Beauty Secrets: The Key To Beauty Sleep

Beauty slumber, a concept linking rejuvenating sleep to enhancing one’s appearance, holds the key to unlocking hidden beauty for everyone. Beyond reducing breakouts and under-eye puffiness, to promoting cell regeneration and boosting the immune system, a restful night’s sleep embodies a pathway to both inner and outer beauty. Dive into the essence of beauty rest and discover the ways to enhance your sleep routine – along with the advantages it brings.

According to the Sleep Foundation, sleep plays a key role in maintaining and repairing the entire body, from the brain and immune system to metabolism and even the skin. From power nap to deep sleep, these benefits are accredited to the restorative processes which occur after you fall asleep. 

Sleep occurs in four cyclical stages, from light sleep, such as naps, to REM sleep, when you dream. REM sleep is the most restorative form of sleep which adults should have about two hours of per night. Beauty sleep isn’t merely about sleeping; its power lies in the quality of your rejuvenating rest.

Sleep Hygiene

To beautify your sleep, practice healthy sleep hygiene. From sleep environment to behavior, good hygiene can include a sleep schedule, bedtime routine, or a clean body. For example, you may start your night with a long, heated bath as you unwind your mind with the Headspace app. Hygiene may look like turning on a noise machine, massaging your body, or eating a good dinner. 

The key is to facilitate an environment or behaviors to promote uninterrupted sleep. Healthy hygiene before bed has both mental and physical benefits, as an invitation for your body to wind down after the day ends. Sleep hygiene is the first step in beautifying your sleep, to allow yourself to have enough time to dream.  

Nightly Skin Care Routine

Great! You’re one step closer to beauty sleep. 

Next, develop a nighttime skin care routine to help wake up to well-rested, healthy skin. After you cleanse and tone, add a retinol to your nightly routine. Retinol, a skin care ingredient with anti-aging and other properties, is best applied at night for the highest physical impact. In addition to retinol, beauty sleep can help prevent breakouts, even your skin tone, and promote faster-healing skin.

Water Intake

You’re in the best sleep position for bed after nightly hygiene and skin care, and then  — Oh no! You have to use the bathroom. It is not uncommon to feel thirsty before bed. In fact, a study shows the tendency to drink more water in the evening may be a natural part of the sleep-wake cycle. 

You may think water intake right before bed will help avoid dehydration, after all, you want to wake up to the most hydrated skin. However, excess water intake may cause nighttime bathroom breaks which interfere with sleep. As a result, shorter sleep cycles can lead to more dehydration and less beauty sleep. 

According to the Sleep Foundation, although recommendations vary, adults should drink between 2.5 and 4.5 liters of water a day depending on their body weight and level of activity. The ideal is to remain hydrated throughout the day so you do not need to drink excessive amounts of water at bedtime, but still benefit from water as a step to beauty.

Sleep Position

Sleep like a baby — on your back. 

Sleeping face-up is the ideal sleep position to help prevent wrinkles and acne caused by pillow friction. In addition, you do not want the pillow case to absorb your nightly skincare routine or,  in return, your face to absorb the hair oil on your pillow. Avoid as much face to pillow contact as possible or just replace your cotton for a silk pillowcase to improve skin smoothness, radiance, and hydration. 

Midnight Snack

If you want to eat before bed or you wake up during the night, you may reach for a midnight snack. As the final key to beauty sleep, try to avoid salty food late at night. Foods high in salt can cause you to retain fluid and increase your blood pressure, and as a result, you may wake up to puffier skin. Instead, try tart cherries, a fruit rich in melatonin, which is proven to promote better and longer (beauty) sleep.