The average woman in the UK spends over £480 a year on skincare and beauty products*. But that can all be in vain if you’re not getting enough of the overnight restorative benefits of sleep.
Below are four key ways that a lack of sleep can seriously salt your face game:
HORMONES
While we sleep, HGH (human growth hormone) levels surge. This hormone is responsible for accelerating your skin’s repair and regenerating your body’s cells. There is also some evidence that skin cells regenerate more quickly at night time than during the day. So putting off bedtime in favour of one more drink or one more episode deprives your body and cells of the overnight restorative power of sleep.
MOISTURE
A lack of sleep leads to unbalanced skin and a lowering of its moisture levels which can cause a dull and dry complexion, redness and breakouts. If that’s not enough a lack of sleep can lower your skin’s PH levels, stripping it of that youthful glow.
DARK CIRCLES & PUFFINESS
While we sleep, our body’s cells regenerate. This is especially true at skin level. So if you intend to collapse into bed at 2am, or pull an all-nighter, it will probably be visible the next morning. This is because a lack of sleep can cause the blood vessels under the thin skin of the eyes to dilate, creating dark circles.
Lying on your stomach can also make dark circles worse, allowing liquid to pool in the under-eye area during the night and causing puffiness by the morning. If while reading this you’ve realised you’re currently sporting a nice pair of undereye bags, try soaking two green tea bags and placing them on the area of puffiness for five minutes.
ALCO-SLEEP
There are four stages of sleep and it is in the rapid eye movement (REM) phase that the most skin regeneration and repair occurs. Alcohol is known as an REM sleep inhibitor because, when consumed before bed, it reduces the amount of this restorative, rejuvenating sleep you’ll get, leading to crepe-y, dry and sallow skin. The more you drink, the more pronounced the effects will be. So if you want to wake up looking #glowing, then avoid those gin martinis.
So if you’ve tried every moisturiser out there, every serum under the sun and every mask known to (wo)man, you may need to start a little closer to home. In the bedroom the be precise.
* Fragrance Direct, Commissioned Survey - 2018
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NB: This article is for information purposes, and does not constitute medical advice. If you are experiencing difficulty sleeping, or have symptoms which prevent you from sleeping well, you should contact your medical practitioner.