We've all heard the age-old advice that we need to get more sleep. Boy oh boy, wouldn't that be nice. It may seem impossible, bit it also may be time to start prioritizing sleep for your health and, yes, your SKIN HEALTH. Believe it, or not, your skin suffers just as much as you do when you are unable to get the needed amount of shut-eye. So, what actually does happen to your skin when you don't get enough sleep?
- When you miss out on sleep you will have higher levels of the stress hormone Cortisol. Cortisol levels in your body naturally decrease when you are sleeping, but a lack of sleep prohibits your body from completing the needed cycles to lower those stress hormone levels. Routinely high levels of Cortisol can encourage skin stress and subsequently more breakouts/acne.
- When too much Cortisol is in existent in your system for long periods of time, it encourages the breakdown of collagen, and therefor a breakdown of your nice, young-looking skin.
- Less sleep = less time for your body to produce human growth hormone naturally, which stimulates cell production and in turn new/fresh skin. When you are not producing new fresh skin to replace the damage that you completed throughout the day, you are accelerating the aging process.
- During sleep, our bodies increase the production of protective antioxidants for the next day.
- Lack of sleep will lead to a lack of hydration and even the possibility of inflammation. Dehydrated and inflamed skin can be helped by incorporating a product with hyaluronic acid, though sleep is really the key and getting both is a great idea!
We understand that life does not always allow for that extra sleep your body needs, but remember that your body (for health and beauty reasons) needs the time to rest and recuperate. Stay tuned to next month's blog for tips and tricks when you just are not able to get the sleep you need!