Did you know that some consider that sleep is the best dermatologist? Well, beauty sleep is real, as if you didn’t already know. And there is a reason why Sleeping Beauty was so beautiful.
When we sleep, the skin goes into repair mode. And there are plenty of studies showing how a lack of sleep can be associated with unhealthy looking skin and even an accelerated skin aging process. The lack of sleep and excessive exposure to UV rays are among the most damaging factors when it comes to skin health.
But sometimes you just can’t help it. The lack of sleep, we mean. It could be either that you need to pull an all-nighter to study for your exams, or that you just have to go to that party or function. After a certain age, the night owls are usually tired moms that seemed to have found the secret to functioning with just 3-4 hours per night.
The lack of sleep can lead to dark circles around the eyes, as well as puffy eyes, fine lines and wrinkles, dull skin, and other skin imperfections.
The recommendation is to fall asleep at least an hour before midnight and sleep for 7 to 8 hours minimum. Otherwise, you can look almost five years older than your age. This doesn’t sound overly promising, right?
However, rest assured, we know how it feels to have a colicky baby in the house, or a toddler who is afraid of sleeping alone, or an important exam the next day or a hot first date with the guy of our dreams. And this is the reason why we put together a list of beauty secrets for night owls. You can count on them to make your skin look better if you lost a night or two (and even a week of proper sleep)!
Drink lots of water
This is probably the first verse in the Skin Care Bible. Because healthy-looking, glowing skin is just not possible without proper levels of hydration. And if you’ve lost some hours (nights or weeks) of sleep, then you need internal hydration just as much as you need a hydrating cream.
Start drinking water first thing in the morning when you wake up, and you will notice that it makes functioning much easier. Avoid carbonated beverages, even if they promise you the moon and the stars as the added sugar can actually make your skin look worse.
Scrub the dullness away
There’s no doubt about this; the lack of sleep makes your skin look dull, tired, and lifeless.
If you don’t want to go to work with that, you can just use a scrub in the morning. You can choose the Medik8 Pore Refining Scrub because we all know how the pores look impossibly enlarged after a sleepless night.
Enjoy the chemical exfoliation with the hydroxy acids, as well as the mechanical exfoliation provided by the tiny particles. Doesn’t your face feel refreshed already?
Caffeine to depuff the eyes
Your eyes can tell all about how much sleep you are getting at night. So, if you’re a night owl, the chances are that you’re waking up most mornings with puffy eyes. And there is nothing more annoying than the puffy eye sensation.
To depuff the eyes, you can use caffeine. Not internally, as you might be tempted to do after a sleepless night, but externally.
Get an eye cream or serum with a good percentage of caffeine and keep it in the fridge. Get it out only in the morning, when you apply it. The cold sensation will help with puffy eyes even more.
Bring on the brightness
As we’ve discussed before, skin dullness is a real joy killer. So, you need some brightness for a glowing complexion. While your scrub can do a great job preparing the skin to look revitalized, the chances are that you need something more to have a bright complexion. This can be a serum such as the Thalgo Lumiere Marine Brightening Correcting Serum.
With a rich and creamy texture, Thalgo Lumiere Marine Brightening Correcting Serum helps with skin pigmentation and makes the skin even and more luminous. Use the serum twice a day if you are not getting enough sleep.
Hydrate and plump
Fine lines and wrinkles are more visible on tired, dull skin that looks like baking paper. To avoid this, you need to hydrate to plump the skin. You could use one of the most interesting beauty products - Alpha-H Liquid Gold Rose Perfect and Plump.
Alpha-H Liquid Gold Rose Perfect and Plump is more than your regular moisturizer. It is a balm infused with 24k gold.
Does this sound lush and luxurious? Because it is. And you definitely need it, whatever might be the reason for your sleepless nights. Enjoy smooth and soft, perfectly kissable lips, even after a night with no sleep.
Get some help from the concealer
Yes, these are the skincare tips and tricks for night owls, so you won’t find here a makeup routine that will make you look flawless even if you haven’t slept in a month.
However, we all know that it’s difficult to look normal without some help from the concealer. So, better embrace this idea and get a good quality concealer that you can count on, no matter how bad the damage is. Jane Iredale Active Light Under Eye Concealer is a good option as it’s made with unique ingredients that focus on brightness. And we have already discussed how important brightness is.
However, what makes this concealer a real catch is the inflammation-reducing and depuffing ingredients such as cucumber, white tea extract, and buckwheat wax.
Hydrate more during the day
With all these tips and tricks, the chances are that you will leave the house in the morning looking glorious (or as good as possible, given the conditions). However, if you start feeling tired and your skin starts feeling dry during the day, you might want to bring on the big guns and hydrate some more.
Drink water, of course, but you can also use a hydrating mist – many of them are suitable to be used over makeup too.
Photo by Hernan Sanchez on Unsplash