What is the first thing you do when your skin isn’t looking as healthy and radiant as you’d like? Maybe you start by looking for products with ingredients that promise to rejuvenate, hydrate, and even out your skin tone…what if that is acting a bit prematurely, though? Could there be another, simpler solution? Yes! The crucial ingredient? Sleep.
Sleep
It’s a good idea to examine your sleep schedule to figure out how many hours of sleep you are averaging a night. Ideally, seven to nine hours of sleep is optimal for physical and mental performance. Lack of sleep is prevalent, especially in adults, with 1/3 of the population getting less than the recommended hours. If you’re falling short, it may be worth reworking your sleep schedule, especially if you’re getting five or fewer hours; this may be the root cause of different skin issues.
Acne
Have you tried every possible acne medication at the drugstore, and still, those pesky pimples seem to pop right back up at the most undesired times? A study done on individuals with moderate acne shows that acne severity increases when average sleep scores decrease. So, maybe it’s time to add ‘sleep’ to your grocery list!
Skin Barrier
Your skin barrier is necessary for maintaining healthy-looking skin. When it is damaged, the skin is more prone to the effects of irritants in the atmosphere and transepidermal water loss (TEWL). Increased water loss occurs when the skin barrier is damaged or impaired, allowing moisture to evaporate from the skin, resulting in dryness, dehydration, and irritation. One study showed that poor sleepers have higher baseline TEWL compared to good sleepers. When presented with skin irritation (e.g. waxing), good sleepers had a 30% greater barrier recovery compared to poor sleepers. This was indicated by the return of their TEWL to baseline.
Aging
As we grow older, signs of aging tend to ramp up too. From retinols (see our article CBD and Retinol: The Anti-Aging Secret?) to collagen pills, we do what we can to reduce them as much as possible. However, if you’re consistently skimping on hours of sleep, you may be accelerating your skin’s aging. In a sleep study, good sleepers had significantly lower skin aging scores than poor sleepers who had more advanced signs of aging with higher values for uneven pigmentation, fine wrinkling, and benign skin growths.
It’s Called Beauty Sleep for a Reason
In today’s world, with busy work schedules and a struggle to maintain a work-life balance, getting enough sleep may not always be possible. Nonetheless, if you can make it work, you will wake up feeling better and notice that your skin is also looking better! It’s called beauty sleep for a reason.
References
- Cover Photo by Andrea Piacquadio via Pexels
- Oyetakin-White, P., et al. “Does Poor Sleep Quality Affect Skin Ageing?” Clinical and Experimental Dermatology, vol. 40, no. 1, 2014, pp. 17–22., [Link].
- Photo by cottonbro via Pexels
- Photo by Teona Swift via Pexels
- Schrom, Kory P., et al. “Acne Severity and Sleep Quality in Adults.” Clocks & Sleep, vol. 1, no. 4, 2019, pp. 510–516., [Link].
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