That’s right — beauty sleep is real. So, forget the idea that it’s better to run on four hours sleep and some coffee. In fact, we all need a solid seven to nine hours of sleep each night… minimum!
Quit tossing and turning. These tips for better sleep can help you get more beauty rest so that you’ll wake up feeling fresh-faced and reinvigorated.
Before we get into how you can improve your sleep, it’s good to know why quality sleep is so important.
First of all, lack of quality sleep can lead to a dull and lacklustre complexion. Poor sleep even affects hair health. That’s because your body increases blood flow while you’re sleeping, which sends important nutrients, vitamins, and minerals to the skin and hair.
Next, melatonin, known for its antioxidant (a.k.a. anti-aging) properties, is produced at night. It’s what makes us sleepy. Plus, levels of the stress hormone cortisol fall during sleep, helping skin repair damage done during the day. Not to mention, the body makes more collagen while you’re sleeping, which helps minimises fine lines.
Finally, more human growth hormone is released which increases muscle mass and strengthens the skin.
During the day skin cells are in defense mode. They have to protect themselves from UV exposure, free radical damage, and more. When the sun goes down, your mind and body switch into active regeneration, repairing daytime damage and increasing substances that help the skin with protection and renewal.
So, how do we make sure we’re getting our beauty sleep for all these benefits? Let’s find out.
Just like a morning routine helps you feel ready for the day, a nighttime routine helps you settle down to sleep.
Set up a nighttime routine that you do every night at the same time every night. Have a warm bath, dim the lights in your house, relax with a face mask, and read a book from your bedside table.
Over time, these routines become automatic. Just make sure your nighttime routine is full of relaxing activities. So, skip the screens and don’t exercise just before bed. Cue your body to slow down and drift into sleep.
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The conditions in your bedroom have a huge impact on how to sleep better.
Firstly, you’ll want to keep your bedroom cool. Our body temperature naturally rises during sleep. It’s why you’ll find it harder to fall asleep in a room that’s too hot than in one that’s too cold. The optimal temperature for better sleep is about 20 degrees C.
You’ll also want to shut out as much light as possible. To avoid throwing off your circadian rhythms, make sure it feels like nighttime when it’s nighttime. That means dimming the lights in your house when the sun goes down and using blackout curtains for a midnight feel.
Noise also negatively affects sleep. Earplugs can help if you live in a busy city or there’s construction next door.
The main idea is to make your bedroom cool, quiet, dark, and as relaxing as possible.
If you’re going to invest in anything to improve sleep, invest in a better mattress and pillow. We spend over a quarter of our lives sleeping. And since it’s so important to our health, a high-quality mattress and pillow is a must.
A firm mattress is usually ideal to help relieve back pain and the right pillow depends on your favourite sleeping position. Side sleepers typically prefer a thicker pillow while back sleepers like a soft, thin pillow.
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The hours we spend asleep are some of our most production and revitalizing. Certain areas of your brain work their hardest as we sleep and our skin is best able to repair and regenerate at night. Sleep might be the missing piece of your beauty routine.
Overall, figuring out how to improve and knowing how to sleep well is largely in our control. Once you rule out any sleep disorders (which could indeed be the issue), it’s easy to make sure we’re getting our beauty rest every night.
