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Beauty Sleep and 5 Tips for Improving Your Sleep Architecture
Is "beauty sleep" for real? You bet, each night the body goes through a repair and renewal cycle. Being the largest organ in the human body, the skin uses sleep to heal and restore itself. Therefore a good night's sleep impacts mood, memory, digestion (think fat burning) and even the appearance of your skin.
Sleep architecture refers to the stages of sleep essential for the process of rebuilding your body's foundation for the next day. Our bodies go through cycles each night to achieve a full night's rest.
Think of a good night's sleep like stacking blocks. Each night, you go through about five sleep cycles, each lasting approximately 90 minutes with each cycle building on the cycle before it. Broken cycles mean you can't stack all five blocks, achieve much-desired REM sleep, and wake up feeling groggy. A good night's sleep on the other hand can help you wake up feeling and looking fresh and rosy.
By becoming your own sleep architect, you can make positive changes in your sleep routine. A good foundation is the beginning of good sleep architecture.
Here are five tips to improve your nighttime routine and improve beauty sleep.
Schedule 7-9 Hours for a Glowing Complexion
While a small percentage of superhumans can survive on less than six hours, most of us need 7-9 hours each night. Athletes need closer to 10. If you're getting less than 7-9 hours, it's likely affecting your potential and your appearance. Sleep deprivation causes dullness and puffy eyes. The skin repairs and renews overnight, including boosted collagen production and increased blood flow, leading to fewer wrinkles and plumper skin.
Add Selfcare to Your Nighttime Routine
- A hot bath or soaking your feet can provide relaxation and contribute to deeper sleep.
- Use a gentle facial cleanser such as our hydrating Micellar Glacier Water Deep Pore Cleanser to remove dirt, makeup, and impurities. Sleeping without washing your face can lead to large pores, dry skin, acne and breakouts.
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Make weekly exfoliation and detoxification a priority. Using a mud mask is not only an easy way to sneak in some self-care but it’s also a key step in your acne-fighting and skincare routine. Try our poreREFINING Niacinamide + Hyaluronic Antioxidant Glacial Facial Mask or make your own with these three easy DIY mud mask recipes!
- Use a facial roller or gua sha lifting tool to apply a nourishing facial serum such as our alpenGLOW Age-defying Resveratrol + Hyaluronic Youth Serum. Facial self-massage before bed increases blood flow to help kick-start overnight cell repair, reduce stress and promote relaxation.
Add a Nourishing Moisturizer to Your Nighttime Routine
Hydration is king when it comes to glowing skin. Skin loses more water when you sleep than it does during the day. To protect and repair, apply a creamy moisturizer to your face, neck and eyes before bed when your skin is at its driest to help your complexion stay hydrated overnight. Look for products with superstar ingredients, such as:
- Hyaluronic acid is humectant ingredient that can hold 1,000 times its weight in water.
- Niacinamide reduces pigmentation and environmental damage by improving skin's barrier.
Sleep Hygiene and Your Nighttime Routine
- At least an hour before bed, wind down and do something that doesn't require too much physical or mental energy such as reading, listening to an audiobook, working on a puzzle or writing in a journal.
- Refrain from caffeine, alcohol and large meals three hours before bedtime to power down the digestive system.
- Drink plenty of water during the day and keep a glass on the nightstand.
- Avoid screen time in bed as the blue light can disrupt your body's circadian rhythm with lightness/darkness leading to decreased melatonin, the sleep-inducing hormone in the body.
- Put your cell phone in another room and use an alarm clock. Research has shown having an electromagnetic field (EMF) close by can negatively affect sleeping brain activity.
Get Comfy in Your Bedroom
Falling asleep may be the hardest part, but mechanical sleep aids can help you stay asleep. Sleep masks (such as our Midnight Sun Sleep Mask), black-out curtains, white noise machines, ear plugs, memory foam pillows can help you get comfortable and stay in snooze mode without disruption from light or noise pollution.
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