Here’s the ultimate guide on how you and your skin can benefit from sleep and how you can start your journey to glowing skin.
We’re talking about:
- Why sleep is so important
- What impact our sleep has on our skin and health
- Why sleep issues occur
- How to sleep better
- Our top-to-toe guide to sleep relaxation – the Evolve Bedtime Ritual
If you’ve ever struggled to get to sleep, you’ll know how much of an impact it can have over every element of your life and health.
Emotionally, concentration, energy and mood are all impacted. And physically, the signs of sleep deprivation can show themselves in poor skin health, eye bags, inflammation, and an increase in skin conditions.
Sleep is when our body does its best work – healing and regenerating us ready to face the day ahead. It’s also when much of our skin regime is most effective.
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But no skincare, regardless of how powerful it is, can do its best if we’re not getting rest.
So, in this article we’re talking about what can affect our sleep, and what we can do to support our slumber for the best health inside and out.
WHY IS SLEEP SO IMPORTANT?
Sleep is as important for your health as regular exercise and a balanced diet. In fact, during sleep your body heals itself and restores chemical balance.
Humans need on average seven to nine hours of sleep to function optimally, but just falling to six hours can lead to negative impacts (hello, late night Netflix binge!).
Up to 30% of us report not getting enough sleep on a regular basis. That’s a lot of grumpy, people around.
Our skin cells are rejuvenated and healed during sleep. When you consider that skin is the largest organ in the human body, you can understand how quickly a lack of sleep could impact our appearance.
Even younger people will notice that without sleep we are more prone to fine lines, slower healing, and poor skin tone. Putting it bluntly, we look older, because our skin isn’t doing what it needs to to heal.
Conversely a great night sleep can lead to:
- Increased concentration and productivity
- Lower risk of heart disease
- Can help to prevent depression.
- Stronger immune system.
- Reduced inflammation
The importance of sleep really boils down to maintaining your physical and mental health. It is a necessity that you need every day and helps you to be the best that you can be.
Healthy sleep allows the brain to properly function allowing you to be alert and rejuvenated when you wake up.
"This cream feels very luxurious and smells heavenly, which is lovely when you use it just before bed. My skin feels very nourished."
Louise - Evolve Organic Beauty customer
WHAT IMPACT CAN LACK OF SLEEP HAVE ON YOU AND YOUR SKIN?
Sleep is cyclical. We each have distinct phases that we go through that contribute to our overall ‘good night sleep’ guide.
Whilst we’re snoozing, we move through three stages that make up our rest cycles – and allow time for the nightly restoration of our skin.
PHASE ONE:
During this phase the pituitary gland produces ‘somatotropin’, the human growth hormone, which contributes to the maintenance of healthy skin.
Without it your skin cannot repair itself from environmental stressors and day-to-day life and this shows itself with signs of premature ageing.
PHASE TWO:
About four hours before we sleep, we start to produce melatonin, which tells our body it’s time to rest and during the second phase, the levels of melatonin continue to increase.
Melatonin supports the skin as an antioxidant that helps protect the skin from damaging free radicals (environmental aggressors that cause damage).
PHASE THREE:
During the final stage we enter REM sleep (Rapid Eye Movement) and your cortisol levels begin to reduce along with skin temperature.
Cortisol the hormone that wakes us up, but also fuels stress. As we cool down, collagen production increases.
Collagen is the building block of skin health, found throughout the body. It’s responsible for elasticity and suppleness. Good sleep that promotes collagen production allows the skin to make its strongest recovery of the night.
On average we’ll move through three sleep phases a night, and the interruption of even one can reset the sleep process.
Learn more about nighttime skincare here >
Other ways a lack of sleep can hinder your health include:
Risk of Diabetes
Lack of sleep can affect your body’s release of insulin - a blood sugar lowering hormone. Those who struggle to get enough sleep tend to have higher blood sugar levels and an increased risk of type 2 diabetes.
Dull Skin
When you miss out on sleep, or don’t get as much as you need, your cortisol levels can increase. Cortisol triggers inflammation which then breaks down proteins found in the skin. These proteins are often what keeps skin ‘glowing’, meaning that increased cortisol levels can lead to dull skin.
Dry Skin
If you are experiencing lower levels of sleep, then you may be experiencing a skin imbalance. Lack of sleep leads to lower PH levels in the skin - causing an imbalance. This can cause the skin to stop producing the amount of moisture needed to hydrate the skin, eventually leading to drier skin.
Eyes
Most of us are used to frantically trying to fix dark under eye circles or puffiness after a late night, but do you know why this happens? When you’re tired your blood vessels increase in size leading to more prominent dark circles. Not getting enough sleep can also result in poor water balance leading to the appearance of ‘puffy’ eyes.
Ageing
Sleep deprivation directly applies stress onto your body. This can change the quantity and integrity of collagen in your skin. Collagen is important for the elasticity of your skin, so when this is broken down the skin can show more noticeable signs of ageing by becoming thinner and losing firmness.
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WHY WE STRUGGLE TO SLEEP?
