Make the most of your downtime with skincare that works while you sleep
With the festive season now in full swing, chances are the number of hours you’re logging under the doona are dwindling. That’s bad news not just for your energy levels but also for your skin.
“A lack of sleep will impact on every organ of the body, and as skin is our only visible organ, often tiredness shows up here first,” Richard Parker, founder, CEO and head of R&D of Rationale, explains. Cue the dull complexion, dark under-eye circles, blemishes and dryness. But what’s happening below the surface?
During the day, skin is busy defending itself against external aggressors including pollution and free radicals, while at night “it works hard to repair the damage done during the day”, Parker says. This rejuvenation of replacing older, defective cells with newer ones is carried out by the parasympathetic system, also known as the relax and renew response, which is responsible for bringing the body back to a balanced state.
Studies on the relationship between sleep and skin have previously revealed that a lack of shut-eye can induce inflammation, which can lead to wrinkles and impede the immune system – and this can affect collagen formation (production is usually increased at night).
Earlier this year, the results of an Estée Lauder-commissioned clinical trial from the University Hospitals Case Medical Center in the US conclusively demonstrated that a chronic lack of sleep correlated with reduced skin health and accelerated skin ageing. Participants who slept less than five hours a night had more fines lines, pigmentation and dryness (plus a negative self-perception) than those who had a good night’s sleep, which is agreed by experts to be seven or more hours each night.
As part of its natural, 24-hour circadian rhythm, skin has the highest levels of cell turnover and blood flow in the evening, making it more permeable and responsive to active ingredients that enhance the regeneration cycle. Glycolic and hyaluronic acids in particular can help create plumper, more elastic skin, and reduce the appearance of fine lines.
5 of the best overnight skincare products
1. Skin may become drier overnight because external temperatures and humidity are often lower, as is barrier function, which can cause transepidermal water loss (when water evaporates from the skin into the surrounding atmosphere). Clinique’s leave-on, oil-free Moisture Surge Overnight Mask hydrates skin immediately and throughout the night, and can help improve barrier strength to resist dehydration in the long run.
2. Philosophy’s PM version of its cult moisturiser, Hope in a Jar Night, delivers glycolic acid deep into the dermis and gradually releases it throughout the night, helping to smooth skin’s texture and plump fine lines.
3. Chanel determined that skin is most active between 11pm and 4am, and formulated La Nuit de Chanel with frankincense extracts and time-released hyaluronic acid to promote plumper, more elastic skin.
4. Estée Lauder’s reformulated Advanced Night Repair Synchronized Recovery Complex II was prompted by studies showing that the skin cells’ natural purification process, called catabolysis, peaks at night, but can be hampered by a lack of sleep. With a cocktail of active ingredients, including algae and yeast extract, the serum assists the catabolysis process to help cells perform effectively and efficiently, and keep the complexion clear.
5. With an enzyme system that’s derived predominantly from papaya, AUM Anti Age Organics Regenerating Night Cream helps dissolve mature and damaged skin to make way for the fresher, newer skin beneath.
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