What Your Skin Is Up to While You Sleep

Your body is clearly up to something when you’re in slumber—you dream of scenarios you would’ve never imagined, you snore, sometimes you might even mutter nonsensical things, scaring your loved ones. But what about your skin? Although your outer shell may look the same past hours, it’s actually behaving differently, so much so that the lack of sleep can truly mess with your complexion goals and anti-aging strategy.

Here are insights to what your skin is up to while your zzz and the reasons why you need to prioritize your sleep.

What Your Skin Is Up to While You Sleep 

Your skin, your body’s largest organ, is constantly working to protect and regenerate itself. During the day, your skin is busy defending itself from enemies: namely, UV rays, pollutants and other free radicals. But at night, it focuses on repairing itself.  

One of the ways it does this is through collagen production. Collagen is
an essential protein that your body produces naturally. It replaces dead skin cells and makes skin firm and elastic. When you’re young, your body produces a lot of collagen—that’s why children and teenagers have such bouncy, uplifted skin. However, sometime in your mid to late 20s, your body stops producing as much. In fact, in your 20s, collagen levels in your body begin to drop by 1 to 2% each year! A study published in Medical Hypotheses found that a lack of sleep can affect your skin’s integrity, including collagen production. Getting an adequate amount of sleep can help your body make collagen to repair itself, helping you look younger.

Another thing skin does while you’re snoozing is to make the hormones melatonin and human growth hormone (hGH). Melatonin helps your body know when to sleep and when to wake. According to a study published in Dermato Endocrinology, “There is considerable evidence for melatonin to be an effective anti-skin aging compound.” Your body produces human growth hormone to help grow and repair your cells. Getting enough sleep can help these necessary hormones do their important jobs.

One not-so-great thing your skin does while you sleep? It loses moisture. Your skin produces an oil called sebum. Too much sebum, and you get acne. Too little, and your face becomes dry and wrinkly looking. Research shows that sebum production is closely tied to your circadian rhythm and is lowest during the night(2). That’s one reason it’s important to use a good moisturizer before you go to sleep. 

Here’s another reason your skin is drier at night: According to a report published in The Dermatologist, “Skin is hotter and more acidic at night than in the daytime.” This makes it more susceptible to moisture loss. Dry skin equals old skin, so moisturizing before bed is a critical part of getting the young, dewy skin you want.

Everyone needs a break, right? That goes for skin too! When you sleep, your skin is taking a break from complexion-ruiners like sunlight and stress. Ultra-violet radiation is one of the worst skin agers. A study published in the Dermatology Online Journal found a link between psychological stress and aging skin. When you sleep, your skin doesn’t have to deal with these immediate dangers.

What Your Skin Needs at Night

To work properly, your skin needs you to get enough sleep—the deep kind. You need to go through all four stages of sleep, the most important stage for skin regeneration being stage 3: deep sleep. High-quality sleep is necessary for your body to release sleep hormones, telling your skin cells to begin their repair work.

Getting low-quality or poor sleep negatively affects how your skin looks—and the people around you can tell! A study from Sweden found that observers correctly identified photos of women who were sleep deprived because of how their faces (and skin) looked.

Make sure you get between seven and nine hours of sleep a night for optimum skin and body health. Clinical studies conducted by Estee Lauder has shown the relationship between poor quality sleep and skin aging. Are you finding it hard to get enough shut-eye? Read this article on the importance of qulaity beauty sleep and tips. Your skin will thank you for it!

How You Can Help Your Skin While You Sleep

What you put into your body before bed is important. Two of the biggest bad guys for your skin and your sleep are alcohol and caffeine.

Many people drink alcohol close to bedtime, thinking it will help them get to sleep. While alcoholic drinks may help you drift off, they actually interrupt the quality of your sleep by causing you to wake more often during the night. A study from Brown University showed that drinking alcohol in the evening could make your body more stimulated rather than ready to wind down. Alcohol also dehydrates you, making your skin look dull and older. 

Consuming caffeine before bed is a no-no, too. Even a cup of coffee or tea several hours before bedtime can really mess with your sleep cycle. A recent study published in the Journal of Clinical Sleep Medicine showed that drinking coffee even six hours before bedtime disrupted sleep. Caffeine is also a source of dehydration for your already-tired skin. 

Of course, topical skincare ingredients will help as well. As we age, our skin needs different things from topical treatments. In your teens and even 20s, your biggest skincare concern might have been acne. Using pore-cleansing ingredients like salicylic acid work well at night since it helps your skin start from a clean canvas as it repairs itself.

As you enter your 30s and beyond, moisturizing becomes more important than ever. Remember: your inner clock tells your skin to produce less oil at night, so replenishing with ingredients like hyaluronic acid (which holds 1,000 times its own weight in water), is key. Also, if you’re using a retinol or alpha hydroxy acid, both of which are highly prized gold-standard anti-aging ingredients, it’s best to apply them at night since most formulas make you more susceptible to the sun.

You can help your body repair your skin by consuming certain ingredients. These include drinkable liquid collagen, elastin, hyaluronic acid, vitamin C, antioxidants, and vitamin B. You could take these as individual supplements, but you’d probably spend all evening popping pills!

If you want a simple way to get all these ingredients, try Taut Premium Collagen Drink. Each serving contains:

Responsibly sourced hydrolyzed marine collagen
• Elastin peptides
• Hyaluronic acid
• Grape seed extract
• Vitamin C
• Antioxidant-packed salmon DNA
• Ceramide
• Vitamin B6

These ingredients help your sleeping skin by giving it what it needs most. Collagen and elastin help with cell regeneration, hyaluronic acid is a powerful moisturizer, ceramide moisturizes and creates a protective barrier and grape seed extract, salmon DNA, vitamin C and vitamin B6 are strong antioxidants. 

Taut Premium Collagen is the perfect nightcap for your skin and it taste delicious! We recommend taking it before bed on an empty stomach, so your body can absorb all these skin-loving ingredients faster while it works on repairs. 

If you want to look younger and more vibrant, you’ve got to get your zzz’s. Help your skin regenerate while you snooze by giving it what it needs on the outside and the inside. Take a shot of Taut, close the blinds, turn off your iPad and clear your mind. You’ll wake up feeling like Sleeping Beauty!