You’ve been at work all day, and you just want to Netflix for a couple of hours before you finally head to bed. What’s a few hours off your sleep, anyway?
Aside from the health and mental effects of sleep deprivation, there is actually such a thing as beauty sleep, and not getting enough of it can make you look a little worse for wear. The signs of not getting enough sleep are significant enough that studies have been done that prove, simply put, well-rested people are more attractive.
Turns out your body does a lot more than mental restorative work during sleep, and the mechanics behind the rejuvenation of your body while you snooze are pretty fascinating. Your body uses this critically important time to heal damage, build new skin cells, and lay the framework for clear skin.
Read on if you still need convincing that getting your seven to nine hours of sleep might actually be worth skipping Game of Thrones for after all. We’ll give you four reasons.
1. Youthful Skin
There’s a reason so many moisturizers and anti-aging serums recommend you apply them at night. When you sleep, your body kicks into restorative overdrive on a cellular level, repairing damage done to your skin throughout the day by wind and sun.
When you sleep, digestion comes to a screeching halt and your body gets busy producing heaps of collagen, strengthening the elasticity of the skin and building new skin cells with the protein stores in your body. Usually produced in the deeper stages of the sleep cycle, this collagen production phase is critical for fighting signs of aging.
2. Fewer Breakouts
When you’re well-rested, you break out less. A body that is not getting enough sleep is one under physical stress, which can cause hormonal imbalances that trigger everything from irregular menstrual cycles to massive outbreaks.
Getting enough sleep keeps your body balanced, and as a result, your skin much clearer. Your stress levels stay low, your hormones stay balanced, and your skin freaks out less because it’s not constantly in survival mode.
3. Improved Circulation
When you get enough sleep, your circulation is dramatically improved, and your skin bears the evidence. Get enough beauty sleep and you’ll see a more even skin tone and a reduction in dark circles under your eyes.
4. Vanishing Wrinkles
Aside from the heaps of collagen production your body does while you sleep, getting your beauty sleep also helps to fight the signs of aging and fade fine lines and wrinkles.
This is in part due to gravity. When you lay down, the usual forces of gravity pulling your skin down aren’t at play, and are instead pulling your skin towards the back of your head, smoothing fine lines and giving your skin a chance to bounce back from the physical strains of the day’s gravity.
In addition, your skin perspires more when you sleep, flushing toxins while simultaneously moistening your skin with nature’s anti-aging serum: sweat. This moisture works while your natural lines and wrinkles get smoothed out to make your skin more supple and resistant to damage the next day.
How Much Sleep is Ideal?
When it comes right down to it, the rules around how much sleep we really need to survive and thrive are pretty simple: The younger you are, the more you need, and most people need between seven and nine hours at least.
Depending on what you do in a day, your age, your hormone balance — a lot of things — that number could vary a lot for you, but it’s a good general rule of thumb. Getting enough sleep is critical to healthy skin, so don’t sell yourself short.
How much beauty sleep do you need? Do you notice a visible difference when you get less sleep? Continue the conversation with #AvocadoGreenMagazine on @AvocadoMattress on Facebook, Twitter, or Instagram.
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