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.
Better sleep means better production of collagen and elastin, the compounds in charge of your skin’s elasticity and structure
Have you been trying a wonderful new moisturiser or a miraculous serum? Well, if you don’t sleep long enough, there’s a chance those products won’t be able to do their job as they should.
Your system is not getting enough time to work on regenerating cells that may have been damaged by UV exposure and your environment, so you’ll likely notice inflammation, fine lines, redness, and hyperpigmentation, even when your skincare routine includes ingredients supposed to treat those issues.
EGFs: a better anti-ageing ingredient than retinol for sensitive skin
Moreover, sleep deprivation can lead to continuous dehydration, one of the leading causes of skin ageing.
“This loss of hyaluronic acid weakens the skin’s barrier function, leading to trans-epidermal water loss, where the skin appears dry and dull.”
Insomnia, sleep deprivation and sleep disorders are issues for millions of people around the world, but when Covid-19 hit, those numbers increased dramatically.
“Coronasomnia,” says Dr Abhinav Singh, board-certified sleep medicine and internal medicine medical director of the Indiana Sleep Centre in the United States, “is an epidemic caused by, made worse by, and [which] runs in tandem with the pandemic.”
The secret to a good night’s sleep: listen to your body clock
The Oriental Spa at The Landmark Mandarin Oriental hotel in Hong Kong recently launched a luxury CBD sleep treatment that it claims will restore balance and enhance sleep quality.
The 90-minute treatment involves a luxurious, full-body massage focused on pressure points that promote restful sleep and ease anxiety and both application and ingestion of pure CBD oil and deep sleep tincture.
“The deep sleep and relax tincture [features] key ingredients like pure CBD extract, valerian, California poppy and hops,” Gurung says. “When these ingredients are ingested, and pure CBD oil is applied, they help reduce stress, anxiety, inflammation, relieve pain and promote relaxation, hence regulating deep sleep.”
While good sleep can’t be replaced with skincare potions or formulas, some of these overnight treatments can help boost your skin’s powers so you wake up to plump, healthy, and well-rested skin.
Five overnight treatments you can try
1. The Inkey List Ceramide Night Treatment
Ceramide is the glue that binds skin cells together. This 3 per cent blend of ceramides works overnight at various levels to target dehydrated skin. The blend is also formulated with a 2.5 per cent multi-molecular hyaluronic acid.
2. Glow Recipe Watermelon + AHA Glow Sleeping Mask
This brightening, glow-boosting hybrid is formulated with watermelon extract, which hydrates and delivers essential vitamins, and contains anti-inflammatory properties to soothe irritation. AHAs smooth the surface of the skin by banishing dead surface cells, and hyaluronic acid binds moisture to the skin for an ultra-hydrated complexion by morning.
3. Cocokind Resurfacing Sleep Mask
4. Niod Voicemail Masque
This nighttime leave-on masque treatment is a suspension of plant stem cells, narrow-leaf plantain, purified polyphenols, and hyaluronic acid, which together promise a healthy, well-rested, bright, and uniform complexion.
5. Sunday Riley Luna Sleeping Night Oil
This bestselling oil works throughout the night, promising luminous skin by morning. Formulated with an ultra-stable, gentle retinol ester and a complex of lightweight but nutritious oils to soothe the appearance of surface redness for a calm, visibly even-toned complexion.
