We might say it as a little joke, but we really do need our beauty sleep. In fact, if you don’t get enough sleep, you can find yourself fighting all kinds of problems. Here, we’re going to look at some of the unfortunate effects of sleepless nights, and what you can do to fight them.
Drab, lifeless skin
One of the most noticeable effects of sleep deprivation is that it can diminish the flow of blood to your face and cheeks. As a result, your cheeks won’t have the bright slow they’re supposed to and your glowing complexion will become ashen and dull over time. Scrubbing the skin with things like exfoliating gloves can help refresh and revitalize the skin a little, but that won’t solve the circulation problem.
Puffy, darker eyes
We’re not talking about the dark kind of smoky look you might be trying to achieve, either. Too little sleep can produce eye bags and dark circles just as easily as too much sleep. A cold compress can help to reduce the dark circles, while the bags might be caused over time by a loss of collagen. There are anti-aging eye serums that can target the signs of aging under the eyes, including that sag, and help to fight back against them.
More wrinkles
Just as with the eyes, our skin can suffer due to a lack of collagen. This can happen because collagen is produced when we sleep so, when we don’t sleep, we get sagging. Treatments like a Dermaplane facial can help to reduce the signs of aging, alongside products that are designed to help enhance the production of collagen in the skin. But if you get more sleep in the night, you are likely to have fewer wrinkles, as a rule.
Dryer, brittler hair
As mentioned, sleep helps our blood flow, particularly in reaching our face and head. This blood carries nutrients, vitamins, and minerals to the hair if it’s allowed to. If we don’t get enough sleep, this doesn’t happen, and hair can get weaker, leading to loss and breakage. You can use healthy hair nutrients to try and supplement their growth, but without the blood flow to get the nutrients where they need to go, it won’t be as effective.
Joint and back pain
It may not sound quite as important to your beauty routine, but a bad posture due to back pain can affect your self-confidence as deeply as any wrinkle. The body produces more cortisol, the stress hormone when we’re low on sleep. This tension can affect our joints and back, causing pain that can become chronic if we’re not proactive in managing it. Sleep deprivation has been known to be linked to inflammation as well, which also contributes to joint and back pain.
Never leave a sleep problem unaddressed for too long. It can affect you in ways much more than skin deep. Stress and sleep are very deeply associated, so if you’re having a tough time of it, try to treat yourself with a lie-in.
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