Why a Good Night’s Sleep is Key to Beauty

In this technological era, people are so busy with their schedules that they do not have time for their health and beauty. It is the main reason you get puffy eyes and dark circles under your eyes. The perfect solution to this problem is to have an ideal sleep, as a good night’s sleep is the key to beauty.

You have all heard about the importance of sleep for beauty, but it is painful to see that very few stress about it. Even scientists have proven that eight hours of sleep is necessary for several reasons. But you must rethink your actions if you are also making this mistake in your life. The famous English proverb says, “Time and tide waits for none.”

The science behind beauty sleep 

When you sleep for a proper time, that means eight-hour sleep; your body enters recovery mode. It is said that each stage of sleep is vital for skin recovery. Your body will produce multiple hormones, including human growth hormone, melatonin, and cortisol, during various stages of sleep. These hormones are essential for numerous recoveries, including skin repair from daily damage, keeping your skin youthful, and protecting your skin from free radicals that can cause damage your cells.

Researchers proved that lack of sleep could cause negative impacts on your facial appearance and may decrease others’ willingness to connect with a sleep-deprived person.

Here are the main areas that get affected by lack of sleep:

1. Skin: The skin is the most affected area due to less sleep. You may look tired and old before age. Even it also affects collagen production. Excess cortisol due to poor sleep is a common cause of acne.
2. Hair: Lack of sleep also impacts your hair growth due to the effect on collagen production. It may make your hair thin or can cause hair loss.
3. Eyes:One night of poor sleep is enough to cause dark circles under your eyes. When you do not sleep properly, the blood vessels around your eyes dilate, creating puffiness or dark circles. These dark circles are visible easily due to their black, brown, purple, or blue shades.

Poor sleep can cause many other problems in your body and mind. It can significantly impact your health and beauty; both are eye-catching in today’s life. That is why a proper discussion of these brief points with complete explanations, causes, and solutions.

How sleep affects the skin?

A person can immediately tell you if you slept poorly last night. It is due to the causes of one night of poor sleep. These are:

• hanging eyelids,
• swollen eyes,
• darker undereye circles,
• paler skin,
• more wrinkles and fine lines,
• more droopy corners of the mouth.

Even researchers proved that you could lose your attractiveness, health, sleepiness, and trustworthiness if you do not sleep properly. Sleep is the best way to let your body repair itself, whereas lack of sleep is the main hurdle in this process. So, you have to sleep properly, which is valid for your epidermis as much as it is for your brain and muscles.

It is also true that when you sleep, your skin’s blood flow increases and the organ rebuilds its collagen and repairs damage from UV exposure, reducing wrinkles and age spots. That is why it is said that every person should have proper eight to nine hours of sleep so that their skin can rejuvenate when it comes in contact with the elements directly.

Let’s take a closer look at what’s going on while you sleep and the specific problems that develop from a lack of sleep:

1. Dry skin: Your skin naturally glows while you sleep. It is the body’s way of rebalancing hydration levels and producing more glowing skin while asleep. Sleep is a natural moisturizer for your skin that helps reduce wrinkles and smoothes them out. Lack of sleep also imbalances your pH levels which can cause dry skin.
2. Dull skin: Poor sleep raises your cortisol levels and triggers inflammation. It can break down the proteins that help to keep your skin smooth and glowing. Inflammation also causes your skin to be more susceptible to acne and allergic reactions. Also, inadequate sleep interrupts blood circulation, making skin look spotted, pigmented, and greyish.
3. Dark circles under the eyes: Inadequate sleep dilates blood vessels and causes telltale dark circles and puffiness below the eyes. It differs from any bruise due to some injury, redness, and swelling in one eye caused by any infection. Sometimes iron deficiency also causes dark circles under the eyes, but iron deficiency is caused by a lack of oxygen supply to the blood tissues. The bloodstream does not flow proper oxygen to the blood tissues because of sleeplessness.
4. Collagen and the aging process: Stress is the main reason for skin wrinkles and fine lines. However, stress is caused by sleeplessness, and the body struggles to regain hormonal balance. Collagen, a vital protein made of amino acids, is damaged due to chronic stress. This hormone helps your skin to get structure and elasticity.

The connection between sleep and hair

An excellent and refreshing night’s sleep is needed for protein synthesis, enzymes, and growth hormones vital for hair health. Inadequate sleep can cause hair thinning, hair loss, and easy breakage. Sleep deprivation is mainly caused by stress, and stress is known to affect hair loss. Sometimes, it may also cause temporary hair loss conditions such as telogen effluvium. Getting a beauty sleep also improves the appearance of your hair because of the increased blood flow to your scalp and delivers all the required nutrients in a better way to hair, which makes them look healthier and glossy. Lack of sleep also deprives the root of the hair of all these nutrients.

