking dull, dehydrated and puffy.
What happens while you sleep
Our skin works all day to protect itself from damage, but while we’re sleeping it switches into ‘recovery mode’. This is when the skin focuses on intense repair and regeneration (up to three times faster than during the day!). Production of collagen is boosted, harmful free radicals are destroyed and cell damage is repaired.
There are four stages of sleep:
Stage 1: Light sleep – when you are just starting to drift off.
Stage 2: Onset of sleep – when your breathing and heart rate regulate.
Stage 3 & 4: Deepest sleep – when the body is at its most restorative.
It’s been said that between the hours of 9pm to 11pm (this is known as the evening phase), our skin winds down and is more receptive to skincare products. The sleep hormone melatonin also begins to rise, making us sleepy and accelerating and optimising the skin’s repair cycle.
Between 11pm and 4am our cell production can double, even triple. At this stage, the human growth hormone kicks in and works to accelerate the skin’s repair and regeneration. Fresh new cells replace aged cells and the skin’s layers are renewed.
While the skin becomes more active from 6am to 9am, it also becomes more permeable and loses moisture. This is called “transepidermal water loss” (or TEWL). Your skin will be at its driest and once exposed to light can appear red or inflamed. DNA repair is also less active, so be careful because your skin will be more susceptible to UVA/UVB damage.
What you can do to maximise skin renewal
Apply products with active ingredients in the evening as your skin is able to absorb them better e.g. retinol and hyaluronic acid.
Because we naturally lose moisture during the sleep process, it’s very important to maintain healthy levels of cellular hydration topically i.e. always finish your skincare routine with a hydrating moisturiser. Opt for products that include hyaluronic acid to lock in hydration and attract moisture to the surface of the skin and emollient ingredients such as shea butter to nourish. What’s more, by adding products including actives such as vitamins A, B and C, your skin will hydrate from the inside out and release powerful free-radical fighting antioxidants while you sleep.
Come morning, you need soothing products to calm overactive skin, as well as a good SPF and antioxidant-rich product to boost your skin’s defences for the day ahead.
So take our advice and try to slip in as much shut-eye as possible, as it can seriously improve your skin’s condition, keeping it looking younger for longer. They don’t call it beauty sleep for nothing!
