The Truth About Beauty Sleep

In today’s fast-paced society, there’s always another item to cross off the to-do list, one more deadline to hit, one more chore to get out of the way, one more child to put to bed, or one more email to respond to. The tasks are endless and when we do finally get some time to slow down, we often spend it with friends and family, leaving a decent night’s sleep at the bottom of the list of priorities. But how does this lack of quality sleep affect our appearance and overall health?

The Effects of Skipping Out on Shuteye

Too little sleep can wreak havoc on nearly every aspect of our lives, from causing irritability and lack of concentration to derailing a diet, disturbing healthy hormone levels, or causing permanent damage well below the skin’s surface. In sum, sleep is essential to most beauty goals. In other words, beauty sleep isn’t a myth.

While it’s still early to know for certain, studies on mice are suggesting the brain clears out waste during sleep, reducing the plaque buildup often associated with Alzheimer’s. Similarly, skin performs a deep clean during deep sleep, helping to reverse damage caused by environmental elements (think smog), stress, and more. It is well proven that at night, skin restores its lipid barrier, which protects skin from external factors that may damage collagen and elastin stores in the middle and lower layers of the skin. At this time, the body also produces higher levels of human growth hormones (HGH), which spur cell renewal for smoother, healthier skin by the morning. It’s worth noting as well that over time, a lack of sleep leads to a buildup of cortisol, the stress hormone, which leads to increased collagen degradation and premature aging of the skin.

And according to a recent study out of Sweden, the effects are immediately noticeable, with participants claiming they felt those lacking sleep appeared ill and they were less likely to want to socialize with them. This suggests that aside from health and beauty detriments, a lack of Zzz’s may also negatively affect our personal and professional relationships.

How to Protect Your Beauty Sleep

While there are certainly ways to fake a night of beauty sleep with makeup tricks or cucumber masks, the focus needs to be brought back to getting enough sleep to allow the skin and body to heal itself in the first place.  

To those work-addicted hustlers in their 20s or 30s reading this, stop pushing sleep to the weekends. This habitual cycle of sleep deprivation will show over time and may actually make colleagues believe your appearance to be a reflection of your perceived inability to keep up with the pace. In fact, some physicians note that following medical aesthetic treatments, patients have reported an increase in respect and compensation at work, while 49% of consumers seeking an aesthetic procedure did so to remain competitive in the workplace, according to a American Society of Plastic Surgeons survey. In other words, keeping regular work hours that allow for a restful night of sleep may benefit your career over the long haul.

As for treating damage already done to otherwise healthy collagen levels, consider a night cream that will assist in collagen restoration paired with an anti-aging treatment plan for wrinkle reduction. These anti-aging treatments utilize advanced radio frequency technology to deliver heat below the skin’s surface, kickstarting skin’s natural collagen production cycle to soften and smoothen fine lines and wrinkles while restoring skin’s youthful-looking glow. Consider it like a kick of caffeine for collagen production.

To learn more about the benefits of anti-aging wrinkle-reduction treatments, locate a certified treatment provider near you using the search field below.