Have you had your Beauty Sleep?

Sleeping is what our bodies need to be able recuperate and cells to regenerate, muscles to relax and our minds to switch off from the stresses of daily life. When we sleep our bodies are actually working really hard to support healthy brain function and a strong physical health and it is recommended we all get 7-8 hours sleep each day for our bodies to perform in the perfect way.

We may sometimes think we can cope with less sleep, we may be up all night working on a project or even worrying about a project, cramming in hours of work and endless cups of coffee to try and meet a deadline, but when all is said and done, the next day all we are left with are dark circles under our eyes, dry or blotchy skin, that feeling of dehydration reaching all the way from our heads to our stomachs and the intense need to go back to bed and get some shut eye!

It can have such a negative affect on our social lives, our family lives and our mind set once we have broken a good routine and can leave us, well, just feeling a little off and then it can take time just to find the energy to get back into that routine and stay in it again.

Sleep is our friend, and we should embrace it as it will only help us if we let it. So maybe it’s time to cut the caffeine and aim to go to bed a little earlier each night and maybe if we can see the benefits in such a short time frame (because it actually happens really fast!) we may just stick to a routine that helps us feel and look great all at the same time.

Our bodies are all naturally synced up to their own internal body clocks that are affected by what happens to us during the day. It can be affected by how light it is outside to how dark it is, the foods we consume and how active we have been during the day. Even inactivity for long periods of time can make us feel sleepy as our bodies feel relaxed and it can almost trick our body clocks to feel like it may be time for bed.

While we are asleep a lot is happening in our brains to prepare them for the next day. After a good night sleep we find we are more alert and able to make decisions quickly and more easily and we are in more control of our emotions and behaviour. As well as this, our physical states are being repaired as blood vessels and cells rejuvenate and put our bodies in a stronger position.

Sleep is our bodies natural defence mechanism, acting as a barrier against illnesses that can cause inflammation and infections, there is a reason when we are ill that we get told to go to bed and get a good night’s rest, as this is when or bodies are doing everything to fight infection so we wake up feeling a little better than before.

When we are sleep deprived, our bodies produce more of the hormone, cortisol that not only causes stress on our minds but also our skin, which is why we can wake up with skin feeling and looking more blotchy than usual, and our eyes all red and puffy. So sleep is really important for us to have healthy looking skin at all times.

But we can give sleep a helping hand! In order to look our best, there are things we can do before we go to bed to really make that healthy glow stick around every-time we wake up.

Sleeping is about relaxing, our minds shutting off from the world and letting ourselves rest after a long day. But what about when we are active when we sleep? We may move around, turn from side to side, fidget or unluckily, have someone fidget next to you! So in order to get the full benefit of a good night’s rest, you should try to make sure your pre-sleeping routine is something that can help you fully switch off and help your body’s natural defences start to kick in.

Body Cleansing – Having a good cleansing routine before bed ensures your skin stays fresh and blemish free so you don’t wake up with any nasty surprises in the morning. There is always the debate of whether you should shower at night or in the morning – personally, I’m all for a nice hot, relaxing bath at night and a cool, refreshing shower in the morning – but as long as you are making space for cleansing then you are on the right track.

Facial Cleansing - Focusing on facial cleansing is very important. The skin on your face collects sweat and oils throughout the day and this is still true for those don’t wear makeup, daily environmental factors can mean your face is always exposed to dirt and pollution and this can build and build eventually causing inflammation under the skin. To avoid breakouts and irritation, giving your face a good scrub at the end of the day will help you wake up with clearer and smoother skin.

It is also good practice to give your face a good splash in the morning too, as dirt and sweat can gather on your pillowcases, which can start the cycle all over again, especially if you are putting makeup straight on over it.

Water Temperature – The skin on your face is very sensitive as in most parts, it is thinner than anywhere else on the body, it is also the most exposed and takes a lot of pressure from us each day! So hot water is not great when it comes to our facial skin and we should opt for warm or cooler water to wash it daily. Our face produces natural oils that are good and healthy for the skin and really hot water can strip these oils away and dry our skin out and assist with blemishes.

