8 Tips for Better Beauty Sleep
We know, the tips and to-dos are endless when it comes to getting being your most beautiful. But clearly there are some top-hitters. Our favorite one? After water, sleep - come on! In addition to reenergizing, your body removes dead blood cells and other toxins and performs a ton of other glorious regenerative processes while you're sleeping. Without it - you're looking at waking up with skin imbalances, dehydration, redness, wrinkles and even a higher likelihood of breakouts.
You likely knew that though - right? We're not really here to tell you that sleep is important. We're here to nag and remind you about the fact that it is 100% quality over quantity on this point. Give me 6 hours of glorious sleep over 8 hours of crap any night (except, maybe not really. I'm ready to claw someone's eyes out if I wake up on less than 7 hours. So, just give me 9 hours of wonderful sleep and we can call it even.)
How can you achieve the deep, quality sleep your body craves each night? Here are 8 good tips.
1. Sleep On Your Back
When most people sleep, they tend to lie on their sides, pressing their faces, chests, and stomachs into their pillows and blankets. Though it may be the most comfortable, side sleeping can lead to premature aging by allowing those pillows and blankets to pull on your skin. As a result, sleep creases and wrinkles deepen.
When there is too much pulling on your skin, it loses some of its elasticity. Sleeping on your back is the best way to avoid wrinkles caused by excessive pulling. You want to keep your skin as free of contact as possible. Treat your skin gently and it will stand the test of time.
2. Drop the blue - and take in some of that RED LIGHT:
We all know that blue light, the kind that emanates from our phones, computers, and TVs can kill melatonin production and so it is horrible for sleep. On the flip-side though - research apparently shows that red light wavelengths can help stimulate melatonin production. So drop the blue for the sultry-er red here ladies ... seems counterintuitive color-wise! But apparently, it works.
3. Use a Humidifier
Hydration
is what keeps skin buoyant and fresh. But when you spend all night fast asleep, you aren’t hydrating by drinking water. As a result, your skin loses vital moisture.
To help prevent skin dehydration, run a humidifier in your bedroom. Humidifiers work by taking water from a series of chambers and pushing it into the air, making that air less dry and, therefore, gentler on your skin. For the best hydration results, turn on the humidifier after you apply a night cream.
4. Create the Right Environment
Get all zen and blissed out for bedtime with sleepy meditation music (note to self: if you're playing it via your phone, make sure it's locked!), a spritz of pillow spray designed to remedy sleeplessness (lavender's a classic) and some deep belly breathing. This quick combo will help sedate you in no time and even if you manage five hours instead of eight — proper sound sleep will bring on bright eyes and bouncy skin come morning. Winning.
5. Invest in All the Right Sleepytime Accoutrements
Waking up with a sore back every morning or experiencing poor sleep quality? Invest in a good-quality mattress that provides the best back support and keeps your spine aligned. Therefore, avoid those that are too soft.
To add to the comfort, ditch cotton pillowcases and go for those made of silk to avoid waking up with pillow marks, or “sleep wrinkles”, on your face.
Wear a silk eye mask to restrict light to promote beauty sleep. It will also help your skin retain moisture around your eye area, leaving it hydrated.
Additionally, block out sounds that may hamper your sleep with earplugs. A white noise machine and pillow spray might also lull you to a good night’s sleep.
6. Lower the Temperature
At night, your body’s natural temperature declines. Keeping the temperature in your bedroom low is good for both your metabolism and your blood flow. This is important because improving your blood flow helps oxygenate your skin, keeping it plump and even-toned for the day ahead. Keeping a cool temperature in your bedroom will also help reduce redness in your skin.
You should be keeping your bedroom between 60 and 67 degrees Fahrenheit for a perfect night’s sleep. Why?? Because researchers say this range lets your body redirect energy that would normally be used for maintaining temperature into other repair and rejuvenation functions. All those regenerative processes - this definitely keeps them efficient.
7. Go to Bed and Wake Up at the Same Time Every Night
To get the ultimate beauty sleep you deserve, go to bed and wake up at the same time every single day. That beautiful body of yours will develop a natural sleep cycle - your body’s circadian rhythm.
Just choose an eight-hour block of time for sleep and stay with it. Your dreamy schedule may be 11:00 p.m. to 7:00 a.m. Or if you're an early bird, maybe 10:00 p.m. to 6:00 a.m. Either way - just stay consistent.
Also - this goes for the weekends too. You have to always go to sleep and wake up at the same time. It can be tempting to stay up later than normal and sleep in when you have the chance, but this can disrupt your sleep cycle.
xoxo lovelies