Sleep can do wonders for your skincare routine. We’re looking at the ways your skin benefits from getting that coveted shut-eye.
Sleep may be one of the most underrated tools in your skincare routine. Millions of dollars are spent a year on skincare treatments and products, but one of the simplest ways to maintaining a healthy epidermis lies in a quality night of sleep. Not ready to toss out your go-to creams and moisturizers? Don’t worry! You can still rely on skincare products to maintain a healthy complexion glow, but don’t doubt us when we say getting a good night of sleep is one of the healthiest things you can do for your skin.
Aside from the obvious benefits sleep has on your overall health and wellness, sleep is a vital time for your skin to rejuvenate and repair itself. Read on as we cover the relationship your skin has with sleep!
Cell Rebuilding and Hormone Production
While you sleep, your skin produces a growth hormone that is essential for collagen production. Collagen is a protein that gives skin strength and elasticity. When you don’t get enough sleep, your body responds by producing a stress hormone call cortisol. This creates increased inflammation and disrupts your skin’s production of collagen. Sleep deprivation and increased cortisol have a slew of noticeable negative effects on the skin including puffiness, droopy-looking skin, a pale complexion, and an overall tired appearance.
Sleep is the time for literal renewal and rejuvenation as far as your skin is concerned. While these special growth hormones are only produced during the deep sleep stage, your skin takes full advantage of all sleep cycles to repair and rebuild itself.
Eight Hours of Uninterrupted Moisturizing
Did you know that when you sleep, you perspire more, creating a natural moisturizer for your skin? This is your body’s way of rebalancing hydration and recovering extra moisture that may have been lost throughout the day. The less sleep you get, the lower the moisture and PH levels will be in your skin, leading to dry and sullen-looking skin.
While your skin naturally moisturizes during sleep, factors like dry winter air, heating systems, and air conditioners get in the way of keeping your skin at a healthy moisturized level. And while there are plenty of night creams and moisturizers on the market, there’s a more “hands-off” option to achieving moisturized and rejuvenated skin overnight.
It’s no secret that humidifiers are often considered the ultimate beauty secret for the cold, dry winter season, but it’s time you got smart about your humidifier.
According to Consumer Reports, traditional [vaporizer] humidifiers can put you at risk of developing health problems from breathing in emissions from dirty humidifiers. Updating your forced cool mist or hot steam humidifier to a unit driven by cold evaporation means you’ll never have to worry about over-humidification or airborne bacteria from your humidifier. Too much humidity creates an environment where mold and mildew are welcome to grow and can make your bedroom feel damp and musty.
Venta’s dual-function humidifier units are the grown-up humidifiers your skin needs. Rather than forcing moisture into your air, the Venta units evenly humidify to your room’s humidity needs, never more. This is why a Venta runs 365 days a year even in the summer: dry, stale air-conditioned indoor air can be a nuisance to your skin causing irritation and dryness. Blasting dry, air-conditioned air is sabotaging your skincare routine, no matter how hot or humid it is outside. Talk about 8 hours of uninterrupted moisturizing all year long!
Protection from Sun and Air Pollution
Unless you’re camping and/or sleeping outside (which we don’t think you’re doing 365 days a year), sleep is your time to give your skin a rest from its exposure to outdoor air pollution and the sun’s harmful UV rays. Your skin takes quite a beating when exposed to the elements, which is why it’s very important to always wear sunscreen when outside, even if it’s not particularly sunny.
Air pollution is another skin-damaging factor that is exceptionally prevalent in urban environments. With an increased amount of motor vehicles, construction sites, factories, and power plants in urban areas, the amount of dust and toxic chemicals in the air creates plenty of problems for our bodies.
Exposure to these pollutants puts your body’s natural protective layer at risk of developing a slew of negative side effects including dark spots, wrinkles, and a dull, uneven skin tone, to name just a few. Minneapolis-based dermatologist Dr. Brian Zelickson explains how your skin becomes even more susceptible to the negative effects of pollution when you are sleep deprived:
“Sleep deprivation affects the skin’s natural barrier function which can lead to dryness, irritation and increased skin sensitivity. The epidermis is less able to protect itself from chemicals and pollutants in the environment.”
Sleep is your time to rest and recover from the day, and creating a healthy indoor environment to get that much-needed shut-eye is essential. While we already mentioned the importance of a humidifier for getting your beauty sleep, an air purifier is another necessity to invest in to ensure your sleep environment is free of harmful and irritating airborne pollutants.
Thankfully Venta is the go-to product for this as our humidifiers simultaneously humidifies and reduces air pollutants in indoor air. What’s the point of beauty sleep if you’re constantly waking up with allergies or coughing due to dust? Venta takes care of that, all without the use of filters.
Rest and Rejuvenate
With the hustle and bustle of our busy lives, getting a good night of sleep is crucial but can be hard to come by. Our overall health and wellness greatly depend on our quality of sleep and our skin is no exception. Next time you are thinking about skipping out on sleep, think of the overall health and wellness benefits you’re missing out on. Your skin will thank you for those extra hours of shut-eye.
