Beauty sleep – fact or fiction?

“You have to get your beauty sleep,” is an age-old saying that many of us have heard time and time again, but is there any truth to it?

Sleep plays a vital role in everyone’s life. Whether we get enough of it or not, getting a good night’s sleep unlocks a long list of benefits. Improved concentration, better memory retention, easier weight management, enhanced heart health, and a stronger immune system are just some of the plus-points.

As well as improving your physical wellbeing, your mental health can be influenced by your sleep. But could getting the recommended amount of sleep every night make you more beautiful? Here we answer that all-important question.

Sleep = less sagging

There are so many beauty products out there that help to stimulate collagen production within the skin to leave it plumper and less prone to wrinkles. But instead of parting with your cash, getting a good night’s sleep could just provide the answer.

Sleep offers primetime for your skin to heal, and as the largest organ of the body, skin needs all the time it can get to repair. We’ll let beauty industry executive Kendra Flockhart explain more:

“All day, skin works hard to protect itself from constant attack, but while we’re sleeping skin switches into ‘recovery mode,’ a time of intense repair and regeneration. In fact, at this time, the regeneration process can be up to three times faster than during the day.”

During this repair process, the skin makes new collagen, which actively minimises sagging and prevents wrinkles thanks to its plumping effect.

Wave “goodbye” to dark circles

One sure-fire sign that you’re not getting enough beauty sleep are those dark circles underneath the eyes.

There’s a very simple and perhaps surprising explanation for why this is, with gravity the primary cause of under-eye puffiness. It’s this prolonged exposure to gravity – you’re generally off your feet in a horizontal position when sleeping – that makes under-eye bags and dark circles prominent.

The under-eye fat deposits that diminish with age make the effects of poor sleep and increased gravity even more noticeable. Limited blood flow to the face is another sleep-connected culprit that can make under-eye bags increasingly visible.

Along with sleeping more, staying hydrated throughout the day is essential to limiting that excess baggage.

The glow of a good 8 hours

The picture of health has to be a glowing, bright complexion, and this too can be nurtured during sleep. During sleep, the body sends more blood to the skin to enhance brightness, which is why you’ll look the most refreshed after a good night’s sleep.

Without the right amount of beauty sleep on a daily basis, your skin is more likely to look dull, drab and lifeless.

It’s not just your skin that’ll suffer

So we’ve established that beauty sleep is very much a real thing, with those not getting enough of it increasing the likelihood of a dull, sagging, and dark-circle ridden complexion. Looking at the bigger picture however, it’s not just your skin that will suffer through lack of sleep.

Your hair also receives a welcome nutrient boost come bedtime. Again enhanced blood flow to the skin during this resting phase helps hair to thrive with an increased concentration of vitamins and minerals feeding your follicles while you sleep.

If this blood flow decreases due to lack of sleep, your hair will look and feel weaker due to vitamin and mineral deficiency, and even have trouble growing. The increased stress levels connected to poor sleep can have a more devastating effect, resulting in hair loss.

Want to feel more body confident and give your skin the boost it needs to look and feel fabulous? Shop our conscious skincare range today and nurture a routine that supports your skin from day to night.