Sleep and Your Skin

“Beauty Sleep” is an actual thing! And getting enough sleep is very important for your skin’s health. A scientific study conducted at the UH Case Medical Center actually showed that lack of sleep can make your beautiful glowing skin, show the characteristics of rapid aging.

The study looked at 60 women between the ages of 30 and 49—with 50% qualifying as poor sleepers according to the Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index. The more aged the subject’s appearance, the higher the number used to assess attributes like fine lines, uneven pigmentation and a looser elasticity. While the average score among well-rested sleepers was 2.2, subjects who were not good sleepers averaged a higher 4.4 rating.

The study also found that an aging appearance wasn’t the only negative outcome. Bad sleepers took longer to recover from sunburns, with more subjects retaining redness over a 72 hour period. A skin barrier stress test showed that the recovery rate for good sleepers was 30% higher than that of their sleepy counterparts. Making us believe that maybe Sleeping Beauty had the ultimate anti-aging regimen after all.

On a serious note though, this is no surprise to us. Those of us involved in regenerative therapies know, it is a fact that, a body at rest is a body in a state of repair and recovery, the same principle no doubt, applies to your skin. The skin uses the hours during sleep to recover from a full day’s onslaught of sun, dirt, free radicals and other pore clogging influences. When you fall asleep, the skin gets a chance to renew itself and improve its condition.

Some of the major effects of a lack of sleep on skin include:

• Increased stress which leads to breakouts – even in adults
• Dark circles under the eyes. While often inherited, lacking sleep makes dark circles even darker
• Increased puffiness around the eyes
• Dull, pale and blotchy appearance

Sleep stimulates a healthy blood flow to the skin and getting enough of it cannot be underestimated. This however, can be discouraging news to those who have no chance of getting a full night’s rest. Take for instance, new moms, insomniacs, students, people working with pressing deadlines, night-shift workers, those of us with more than 1 job, or even the depressed among us. Experts say there are indeed ways to help mitigate phases of poor sleep in our lives. As far as skincare goes, according to the director of the Skin Study Center at UH Case Medical Center, “Moisturizing the skin, adequate water intake and good sun protection habits would help—but not necessarily reverse the effects of poor quality sleep on the skin,” To do that we recommend a little extra help.

A Simple Nighttime Skin Routine

To bring that perkiness to your dull lackluster appearance after a long night awake, try our Rejuvenating Nanopeptide Peptide Complex. It works like caffeine for your skin. One of its dedicated users described its immediate effects as her “‘saving grace’ in the morning after pulling an all-nighter.”

If a high powered peptide complex is a bit too “rich” for your budget, we recommend our simple routine before bedtime. To keep your face smooth, soft and youthful looking no matter of how much sleep you would be getting, begin with a mild cleanser like RG-CELL Rejuvenating Cleanser, with stem cell activators and AFA Algae, which is a natural retinoid. This cleanser exfoliates as it cleans to remove grit, grime, and makeup as well as, add the essential age reversing benefits found in those high performing ingredients. Retinoids do their best work at night and is one of the gold standards when it comes to smoothening wrinkles. Next, apply a toner, ours also contain EGF and these natural retinoids for their age reversing effects. Use it to remove any residual cleanser and to even out your skin tone –then apply RG-CELL’s ceramide moisturizer with sodium hyaluronate to keep delicate areas well hydrated overnight. This regime will not address the reason for your sleepless nights but will give your skin, at least a fighting chance in the battle against sleep deprivation.