Revealed: The Truth Behind Beauty Sleep!

No wonder Sleeping Beauty was so beautiful, she got to sleep for a hundred years! All jokes aside, the urban myth we like to call beauty sleep may not be true (you won’t become beautiful by sleeping), but there is some truth behind it. In the following article, we will discuss what this phrase means, how to create optimal conditions for good night’s sleep, and are the benefits of getting enough quality rest.

What is “beauty sleep”?

According to the Oxford Dictionary, beauty sleep is “sleep considered to be sufficient to keep one looking young and beautiful”. To expand on it, this means that your body and skin repair themselves during sleep. While you are sleeping, old skin cells are being replaced by new ones, and this process can’t be completed unless you get enough sleep.

What is Enough Sleep?

How long should you sleep to wake up beautiful and refreshed? The usual advice is seven to eight hours. But this doesn’t mean that sleeping eight hours one night a week is enough. You should sleep long enough to feel refreshed every night. If you’re regularly getting less than six hours of sleep, it doesn’t just mean you’ll look worse for the wear, it also poses a risk to your health and ability to focus.

Many benefits of beauty sleep

The restorative power of getting enough sleep every night is incredible. Here’s what it can do for your appearance:

• Minimizing wrinkles: Your skin produces collagen while you’re sleeping which keeps it less prone to wrinkling and prevents sagging. Getting less than six hours of sleep, on the other hand, can make your skin dryer and make fine lines and wrinkles more visible.
• Giving your skin a healthy glow: A glowing complexion can’t be achieved by depriving yourself of sleep. On the contrary, your blood flow increases while you are sleeping which results in a healthy glow and rosy cheeks.
• Reducing eye puffiness: Dark circles and bags under the eyes are the most obvious signs of being tired and sleep-deprived. Enough shut-eye is the best cure.
• Healthier hair: Sleep deprivation can also affect your hair, causing breakage, damage, and hair loss. Eight hours of sleep will give your hair follicles enough nutrients to remain strong and well-protected.
• Making skincare products more efficient: Beauty products are far more effective when they are applied on rested skin with consistent blood flow.

Now that you’re aware of the meaning behind the phrase and the benefits of beauty sleep, it is time to discover how to get it.

1. Create an Optimal Sleeping Environment

Sleeping in a hot noisy room will not help you get a good night’s rest. It is important to keep your bedroom chilly (65 degrees Fahrenheit), dark, quiet, and electronics-free. The air quality also plays a huge role and this is the main reason why you should invest in a quality air purifier for mold, pollen, and/or allergens. Your bedroom should be well-ventilated and the air shouldn’t be polluted.

2. Get comfortable

Your bed, linen, and pillows are far more important than you think. Your mattress should be comfortable, but it should also be made out of non-toxic ingredients. The same goes for the linen and the pillows. Pillowcases should be made out of soft organic cotton.

3. Improve your before-bed habits

Netflix and chill right before you go to bed? Not a good idea. It is best to refrain from stimulating tasks such as watching TV before going to bed. Instead, you can read a book or try to meditate. Having a cup of decaffeinated tea is also useful, but heavy meals are out of the question.

4. Help your body help you

Help your skin by cleaning your face properly before you go to bed. Invest in a quality night cream which will aid in skin repair. Since skin is very receptive to beauty products while we sleep, you can also apply an overnight mask once or twice a week.

As you see, beauty sleep is much more than a myth: it is a set of guidelines that can help your skin repair itself and improve your appearance, so don’t ever skimp on quality pillow time.