Beauty sleep is real: five overnight treatments to help give you skin that’s healthy, plump and well rested
- Our bodies recover and heal as we sleep, and a good night’s rest is essential for healthy, youthful skin; the Covid-19 pandemic has made that harder to attain
- The positive effects of a decent rest can be enhanced with overnight skin treatments that rehydrate and soothe
Sleeping seven to nine hours a day is easier said than done for some, but not doing so comes with consequences for our bodies.
About 35 per cent of people get fewer than seven hours of sleep; this can lead to a variety of health problems, such as memory issues, mood changes, a weakened immune system and high blood pressure, but there’s another side effect: unhealthy skin.
When you fall asleep, your body enters recovery and healing mode, releasing human growth hormones (HGH), which are responsible for creating new cells to heal damage our skin might have suffered during the day.
This is when regeneration happens – your body replaces dead skin cells with new, healthy ones, and with the skin being the largest organ, it takes time to get the job done properly.
During sleep, hydration in our skin rebalances, and without adequate sleep, inflammation breaks down hyaluronic acid, skin’s natural source of moisture
But it’s not just a matter of how many hours; quality matters as well.
“Good quality sleep helps to boost collagen production, rejuvenate the skin, prevent dark circles, and make your skin look healthy and radiant,” says Sunita Gurung, treatment supervisor of The Oriental Spa at The Landmark Mandarin Oriental in Hong Kong.