How Sleep Affects the Skin

Who doesn't enjoy sleep? At the end of a busy day, slipping between the sheets and resting on heads on our pillow for a well deserved good night's sleep is one of the best feelings. Sleep is vital for our physical and mental health and wellbeing.

But as well as needing our eight hours of sleep a night to remain healthy and alert, we also need it to keep our skin in good condition. Skin is the body's largest organ and our skin health can suffer the effects of sleep deprivation, in just the same way as the rest of our body.

Without getting our so-called beauty sleep, our skin starts to show the effects through fine lines, puffy eyes, dullness and dark circles.

So here's how sleep, or good quality sleep, we should say, supports the function of skin, how skin problems can be linked long term sleep deprivation and how the amount of sleep you get might impact your skin health.

But first, a little intro into the regenerative processes that go on when we sleep.

Regeneration Happens When We Sleep

There are four stages to sleep. Stages one and two are pretty straight forward - awake and light sleep. Stages three and four are when Rapid Eye Movement happens (REM sleep is when we dream).

This is when we're in ‘deep sleep’ and cell regeneration, tissue repair, memory consolidation all occur and cellular energy levels are restored. Our nervous state also changes during sleep:

The Nervous System Has Two States:

The sympathetic system which is more in control while we are awake and keeps the blood flow near the core of the body.

The parasympathetic nervous system which takes priority while we sleep. During this state blood flow shifts from the core of our body to the skin. As our skin is having to work hard to fend itself against external influences like the sun during the day, it’s while we sleep that it takes the time to regenerate.

A typical person needs 7-9 hours sleep per night. This will depend on multiple factors including your biological makeup and age as well as lifestyle (ie. how much exercise you've had during the day and how much you've used your brain and nervous energy)

Sleep Deprivation: How a Lack of Sleep Affects Your Skin

A quick internet search will reveal the ways a lack of sleep can affect our body and mind. But what about our skin? How is the appearance of your skin affected by a lack of sleep? How does sleep affect skin? Let's take a look at how sleep and skin are linked.

Sleep Deprivation Causes Accelerated Skin Ageing

Deep sleep allows damaged cells to repair. In other words, your biological processes are hard at work on your skin as you sleep.

Without the deeper phases of sleep, the small daily cellular breakdowns caused by UV light, pollution and stress accumulate, and instead of being reversed overnight, they gradually build up. Therefore visible signs of premature ageing such as fine lines, wrinkles and dark, sagging skin under the eyes can signal sleep deprivation.

Poor Sleep May Cause Collagen Production to Decrease

Part of the overnight regenerative and repair process is the production of collagen.

Collagen is the protein that holds our skin together and keeps it firm. To regenerate, skin cell receptors activate within the blood vessels and take amino acid molecules to build proteins and the body produces collagen.

It's during deep sleep that the body releases growth hormones which aids skin cell production and collagen synthesis. Therefore sleep deprivation also has an impact on the skin in terms of plumpness, youthfulness and vitality.

Dark Circles and Dry Skin

The body sends more blood to the outermost layer of skin during sleep, so that it receives an increased amount of oxygen and important nutrients. This gives our skin what it needs to achieve the healthy glow that we all love.

But a lack of sleep can also mean that the health and appearance of our skin suffers, making the skin look dull and tired and can also cause dry skin. Blood flow to the skin is reduced and the impact on skin can be noticeable after just one day of sleep deprivation.

A Lack of Sleep May Lead to a Build Up of Toxins

Ever woken up with a puffy face? This too could be down to the length and quality of your sleep. During sleep our bodies work to remove dead blood and other cells from the body. This makes space for new cells to replace the old ones, leading to fresh looking skin.

Equally as important, this time for regeneration allows the body to drain any unwanted fluids or toxins. When the body isn’t able to drain away the excess fluid that can build up during the day, it leads to puffy skin.

Therefore a lack of sleep can impact your skin in ways you may never have imagined - puffiness, fluid retention and bloating!

A Lack of Sleep May Cause a Disruption of the Skin Barrier Function

Sleep deprivation can also disrupt the barrier function of the skin. A layer of the skin called the stratum corneum prevents water loss and blocks entry to foreign substances (hence why the skin is an important part of the immune function).

An impaired skin barrier caused by sleep deprivation could trigger inflammatory disorders such as psoriasis, eczema, and atopic dermatitis.

A Poor Night of Sleep Impairs the Immune System

The health of our skin relies on the health of our body. If our immune system isn’t working at it’s best our bodies are in danger of become ill.

To support the immune system, the body tries to work it’s way into a slightly inflammatory state. Research has shown that when we don’t get enough sleep, the body’s inflammatory state does nothing to support the immune system which puts the body in danger of infection and chronic disease.

A big danger for the health of your skin is that this unhelpful state of inflammation can lead to acne and psoriasis.

Too Little Deep Sleep Can Cause Existing Skin Conditions to Become Worse

Lack of sleep can lead to increased inflammatory response, so conditions such as acne, skin sensitivity, allergic dermatitis, eczema and etc. are more likely to become worse. You can help this by removing makeup before bed which allows the skin to breathe which will help to keep your skin looking and feeling fresh.

Poor Sleep Can Lead to Weight Gain

Lack of sleep can cause the body to create too many or few of certain hormones including leptin, grehlin and Insulin. This imbalance can cause the body to gain weight which in turn can negatively affect the skin by leading to an increase in inflammation.