Beauty sleep starts before you have even gone to bed, so follow the right cleansing routine and you can definitely sleep easy!

Moisturising out skin is essential whether we have a great balanced skin type or not. There are thousands of creams, lotions and home-made remedies that people swear by and it is important not to get caught up in any fads that are fashionable right now without checking to see if your skin type can benefit from it. Before we go to bed, the way we treat our skin can determine what happens while we sleep and if we wake up with radiant and youthful looking skin. The chances are, if you have not been following the correct skin care routine, you will have woken up more than a few times with excess oil, or perhaps the complete opposite and dry and older looking skin.

Oily Skin – Having oily skin is a blessing and a curse all at the same time. Skin that produces more sebum tends to be high in moisture naturally and can be smoother in appearance and looking plumper without the help of collagen based moisturising creams. But its drawbacks are the obvious: Feeling constantly caked or heavy in grease and 'oil'. Makeup tends not to stay in place, dealing with shine and almost sweat-like textures on your skin can take its toll, so it is important to go with a light, oil-free moisturiser before bed so that you can benefit from the radiant looking skin and not wake up with a pillow covered in grease.

Dry Skin – People with dry skin find themselves in a constant battle to hydrate their faces so that it doesn’t look or feel cracked. Lines tend to show up at the worst times and never disappear and having flaky skin can be hard on a person’s mindful wellbeing. Products to apply before bed should involve ingredients that keep on working as you go to sleep and until you wake up. Coconut oil and jojoba oil are hard-working and invite moisture and hydration throughout the night so you don’t have one less thing to worry about.

Sensitive Skin – People with sensitive skin have to take real care with moisturising routines, especially before bedtime. Eczema and other skin conditions can be made worse with the wrong kind of moisturising lotions and can invite flare ups overnight which is not what a good night’s sleep entails. Aloe Vera and chamomile have calming, and anti-inflammatory qualities so are good ingredients to try for sensitive skin. Avoid perfumed or scented creams as they are also not helpful and can really bring on dry and irritated skin.

Moisturise well and grab that good night’s beauty sleep you deserve, and your skin will thank you for it the next day!

I don’t know about you but the older I get the more I really appreciate a great night sleep in a comfy bed with a soothing cup of tea and a good book to send me off to the land of Zs. It will help you wake up feeling refreshed if you have set the scene for your good night sleep, which will also help you look great and keep that youthful glow even as the days, nights and years creep up on you.

So what can you do to make sure you are sound asleep in the land of nod and not up until four in the morning counting sheep?

Put the phone down – Our phones rule our daily lives now, with so many options on them from apps to games to group chats, phones are no longer devices we use to solely connect to other people by speaking to them. So it can become a routine or even an addiction to check the phone one last time, or play just one more game. The artificial blue lights that are emitted from our phones can actually be quite harmful to us in the way it disturbs our body’s natural rhythm and confuses our internal clock. It can actually be the reason you can’t get to sleep, even if you are beyond tired.

Aside from that, you want your body to be ready to sleep, and not thinking or worrying about something, so it is a great idea to set the scene an hour before bedtime by putting your phone or laptop down and letting your body start to feel naturally tired without the added stress. Choose the good night sleep over the blue light every time and you will start to really appreciate the feeling of being refreshed in the morning.

Eat at the right time – Food doesn’t digest well when we sleep, so eating at the right time can be the difference between waking up feeling groggy and full, to feeling refreshed and ready for a good, healthy breakfast. When you eat your main evening meal, make sure it is a few hours at least before you intend to go to bed. For a lot of people, daily routines are not possible, especially with shift work or a busy family life so planning in main evening meals to coincide with out sleeping pattern can seem impossible. Solutions to this are to eat or drink food types that promote healthy sleep such as snacks like honey and almonds or chamomile tea.

So where it isn’t possible to get that healthy meal in after work, thing about snacking on foods that won’t keep you alert at all hours of the day!

