How Sleep Affects Your Complexion
Beauty Sleep - it's real!
In our culture today, youthful, ageless skin is one of the most coveted elements of anyone’s appearance—for both men and women. There are a lot of different factors that are involved with achieving great skin, and sleep is one of them. Sleep is a crucial element for the body’s overall health and wellbeing. Sleep is when our bodies repair tissues, synthesize hormones, grow muscle, and revitalize. There’s a reason why it’s called “beauty sleep”! For optimal health, it’s recommended to get 7-8 hours of sleep per night, while that amount can vary by individual.
Bad Skin
While sleep is a necessary component for skin care, how you sleep can also be a contributing factor to bad skin. For example, if you aren’t cleansing your face before you go to sleep at night, it can lead to clogged pores from all the of the dirt and oil your face accumulated throughout the day. These clogged pores can lead to pimples and acne. This is especially the case if you wear makeup throughout the day. Not cleansing and moisturizing before bed can lead to skin conditions like excessively oily skin, dry skin, or flaky skin depending on your skin type.
Sleeping Position
And did you know that your sleeping position can also contribute to premature wrinkles? If you sleep on your side or stomach with your face pressed against the pillow or mattress most of the night, you may be getting wrinkles faster than if you slept on your back. This is because constant pressure in the same location of the face leads to the loss of elasticity and collagen in that area, which eventually results in fine lines and then deep wrinkles.
To give your face the best chance of having great skin, be sure to get plenty of rest at night and try to sleep on your back rather than your face or stomach.