Sleep restriction may also cause stress, and when we're stressed, we release a hormone called cortisol. Cortisol is a catabolic hormone which breaks down tissue which can damage the skin. It also causes an increase in inflammation. Plus of course, if we're constantly tired, what do we do? Reach for the nearest processed carbs and sugary snacks!

Tips to Improve Poor Sleep Quality

Having difficulty getting to sleep or wake up often throughout the night?

Here are a few things you can do to increase the chances of getting a good nights sleep.

• Don't eat a big meal too late in the evening, allow at least 2-3 hours between dinner and going to bed
• Avoid using electronics in the bedroom such as your laptop or your phone, try to read a book instead - the blue light from phones and other screens tricks the brain into thinking it's still daytime
• Have a chamomile tea before bed - it helps to unwind and relax after a long day
• Avoid using detergents with strong fragrances to clean your bed linen
• Drink plenty of water during the day, but not before going to bed
• Sleeping on your back is preferable to lying on your stomach as this position can cause liquid to pool under your eyes throughout the night causing puffiness
• Reduce alcohol intake as it stops the body from being able to go into REM sleep and disrupts our natural sleep and wake cycles

Apps to Help You Get Your Beauty Sleep

If you have difficulty getting a good nights sleep check out our favourite apps that will help you achieve your best sleep.

Sleep Cycle

Sleep Cycle describes itself as an “intelligent alarm clock”. It works by having you place your phone next to your pillow so that it can analyse sleep quality through your movement. It then wakes you up during your lighter sleep phase, which is said to leave you feeling naturally rested and less groggy.

After a period of use it can provide you with comprehensive information on your sleep patterns including sleep quality and average time asleep. The results might surprise you! You can also monitor how your lifestyle choices can affect your sleep quality including exercising and drinking coffee or alcohol.

If you’re looking to improve your sleep or to explore the root causes for why you don’t sleep well, using Sleep Cycle can be a great place to start.

Calm

Regular meditation can enhance your sleep quality by teaching you to relax and clear your mind.

Calm is a meditation app, which contains some great guided programmes to help you naturally drift off. Their mission is to help people increase their sense of calm in an increasingly busy and stressed out world.

The app begins with the 7 Days of Calm, a free introductory programme that allows the user to learn the basics of mindfulness. If you then decide to commit to a subscription you have access to a number of guided meditations including those for sleep.

Calm also comes with trackers, a reminder and a timer for freestyle meditation, making it easy to develop your mindfulness practice and incorporate it into your everyday life. With a variety of natural background scenes and sounds to choose from the app’s very appearance results in feelings of serenity.

Rain

Falling asleep to natural sounds, including rain and waves, can help to decrease feelings of stress and anxiety.

Rain helps you fall asleep with a library of high-quality sounds. It’s a simple app with limited additions, you pick your sound, you select your preferred time and you fall asleep.

If you’re a music lover or have DJ aspirations you’ll enjoy the mixer function, which allows you to combine any of the sounds you like and create your perfect track. Want to be reminded of hot summer day in the rain, it’s completely possible with the mixer!

Research Studies on Healthy Sleep

Don't just take our word for all this information on how a good sleep routine can lead to increased skin health. There are numerous studies on how a good night of beauty sleep really can improve your skin during the day.

Being a Morning Person May Be Defined by Our Genes

Do you jump out of bed first thing in the morning or are you more likely to come into bloom late in the night? Your answer, it turns out, will actually have a lot to do with your genetics. And this can have a big impact on your day-to-day productivity.

Researchers from The University of Leicester have completed a study which is adding weight to the increasingly popular attitude that the daily '9 to 5' may not be the most productive or efficient structure of working for all of us.

The study, published in Frontiers in Neurology, explains that the researchers have discovered nearly 80 genes associated with ‘morningness’ or ‘lateness’. The results are based on their analysis of fruit flies, who surprisingly have a very similar ‘genetic clock’ to us.

The research was focused on the timing of the fruit flies emerging from their pupal case, an event that is regulated by their natural internal clock (circadian clock). While most flies emerged during dawn (‘larks’), there were some rogue flies emerging later on (‘owls’). When they compared the genes of both sets of flies, it became apparent that there were nearly 80 genes that were expressing differently to trigger this behaviour.

What does this mean for us humans? Well for those of us that are the ‘owls’, it indicates that trying to work the 9 to 5 schedule is going against our natural internal clock. Where possible, ‘owls’ should ideally be working later in the day, or at least prioritising important tasks to when their bodies are most naturally awake.

While the luxury of choosing our working hours might currently be limited to the few, as research in this field changes attitudes and advances in technology supports more work flexibility; it's likely there will be an increase in 'owls' working to a schedule that is more natural and productive for 'owls', and the businesses they work in.

British Medical Journal

In a British Medical Journal study, participants were asked to rate photographs which contained pictures of people who were either sleep deprived or not. People who weren’t sleep deprived were considered to be healthier, more attractive. Shocking!

Supporting Healthy Skin with Sönd

So it's clear, our period of sleep each night is essential for our health, and a lack of sleep can also cause problems with the health of our skin. It's recommended that adults sleep at least seven hours each night.

If you're not achieving that, hopefully our tips here will help.

In terms of your skin health, you can do all you can to look after it using the Sönd range of alkalising skincare products. Including our gentle cream cleanser. A layer of makeup, dirt, grime and pollution will prevent the skin from breathing overnight, so give it the best start before climbing into bed!