Apart from the fact that getting a great night sleep can help you look and feel refreshed, it is also time that we can use wisely instead of wasting those precious hours doing nothing. Once we have nailed the perfect night’s sleep, we can move to the next level and start to really use sleep to its full advantage by repairing damaged lips, getting longer eyelashes and fuller eyebrows. How? Well, the answer is simple.

Eyelashes go through their own natural growth cycle which lasts somewhere in the region of 90-100 days. They grow (at different times, of course) and they fall out when the follicle’s cycle comes to an end. We may all be used to having different lengths, different thickness or fullness in our own eyelashes but now we are able to use eyelash growth serums to give the cycle a boost and help each eyelash grow back thicker and darker in the process.

Xlash Eyelash Serum is a fantastic option as it is designed to work at night while we sleep. This is great news for everyone who is after the secret to beauty sleep as it requires no work to get the results. Once you have completed your nightly cleansing routine, all it takes is just a sweep of the brush with a nice amount of serum on across the upper lash line and then let it soak in and do the work while you get some sleep. Its brilliant as it uses natural ingredients that work with the hair follicle and doesn’t dry out the skin so in just a mere few weeks, your beauty sleep will have paid off!

In the same way that eyelash growth works, our eyebrows can be put through their paces and need a little TLC in order to maintain or even get back their thicker and fuller appearance. With time and age, our eyebrows can start to thin out and have a lack-lustre appearance. This can be down to excessive cleansing as well, especially now that it is more common to use make up to fill in our tint our eyebrows. The growth cycle tends to differ and sometimes the individual hairs can grow back in thinner, if at all.

So instead of picking up the tweezers, give your eyebrows a rest and instead pick up an eyebrow conditioner that is designed to transform your eyebrows and give them that thicker look you once had. Xbrow Eyebrow Conditioner is designed to do just that. Before you go to bed, use a little serum on the wand to brush across your eyebrows in the direction on your hair growth, let it soak in, then go get yourself a worry-free night sleep!

The results with this serum are fast working and in a couple of weeks, you should start to notice the difference. After a month you will be able to see the hairs looking darker and appearing a lot fuller, as it encourages the follicles to work to your advantage. It makes you wonder, if we can achieve beauty enhancements while we sleep, why haven’t we been doing this the whole time?! Well, now you have the secrets to great eyelashes and eyebrows, is there more we can do to enhance our features while we catch some shut eye?

The skin on our lips is the thinnest on our face. They get their lovely pink hue from the activity in the blood vessels beneath the skin and can be a tell-tale sign of when something is wrong with us. If they are dry or pale, they highlight dehydration and it probably means you need to reach for a fresh bottle of water and less of the salty foods and sugary drinks. Lips that are smooth in appearance have a better indicator to our health and can become damaged very easily. Sunburn is very common as a lot of people always forget to protect their lips when applying sun creams to the rest of their body. Sore skin on the lips can be because they are dry and not moisturised so it is a fantastic idea to use your 40 winks to get some repairs done. Even if your lips are in good health you can use a lip repairing serum to make sure they stay that way.

Xlips EGF Intensive Care Lip Balm does just that. It helps to hydrate your lips overnight and keep them moist without the stick residue that will feel like you are caked in heavy lipstick all night. The good thing is it gets to work quickly so you can feel and see the effects by the time you wake up in the morning. Worth a shot, right?

So, after learning a bit more about how sleep helps our bodies and our minds, there can be more to it than just feeling refreshed in the morning. By going to bed just that little bit earlier, ensuring your sleeping space is inviting and comfortable, unplugging from the world and adopting the perfect cleansing and moisturising routine, you can start to feel and look younger by doing nothing at all except for lying down, closing your eyes and drifting off.

Then by adding some beauty enhancing serums into the mix, with little effort apart from the brush of a wand, you can hopefully see that sleep is your friend and you can definitely be the best version of yourself without paying through the roof for cosmetic enhancements and without putting up with the pain involved with that.

Beauty sleep is definitely not a myth, it is a thing to be cherished and nurtured, and I am definitely up for looking and feeling a little better each morning. Time to go get some much-deserved sleep!