The hair growth cycle has three major phases:

• Anagen phase: A growth phase (Blood flow nourishes the hair’s roots.)
• Catagen phase: Transition phase (Hair’s roots or hair follicles detach from the blood supply.)
• Telogen phase: Resting phase (Without nourishment, the hair follicle dies and falls out.)

Telogen effluvium makes hair follicles enter the resting phase directly from the growing stage, resulting in hair loss. It is not wrong to say that stress has consequences on your hair in both ways: directly by creating the condition of telogen effluvium and indirectly by affecting your sleep, resulting in hair fall and hair loss.

Importance of sleep for healthy hair growth and maintenance

Adequate sleep is essential for healthy hair growth and helps to maintain them properly. A night of good quality sleep helps your body to rejuvenate in a better way and helps cells to repair themselves well. When you sleep with a stress-free mind, your body produces a hormone named melatonin which helps to regulate hair growth and maintain the hair follicle from shedding, parting, and breaking. Melatonin helps your hair in the following ways:

• Hair cell growth: Melatonin mainly benefits you by regulating your circadian rhythms and signaling your body to sleep and wake up regularly. However, it also plays a part in hair health. Melatonin helps your hair to grow faster as compared to before. Thus, melatonin does both works, which means good sleep and prevents hair loss.
• Protects hair follicles: Due to inadequate sleep, an imbalance occurs between prooxidants and antioxidants in which the levels of prooxidants are in excess. This stress leads to various health issues, including hair loss. Since hair follicles are melatonin receptors, it helps fight oxidative stress and improves hair growth.
• Promotes biotin absorption: Sleep helps your body absorb nutrients; biotin is the most important for hair growth. Biotin is a vital vitamin, vitamin B7 or H, required for hair health. It plays a vital role in protein synthesis, and its deficiency can lead to hair loss and hair thinning.

Tips for getting a good night’s sleep 

Adequate sleep can help you in getting relieved from many health issues. However, the problem occurs when you need help with better sleep quality. The following tips can help you in getting a good night’s sleep:

1. Sleep for 7-9 hours:It is essential to have adequate sleep of seven to nine hours every night. It is the time your body takes to get relaxed and rejuvenate itself. When you sleep, your body produces a hormone named collagen. This hormone is vital in firm skin, shiny hair, and healthy nails.
2. Wash your face, neck, and feet: It would be best to wash your face, neck, and feet with a mild cleanser before bed. This way, you remove all the dirt and remnants of the products you have used daily, including makeup. Washing your feet removes all the dirt and relaxes your body. You feel clean while going to bed.
3. Moisturize yourself before sleep:It would be best to moisturize your body before sleep. This way, you help your body to stay hydrated throughout the night. A plant-based oil and cocoa butter moisturizer is the best option. Use a suitable moisturizer for your skin type if you have sensitive skin.
4. Choose antioxidants and anti-aging products: Sometimes, you feel dull skin after using the moisturizer. Here you can choose some antioxidants such as green tea or vitamin C. It helps you in removing free radicals while you are sleeping. Anti-aging products like under-eye gels and serums will keep you from removing fine lines and dark circles away.
5. Apply products 15-20 minutes before bed: Using all the products in a routine schedule would be best. Have a routine where you clean your face, and apply your night cream, under-eye gel, and all the other required products at least 15 to 20 minutes before hitting the bed. This way, you will make your skin absorbs all the products instead of your pillow.

Conclusion

Having an adequate amount of sleep every night is essential. Sleep offers you many benefits. It helps in improving the health of hair and skin. Sleeping well enough is also good for your overall health. It also helps you to transfer the required nutrients in the body and reduces stress levels, which is the leading cause of poor sleep.

Frequently Asked Questions

Q1. Does sleep make you beautiful?

Ans: Yes, adequate sleep helps your body to rejuvenate appropriately and makes you beautiful.

Q2: Why is sleep called beauty sleep?

Ans: Your skin uses sleep hours to heal itself from a whole day’s damage, and you have a better sleep quality and wake up with a glowing and shining fresh look. It is not wrong to call that sleep beauty sleep.

Q3. What are the benefits of sleep?

Ans: There are many benefits of having good quality sleep. These are

• healthy skin,
• shiny hair,
• removes under-eye dark circles and many more.

Q4. What is the power of sleep?

Ans: Sleep is mighty in repairing body cells and tissues, rejuvenating the body, and offering a fresh look when you wake up. It helps you in protecting your hair from getting damaged.

Q5. How many hours should a person sleep daily?

Ans: Scientists recommend that every person needs an average sleep of seven to nine hours daily and let their body recover from the whole day’s damage.