Lots of things can impact our sleep but particularly:
- Pregnancy: Discomfort and hormone shifts can wreak havoc on our rest
- Stress and Anxiety: If your mind is racing and you’re flooded with cortisol its very hard to switch off
- Menopause and Perimenopause: Hot flushes and anxiety cause insomnia in up to 75% of women
- New baby: Feeding regimes, restless babies and healing bodies cause issues for up to three years after a baby’s birth
- Hormonal issues: A lack of melatonin production, for example following a long trip can cause sleep disruption
- Pain: Chronic pain can impact sleep
- Being a teenager: Teens have a naturally impacted sleep cycle that push them up to two hours out of their circadian rhythm
- Being too hot
- Exercise too close to bed
HOW TO SLEEP BETTER
Laura, our founder, and chief skin expert is a huge advocate for the benefits of great sleep (and a mum of three so she knows a bit about a lack of rest).
Her advice has been hugely beneficial to loads of our team, so we’re sharing it here:
- Stop Blue Light Exposure:
Switching your phone off an hour before bed can reduce blue light exposure. Too much exposure can prevent the release of melatonin, the sleep hormone.
This can either stop you getting to sleep or in some cases may stop you from having a restful night. By turning off your phone an hour or two before you go to sleep you are limiting your blue light exposure, which might be the answer to you getting a peaceful night.
- Reduce Stress in the Evening:
It’s simply not practical to suggest we can avoid stress but reducing it after 6pm has clear sleep benefits.
Avoid the news at nighttime for a start. We are surrounded by news stories on our phones, televisions and papers, and quite often these can be deemed as difficult or upsetting.
These stories could trigger our flight or fight responses. These responses are designed to keep us alert in case we potentially have to evade a dangerous situation, meaning it could cause us to sleep more lightly. Maybe you could try avoiding the news for an hour or so before bedtime and instead focus on more relaxing activities such as reading.
- Turn off work:
We’re all prone to working a bit late these days, but if you’re brain is in work mode, it cannot switch straight to rest mode
- Have a bath:
But watch the temperature. Your bath needs to be hot, but not so much that it strips the skin. When you get out, DON’T bundle yourself straight into your PJs. The body temperature drop that comes is what triggers the need to sleep. It can be beneficial to have your evening bath an hour or so before bedtime to avoid overheating once in bed.
Consider a bath with magnesium bath salts. Magnesium is critical in good sleep and helps ease issues like restless leg syndrome.
- Get Comfy:
Overall, perhaps the best advice is to make sure you’re comfy!
Before you sleep make sure to rearrange your pillows, blankets or whatever you need to feel comfortable throughout the night. This will also be a good opportunity to make sure your room is at the right temperature.
Between 18-20 degrees celsius is deemed to be the best temperature for a good night’s sleep, so if that means opening a window slightly or adding a throw onto your bed to adjust then go for it!
- Try Box Breathing
Find a rectangle – perhaps a window or a picture. Imagine your eyes running up the side for four seconds. Hold for two then breathe out for six seconds. Hold for two then start again. This helps switch the brain from fight or flight, into rational and the body relaxes.
- Try a sleep story
Calms has some great sleep stories. Enjoy your bath, Spritz your pillow with a sleep spray, then close your eyes and enjoy a good night story. It’s a great way to prevent overthinking.
- Don’t Get Obsessed
It’s so hard to watch the clock tick down, but the more you obsess the less you sleep. Instead, read a book or take a gentle stroll around the garden with a herbal tea.
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THE EVOLVE SLEEP RITUAL
- Start with a cleanse
Cleanse your skin with an oil or balm cleanser first to gently and effectively remove the traces of the day. Enjoy the ritual of massaging the silky balm into your skin before applying warm water to transform it into a rich creamy milk. Rinse away.
2. Bathe beautifully
Step into a bath loaded with magnesium salts and aromatic essences to unwind body and mind. Avoid scrubs at bedtime – they start the heart pumping and wake you. Simply breathe and chill.
- Finish your skin regime
Gently massage from top-to-toe with a body oil to aid cell rejuvenation. This is especially important if you’ve stretch marks which are more likely to improve when cared for at night.
- Feet focus
Slather your feet in a rich body butter and cover with cotton socks for an overnight softener that works to remove dead skin and cracking without discomfort
- Face forward
Grab a gua sha and carry out your night-time skincare regime. Pay particular attention to the eye area and lips. Moisturise and massage in a nourishing and hydrating nighttime moisturiser such as Nightly Renew Facial Cream that is designed to renew and detoxify skin while you sleep. It contains Peony Extract to detoxify skin and add vitality to skin cells, as well as Bidens Pilosa - a bio-retinol that is especially effective in reducing the appearance of fine lines and wrinkles, and best used at bedtime.
- Spritz and breathe
Our Tranquility Essence Pillow Spray is a must-have to help you create a relaxing and calming environment in your home and help improve your sleep naturally.
We have used a tranquil blend of Lavender, Bergamot, Ylang Ylang and three other essential oils which aids relaxation, helping to ease your nerves and clear your mind from the stresses and strains modern life can place upon it.
We love using two sprays onto our pillows around ten minutes before we go to bed, to help us enjoy a peaceful night.
It can be difficult to take care of yourself especially with the recent changes in your daily life. Sleeping better and improving the quality of your sleep you get will better many aspects of your life including how you function at work, your mental wellbeing and physical health as well as how healthy your skin is.
COMING SOON: OUR NEW NIGHTTIME FACIAL RITUAL WORKSHOP!
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