Sleep's Impact On Your Skin

Written By Paisley Hansen / Reviewed By Ray Spotts

A lot of times, it seems like there just aren’t enough hours in the day. Between work, social obligations and family obligations, it can be hard to fit everything in. Typically, when life gets really busy, sleep is the first sacrifice made. Busy people tend to think they can get by on less sleep. The thought is, “What’s my body really doing during those eight hours anyway?” 

What Your Body is Doing While You Sleep

The truth is, your body is really busy while you’re sleeping. It’s restoring, replenishing, rebuilding and getting you ready to face the next day. Not only does sleep affect muscle restoration and mental preparedness, it also has a huge impact on your skin. 

How Can You Sleep Better?

Before getting into all the ways sleep benefits your skin, take a moment to consider how you can sleep better to improve your skin. You may have wondered, “What time should I wake up to feel refreshed?” But it’s also important to think about how many hours of sleep you need to get all the benefits of sleep your body needs. 

Falling asleep and waking up at the same time each day is a great way to start successful sleep habits. Your body adapts and starts to expect sleep at these times, making it easier to get to sleep and fall into the deep sleep stages you need to really revitalize and refresh for the next day. The more deep sleep you can get, the more your body can do to repair, and the more fresh and renewed your body will look and feel. 

To really understand how sleep benefits your body and get into better habits, consider a sleep tracker. Monitoring how you sleep, how long you spend in different stages of sleep and your resting heart rate will help you better understand your body and develop better sleep habits. 

Sleep, Stress and Skin

Now, how exactly can sleep affect your skin? When you sleep, your body releases growth hormones, which help repair and restore your skin. Additionally, there’s a huge correlation between lack of sleep and stress. Stress has huge consequences on your body. It can affect everything from weight gain and body composition to skin health. 

Stress releases cortisol in your body, so when you’re regularly stressed your body is constantly releasing cortisol and essentially keeping you constantly in that feeling of fight or flight. This not only feels terrible, but it also makes your skin the perfect environment for acne breakouts. In fact, those who report low sleep quality are more likely to report acne. 

Sleep Deprivation and the Appearance of Aging

In addition, red, puffy eyes and dark circles under the eyes are also common signs of lack of sleep. You may already associate these signs with tiredness but in reality, they are linked to sleep deprivation.

Another common side effect of lack of sleep on the skin, it can also lead to the appearance of aging, especially in women. Sleep deprivation is linked to lack of water retention. This means your skin will look dryer and blotchier, with no youthful glow at all. Plus, If the body is losing water rapidly, that means the skin is weaker. Since sleep is reparative, sleeping longer leads to more water retention and stronger skin. 

What You Sleep On Matters

What you sleep on matters too. Sleeping on a silk pillowcase has huge benefits to skin. Generally, they are more gentle than cotton. They can also  help keep skin hydrated, because they absorb less moisture from the skin. This may also help complexion if you’re prone to breakouts. Again, because they absorb less moisture, a silk pillowcase can make skin appear more youthful by making wrinkles less noticeable. 

In addition, investing in a quality mattress, good sheets and keeping your bedroom cool and dark, can all help with your sleep and your skin. The easier you make it for your body to fall asleep and sleep soundly, the better your sleep will be. The better your sleep, the better your skin! 

Looking for 100% chemical-free, all-natural nourishing face and body oils? Check out Earth & Elm Nourishing Face Oil and Earth & Elm Nourishing Body Oil. Subscribe to our Trusted Health Club newsletter for more information about natural living tips, natural health, oral care, skincare, body care and foot care. If you are looking for more health resources check out the Trusted Health Resources list. 

Written By:

Paisley Hansen is a freelance writer and expert in health, fitness, and growing young. When she isn’t writing she can usually be found reading a good book or hitting the gym. She loves hearing from readers so feel free to contact her through Facebook.

Reviewed By:

Founder Ray Spotts has a passion for all things natural and has made a life study of nature as it relates to health and well-being. Ray became a forerunner bringing products to market that are extraordinarily effective and free from potentially harmful chemicals and additives. For this reason Ray formed Trusted Health Products, a company you can trust for clean, effective, and healthy products. Ray is an organic gardener, likes fishing, hiking, and teaching and mentoring people to start new businesses. You can get his book for free, “How To Succeed In Business Based On God’s Word,” at www.rayspotts.com.

Photo by bruce mars on Unsplash