What’s the Best Thing for Your Skin? Sleep More


Beauty sleep is an idea as old as time. It seems like one of those quaint little adages that your mom tells you, like “a stitch in time saves nine” or “one in the hand is worth two in the bush.” Crazily, that advice to sleep more for good skin is getting some serious scientific backing. It’s not only old school skin experts who are in on the idea of beauty sleep, now sleep scientists are finally figuring out what mom knew all along: a full eight hours is the closest thing you can get to the fountain of youth.

 

Not only that, there are studies to suggest that sleep can help with problems as averse as acne, bruising, and inflammation. So what are the ways that sleep helps your body be its best self? We compiled a list of the very real benefits you’ll see after scheduling nightly amounts of good sleep.

Prevent Wrinkles

This might sound crazy, but it’s true. Good sleep stops the formation of wrinkles. It has to do with the body’s production of collagen, a naturally occurring hormone that our body excretes as we sleep. Not only does it prevent sagging, but it also helps your skin not dry out and create the laugh lines and wrinkles commonly associated with old age.

“Skin makes new collagen when you sleep, That’s part of the repair process,” says Patricia Wexler, MD, a dermatologist in New York.

Sleeping seven hours a night could lead to half as many wrinkles as someone who sleeps only five, and the amount of hydration in your skin will make the wrinkles less pronounced. It’s a strong case for a night of good sleep.

Get Your Glow Up

Not only does it prevent wrinkles, but it also helps to give your skin a glowing sheen that can only exist in the well rested. This has to do with blood flow to your skin, which increases as you sleep. Increased blood flow means that your skin can repair itself easier, which means that your skin looks less ashen when you wake up well rested.

“Sleep deprivation causes a decrease in blood flow to the skin surrounding your face,” says Michael Breus, who has a PHD in sleep science. “Skin becomes dull, and you don’t get those rosy cheeks anymore.”

Avoid Puffy Eye Syndrome

Everyone knows about bags under your eyes after a night of restless sleep, but now we actually know why people look that way. It has to do with hydration, a lower hydration level means that the skin area around your eyes will try to retain more water, leaving you puffy and irritated. And those dark rings around your eyes? That has to do with a decreased blood flow, which doesn’t allow blood to circulate as well throughout the rest of the body. When you sleep more, your body naturally alleviates these symptoms, leaving you looking fresh, but even more importantly feeling fresh.

So if you’re looking for the next big natural beauty cure, look no further than on top of your pillow. The solution is closer than you think, and the results better than you can possibly imagine. Look good, feel good, be good.


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