While expensive creams and serums might promise to work miracles on your skin, the one ingredient in a holistic skincare routine that will always deliver results is quality sleep to get those beauty ZZZs.

Getting sufficient quality sleep is essential to healthy, vibrant, naturally radiant skin, and supports all the other steps you take with your diet, exercise and skincare regimens.

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Revitalise skin cells

Sleep is a highly restorative state as various process happen overnight that support cellular health, including repair, regeneration and detoxification.

  1. Cellular repair and regeneration: As you slip off into slumberland, your body enters repair mode. During deep sleep, growth hormone production increases, stimulating collagen production, which is the foundation of youthful, plump skin. Additionally, skin cell turnover accelerates, replacing damaged cells with new, healthy ones.
  2. Inflammation reduction: Restful sleep can help to counteract the effects that the stress hormone cortisol has on our skin by keeping inflammation in check, which may prevent breakouts and skin sensitivity.
  3. Enhanced blood flow: While you sleep, your blood vessels dilate, which improves blood flow to the skin, delivering the essential nutrients and oxygen your skin cells need to promote a healthy glow and remove waste products like toxins that can clog pores.
  4. Moisture balance: Adequate sleep regulates the production of natural moisturising factors (NMFs), which help keep your skin hydrated and supple, and maintain cell structure.

The optimal sleep equation

Knowing that you need to sleep better for better skin is all good and well, but what exactly constitutes quality sleep?

Restorative sleep that rejuvenates and revitalises skin is about quality and quantity! We need to spend sufficient time asleep every night – between 7 to 9 hours – but this is only part of the restorative sleep equation.

We also need to spend adequate time in each sleep phase or stage to get proper quality sleep that restores and rebuilds.

We cycle through the various distinct stages or phases several times a night, with the first three encompassing the non-rapid eye movement (NREM) sleep phase while the fourth stage occurs during the rapid eye movement (REM) sleep phase.

Your body is most relaxed during the REM sleep stage. This is when the rebuilding and repair process peaks, which helps to rejuvenate your body, including your skin and other organs. As such, spending sufficient time in REM sleep will ensure you get the most benefit from your time spent in bed each night.

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Getting better sleep

Improving sleep quality and duration begins by increasing your melatonin levels. This hormone regulates your circadian rhythm, which governs our wake-sleep cycle. You produce more melatonin when exposed to darkness.

As such, avoiding screens before bed and going to sleep in a dark room that has no artificial light can help you fall asleep faster, and can help you drop into deeper sleep cycles quicker.

Spending more time in sunlight during the day is another way to naturally increase melatonin production at night.

Other helpful sleep hygiene tips that can clean up your sleep routine include:

  • Keep your bedroom at a cool (not cold) temperature to reduce body temperature quicker to induce sleep faster.
  • Establish a regular bed time and wake up at roughly the same time every morning – your body thrives on a a regular routine.
  • Avoid intense exercise and stimulants like caffeine late in the evening before bed.
  • Invest in a good quality mattress and pillow for ergonomic support and more comfortable sleep.

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Sleep support supplements

While not a substitute for good sleep hygiene, certain supplements can also provide additional support: For example, Biogen RE | NU Beauty Sleep is designed to help you unwind and de-stress as each serving contains valerian and vitamin B6 to support healthy sleep and rejuvenation.

Vitamin B6 also helps to reduce tiredness and fatigue by enhancing energy production and mood while the combination of passionflower, valerian and lemon balm may support mental relaxation.

Additional supplements to consider that may support better beauty sleep include:

  • Biogen Slow Release Magnesium: This mineral relaxes muscles and aids in stress management, promoting better sleep.
  • Biogen CBD Sleep 600mg: A source of antioxidants that may assist with the relief of restlessness and sleeplessness. 
  • Biogen Sure Sleep: Provides a subtle calming effect, acting as a natural sleep aid with no lingering tiredness the next day. 

Embrace the power of sleep

Prioritising restful sleep is not just about feeling refreshed every morning. It’s an investment in your overall health and the key to unlocking your skin’s natural radiance. By combining adequate sleep with a holistic skincare routine, you can achieve a vibrant complexion that reflects your inner beauty and radiates health.