A few years ago, our culture used to wear “little sleep” like a badge of honor. “I’m building my future, working hard, running on 4-5 hours of sleep...” – and that would make us rockstars! I must be honest with you, this is a personal struggle for me and as I’m building VREA Cosmetics, I find myself sleeping an average of 5 hours per night. I’m in the working phase of life, trying really hard to get this company off the ground and into a legendary position; but I’m not only running on little sleep, I'm also running myself into the ground so to speak as well, because I can feel how the lack of sleep is affecting my health, skin, well-being, and ability to perform everyday activities. So I really wanted to take a moment and acknowledge the importance of sleep (not only to overall health but beauty as well since we’re on the topic), and make a pledge with you to get more ZZZs.
So, Is Beauty Sleep an Actual Thing?
The answer is YES! We’re talking healthy skin, glowing skin, brighter eyes. And the opposite holds true as well: Lack of quality sleep leads to tired eyes, dark circles, under eye bags and skin lacking luster.
Glowing Skin
Have you noticed that when you have a few “long” nights, when you wake up in the morning the skin looks dull, dehydrated and potentially dry as well? That’s in large part because the collagen in our skin repairs itself during our sleep cycle. Cutting that short will most certainly reflect in the look of skin.
There have been sufficient studies at this point telling us how getting enough sleep every night will promote a brighter skin tone.
Brighter Eyes, Less Puffiness
I think we can all agree that the only bags we want, involve traveling. The end. Fact is, there’s a link between puffiness and lack of sleep (in addition to getting older).
A study I found particularly interesting, showed that: “the faces of sleep-deprived individuals were perceived as having more hanging eyelids, redder eyes, more swollen eyes and darker circles under the eyes. Sleep deprivation also was associated with paler skin, more wrinkles or fine lines, and more droopy corners of the mouth. People also looked sadder when sleep-deprived than after normal sleep, and sadness was related to looking fatigued.”
A Youthful Look
Since sleep deprivation is linked to increased signs of aging (think fine lines, wrinkles and skin laxity), there’s no surprise that more quality sleep can do the opposite. Encourage healthy collagen production, a more radiant and more youthful look.
How Many Hours Make For “Beauty Sleep”?
The “right” amount of sleep varies from person to person (and varies depending on age as well), but the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) recommend adults 18 and older get 7-8 hours of sleep every night. They also estimate that 1 in 3 adults do not get enough sleep.
Now it’s important to consider the quality of sleep as well, not just the quantity; because low-quality sleep, will make you feel tired the next day even if you technically slept 8 hours.
Quality sleep generally equals uninterrupted sleep, and a balance of light, deep and REM sleep. What’s even more interesting, is that skin has its own circadian rhythm as well and getting this level of consistent sleep will effect your transepidermal water loss level and blood flow to the skin.
Can I Catch Up on Sleep?
Good news is that we can. The catch though, is that research suggests we need an average of four days of adequate sleep to make up for one hour of lost sleep.
Loss of sleep is often referred to as “sleep debt” and that’s a great way to look at it. Like most debt, interest has to be paid on the borrowed amloiunt. So one hour of sleep lost, will need another hour + interest (3 hrs) in order for the debt to be “paid in full”.
What Helps With Getting Better Beauty Sleep?
Good news is that we have an entire blog post with helpful tips, you can check out. The tips are definitely worth the lookover.
A few things I’d like to add to that though:
• While we talked about enforcing a strict sleeping routine in that blog post, I’d like to address the “winding down” process as well. About an hour before going to bed, start lowering the volume on the TV & other gadgets around you. A simple daily calendar alert going off, can help you remember to do that. Additionally, start lowering the lights in your home as well.
• Are you responding to sound therapy or smell therapy (or both)? The act of lighting up a candle that smells soothing or turning on a diffuser with some lavender oil will be very helpful. Turning on a sound machine or playing some soothing calming sounds on YouTube (in the background) will help signal the brain that it’s time to start winding down.
• Engage in an evening skincare routine. Ideally they include our incredible eye masks for a full, pampering experience.
• Do something that’s generally regarded as relaxing i.e. taking a warm shower, reading a book, journaling or listening to a guided meditation.
All these things plus all the tips from the previous blog post will genuinely help make a really big difference. We are rooting for you! Sweet dreams.