You’ve probably heard the phrase “beauty sleep” at least several times in your life. While sleeping your way to beauty seems too good to be true, slumber is nature’s most powerful beauty treatment and the closest thing we have to the fountain of youth.
The truth of the matter is that the state of your skin and the quality of your sleep are closely connected: the restful amount of sleep you get reflects on your face and makes the difference between a tired and worn-out appearance and a plump and glowing complexion.
This is because your skin has its own internal clock, scientifically known as Circadian Rhythm, that tells your body when to perform certain activities, including DNA repair, cellular energy production and cellular detox. These three all important skin-repairing functions occur all day long but they peak at night when blow flood to the skin is increased in order to accelerate the healing process.
Lack of sleep cuts this restorative process short and this inevitably leads to the formation of visible signs of aging. Scientific research has shown that poor sleepers have twice as many wrinkles and dark spots than women who get a solid eight hours of sleep each night.
On top of it, lack of sleep is also well-known for causing premature sagging of the skin. Sagging, just like wrinkle formation, is caused by a lack of collagen, the protein that keeps skin firm and maximizes water retention, which is key to a naturally plump and supple appearance. The production of collagen is accelerated at night, which makes sleep the best skin plumping treatment available to us.
But this is just the tip of the iceberg because lack of sleep also causes a decrease in blood flow to your face and neck, which results in a dull and lackluster appearance and puffy eyes and dark circles, two common telltale sign of exhaustion.
Finally, beauty sleep is also an excellent remedy to treat stubborn acne and breakouts. Eight hour of uninterrupted sleep keeps the production of the stress hormones glucocorticoids, which are well-known for triggering acne flare-ups, low, minimizing the chances of a relapse.
To maximize the effectiveness of your beauty sleep, it is important to keep a regular bedtime schedule as the slightest change may throw off your body clock. I turn off my computer, as well as all other electronic devices, at least an hour before I go to sleep and ensure my bedroom is always dark and cool before hitting the pillow. In the morning, I inevitably wake up to a glowing and plumper complexion and am always energized to boot!
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