The Truth Behind Beauty Sleep

Many of us have jokingly used the excuse, “I need to get my beauty rest,” to justify going to bed early. As it turns out, there is truth behind the term beauty sleep. Studies have shown that how well you sleep can determine how good your skin looks the next day. When you’re sleep deprived, there are some obvious signs that can appear on your face, and they definitely aren’t pretty. Here are some ways that lack of sleep can affect your face and how you can make yourself appear more rested even after a night of tossing and turning.

How Sleep Affects Your Face

Brace yourself. Here are some of the ways a poor night’s rest can influence how your face looks the next day:

• Red or swollen eyes
• Hanging eyelids
• Dark Circles
• Paler skin
• Increased wrinkles/fine lines
• Droopy mouth corners

Yikes. It has also been shown that sleep deprivation could cause your skin to age faster and can lower the skin’s ability to recover from sun exposure. Because your skin can look paler after a restless night, blemishes will also be more pronounced. Long-term lack of sleep would also lead to sagging of the skin.

Combat the Signs of Fatigue

Don’t start stressing yet! We all go through periods when we may have difficulty sleeping, especially if you’re a new parent or are going through a particularly stressful time. There are some simple ways that can help renew brightness and radiance to your skin and help you look rested and feel more confident. Instantly brighten your skin by starting your morning with an exfoliating scrub that can help to minimize those fine lines and eliminate dead, dull skin.

The Secret’s in the Eyes

We all know that our eyes can easily give away our age. Target eye issues that accompany lack of sleep: place chilled green or black tea bags or cooling cucumbers over your eyes for 10 minutes to fight any swelling and overall redness. Understanding the art of color correction will also help conceal those pesky under eye circles. Since dark circles are usually more purple than red, use concealers with more yellow hues.

The Bottom Line

Everyone should be getting adequate sleep, not just for beauty reasons, but for overall health. Sleep can enhance your beauty and improve your vitality and internal health. Make a pact with yourself to get eight hours of sleep every night!

Love,

Gen