4 Ways to Improve Your Skin While You Sleep
Between the Sheets

4 Ways to Improve Your Skin While You Sleep

By now, we all know the drill: lack of sleep can wreak serious havoc to your body, causing harm to your physical state and emotional well-being. But what about your skin? Beyond just causing puffy eyes and dark circles, lack of sleep can damage your skin and cause premature aging. Here are our top 4 tips for improving your skin while you sleep.

1. Get enough (good) sleep.

Turns out that "beauty sleep" is a real thing. There's one catch - in order to truly reap the beauty benefits of sleep, you need deep sleep - not just a few lacklustre hours strung together.

During sleep, your body typically passes through five stages of sleep: 1, 2, 3, 4, REM, and then back to 1. A complete sleep cycle takes anywhere from 90 to 110 minutes to complete, with each stage lasting around five to fifteen minutes. 

During stages 3 and 4 of sleep, your body secretes a growth hormone that helps repair and rebuild body tissue - at a rate of 3x faster than it does during the day. More time in deep sleep equals more time for your skin to repair and rejuvenate, getting you the "beauty sleep" that you need.

2. Wash your sheets at least once per week.

No matter how much you shower or wash your face, it's impossible to keep your sheets completely clean. While you sleep, a multitude of debris accumulates on your pillowcase: your body's natural oils, sweat, leftover makeup, hair products, food, dead skin, etc. - not ideal when you're spending eight hours every night with your face pressed up against it.

To limit the amount of dirt and bacteria coming into direct contact with your skin, we recommend washing your sheets at least once per week, with a gentle detergent that won't harm your skin - or your sheets for that matter. You may not realize that your detergent contains bleach and harsh chemicals, which can irritate your skin and shorten the lifespan of your linens. We love LeBlanc's Linen Wash, which cleans sheets without any bleach, caustics or phosphates.

3. Invest in a silk pillowcase.

Silk pillowcases have been a secret beauty weapon of celebrities, beauty magazine editors, and dermatologists for over 50 years. Have you ever woken up in the morning with deep creases in your face from your pillowcase? As alarming as it sounds, after many years of this your skin can permanently wrinkle like this. Silk allows your skin to glide over the fabric, reducing the stretching and pulling that causes these lines to set in your face.

Silk is also hypo-allergenic, repels dust mites, and has anti-microbial (anti-bacterial) properties, which can help those with acne or skin inflammation. Our Silk Charmeuse Pillowcase contains 18 amino acids and a high copper content, which can restore elasticity to your skin and hair, and reduce fine facial lines.

4. Moisturize, moisturize, moisturize!

For maximum anti-aging benefits, work sleep into your beauty routine. As we learned earlier, overnight is the most effective time to let your skin rejuvenate. During the day, your body is busy fighting environmental stressors, like sunlight, pollution, and extreme temperatures. While you sleep, your body gets a reprieve from the trauma of the elements, and can focus on healing. 

While the focus always seems to be on moisturizing your face at night, don't forget that your body also needs moisture! Slathering on a hand cream before sleep will maximize the benefits of skin renewal during sleep. We love K. Hall's Lavender Hand and Body Cream - not only is it creamy and moisturizing, but the soft lavender scent is scientifically proven to help carry you off into dreamland more easily.