Get Your Beauty Sleep
While you sleep, your skin is working the night shift, repairing and regenerating itself. It’s important to give your skin a helping hand with topical treatments during those crucial nighttime hours when it is most permeable and best able to absorb them.
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It’s common knowledge that the sleep hormone melatonin enhances your rest, but did you know that it also increases your skin’s ability to repair itself from UV and pollution damage incurred during the day? And what’s more, the human growth hormone, HGH, which is responsible for accelerating skin’s repair and cell regeneration, also kicks in at night.
To boost overnight cell rejuvenation, your evening skincare routine should include a night cream and an occasional mask. Night creams are formulated to penetrate deep into the skin over the course of several hours and are richer in texture than day creams. Overnight masks are designed to help ingredients penetrate deeply as you sleep, and to work as a barrier and sealant so the active ingredients don’t evaporate.
Related: Does Your Skin Need Hyaluronic Acid?
Use an overnight mask once or twice a week in place of a moisturizer. Apply at least 20 minutes before bed to give your skin time for the mask to be absorbed—so you don’t end up with more on your pillow than on your face.
Look for a few key ingredients in the night creams and masks you choose. Retinol and retinal, derivatives of vitamin A, boost collagen production and encourage skin-cell renewal. Hyaluronic acid deeply hydrates skin and helps accelerate repair. And the aromatherapeutic benefits of essential oils can aid in a better night’s sleep.
1. End your day with Dr. Mercola Organic Moisturizing Overnight Face Cream.
Shea butter, cupuaçu seed butter, and seabuckthorn fruit oil in this rich cream intensely moisturize. Açai oil, bursting with antioxidants and vitamins C and E, supports collagen production and skin elasticity. Calendula calms skin and helps even skin tone. Lavender oil soothes dry and irritated skin and your senses, promoting relaxation.
2. Repair your skin while your sleep with Derma E Anti-Aging Regenerative Night Cream.
Powerhouse antioxidants, astaxanthin and pycnogenol, minimize fine lines and wrinkles while softening skin. Vitamins A and E, panthenol, and jojoba oil moisturize and replenish skin overnight.
3. Renew your skin overnight with Mychelle Dermaceuticals Remarkable Retinal Night Cream.
Retinal (vitamin A) improves skin tone and texture. Peptides firm skin and reduce the appearance of fine lines and wrinkles. Shea butter hydrates. And monk’s pepper, which comes from the chaste tree, is an astringent and antimicrobial that has the ability to balance your skin’s oil production, making it a potent acne fighter. Note that retinal increases sun sensitivity, so use sunscreen daily.
4. Wake up to smoother, firmer, and brighter skin with John Masters Organics Overnight Facial Mask with Pomegranate & Moroccan Rose.
Pomegranate enzymes and fruit acids improve texture and skin tone. Hyaluronic acid and konjac root extract intensely moisturize throughout the night, helping to smooth fine lines and wrinkles. Moroccan rose oil, rich in vitamins, minerals, and antioxidants, evens skin tone—plus its scent helps soothe you to sleep.
5. Diminish dark spots and sun damage as you doze with Reviva Kojic Acid Brightening Créme.
Kojic acid brightens skin and helps reduce discoloration. The natural oil base of this cream promotes quick absorption of the kojic acid for a fresh face by morning. Be sure to use sunscreen during the day, as kojic acid exfoliates as it lightens.