\nDermatologists explain exactly what’s happening to your skin while you sleep, and how you can use that understanding to get clear skin.\n
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You know a good night\u2019s sleep is necessary to feel well-rested and refreshed in the morning. Sleep is also important when it comes to skin health. In a small study published in the Royal Society Open Science, researchers found perceived attractiveness, health, sleepiness, and trustworthiness were rated lower among people who had restricted sleep for two days. In other words, a few nights of poor sleep made the sleep-deprived appear less attractive and healthy to others.\n
So, what exactly is happening to your skin while you sleep? And what does a lack of sleep do to it? Dermatologists discuss how the skin rejuvenates itself during sleep and what you can do to achieve healthy, clear skin.\n
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You likely have a good idea of how sleep affects the body, but do you know that skin cells go into makeover mode while you sleep? Several studies, including research published in the Journal of Drugs in Dermatology, suggest skin cell growth and repair happens in the evening. \u201cThat\u2019s when cell mitosis\u2014cell division that renews and repairs skin\u2014is at its peak, whether you\u2019re asleep or not,\u201d says Dennis Gross, MD, New York City-based dermatologist and founder of Dr. Dennis Gross Skincare. \u201cThis is when cells need nutrients the most, and when their anti-aging benefits have maximum impact.\u201d\n
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During renewal, the mode is when you\u2019ll get maximum impact from your anti-aging ingredients. \u201cPut the heavy hitters on at night, like retinol and glycolic acid,\u201d says Mona Gohara, MD, associate clinical professor of dermatology at Yale School of Medicine.\n
Another reason to apply retinol at night is that sunlight can break down its active ingredients, causing irritation, and also make you more sensitive to sun damage. To minimize the risk of irritation, Dr. Gohara suggests alternating retinol and glycolic products, and always make sure you apply sunscreen in the morning.\n
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Skin sebum (oil) excretion peaks at midday, and there is less sebum production at night, according to Sonoa Au, MD, of Advanced Dermatology, P.C. in Brooklyn, New York. You lose more water overnight when you don\u2019t have a protective layer of natural oils on your skin. Losing water from the skin is called transepidermal water loss, and it happens toward the end of the day and into the night. It\u2019s important to replenish the water loss with moisturizers overnight to promote healthy, clear skin, Dr. Au suggests.\n
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When you sleep, your skin becomes slightly hotter and slightly more acidic, says Dr. Au. \u201cThose factors contribute to slightly drier skin. That\u2019s why dermatologists often recommend putting on a heavier cream at night, but it depends on your skin type.\u201d If you have oily skin, she adds, you don\u2019t want to put on something that\u2019s too thick because it could cause acne or cysts.\n
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The amount of sleep you get can impact your levels of cortisol or stress hormones. If you don\u2019t get enough sleep, it can show up on your face. \u201cIt\u2019s important to respect the sleep-beauty connection,\u201d says Dr. Gohara. \u201cNot sleeping increases your cortisol levels and puts your skin in a pro-inflammatory state.\u201d Poor sleep will cause your skin to look sullen, and you may experience puffiness around the eyes if you\u2019re retaining water.\n
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\u201cIf you\u2019re under a lot of stress, it can cause inflammation, which can lead to acne,\u201d says Dr. Au. \u201cThat\u2019s the association between constant stress and the reaction of your skin,\u201d she says. So when you\u2019re in a calm resting state and sleeping, your body isn\u2019t experiencing those inflammatory fluctuations that may lead to breakouts and prevent you from having clear skin.\n
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There\u2019s a reason you don\u2019t have to wear sunscreen after dark. \u201cAt night, there\u2019s no UV damage, no environmental stresses, pollutants, no cigarette smoke, no big changes in temperature, and you\u2019re not wearing makeup,\u201d says Dr. Au. \u201cAll of these things happening at night means your skin has more time to rest and rejuvenate.\u201d\n
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Whether you\u2019re applying bleaching creams (hydroquinone) alone or with retinoids (tretinoin) to fade age spots on the skin, make sure you\u2019re doing that before you go to bed, suggests Dr. Au. During the day, when you\u2019re in the sun, UV light causes an increase in melanin production, which results in pigment changes and darker color, counteracting what the products are designed to do.\n
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If you sleep on your side, that is. \u201cSleep position is important,\u201d Dr. Gohara says. Sleep on your back to the best of your ability to avoid getting creases on one side of your face. Make sure your head is elevated too so excess fluid has a chance to drain, and you don\u2019t wake up looking puffy.\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Dermatologists explain exactly what’s happening to your skin while you sleep, and how you can use that understanding to get clear skin. Beauty sleep for clear skin You know a good night\u2019s sleep is necessary to feel well-rested and refreshed in the morning. Sleep is also important when it comes to skin health. In a\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":12544,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_seopress_robots_primary_cat":"","_seopress_titles_title":"","_seopress_titles_desc":"Dermatologists explain exactly what's happening to your skin while you sleep, and how you can use that understanding to get clear skin.","_seopress_robots_index":"","_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[21],"tags":[101,110,115,179],"class_list":{"0":"post-12542","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-tie-life-style","8":"tag-beauty-tip","9":"tag-healthy-life","10":"tag-healthy-lifestyle","11":"tag-sleep"},"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/inovatestory.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/08\/skin-while-sleep.png","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/inovatestory.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12542","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/inovatestory.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/inovatestory.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/inovatestory.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/inovatestory.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=12542"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/inovatestory.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12542\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/inovatestory.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/12544"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/inovatestory.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=12542"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/inovatestory.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=12542"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/inovatestory.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=12542"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}