10 Beauty Benefits of a Good Night's Sleep ...

The benefits of a good night’s sleep start with giving us beautiful, bright eyes! If you want to avoid spending your morning trying to camouflage dark circles, puffy or bloodshot eyes and under eye bags, try heading to bed a little early the night before to make sure you give yourself enough sleep!

We all want silky, smooth skin but we can’t expect our skin to look its best when we’re constantly burning the midnight oil! The occasional sleepless night isn’t a biggie but frequently missing out on quality sleep can cause some ugly side effects on our skin! Allowing ourselves to get enough sleep each night ensures that our skin cells can regenerate and our facial muscles all get a breather!

If you’re looking to slim down, making sure you get at least 6-8 hours of sleep each night should be on your list of to-dos! University of Chicago researchers found that people on a diet who were well rested lost more fat whereas those who weren’t well rested lost precious muscle mass - yikes!

A fabulous beauty benefit of sleep is that it can help lower our levels of stress! I think we all know that our bodies do not react favorably when we're frequently stressed! Stress can wreak havoc on our appearance by aggravating skin conditions. That's why it’s key to get plenty of shut-eye and allow our bodies to rejuvenate so that we can wake up looking and feeling refreshed!

I bet you’re wondering what a healthy immune system has to do with beauty… Well, although it might seem like our health and beauty are totally separate things, a suppressed immune system can mean bad news for our skin! According to dermatologist Dr. Howard Murad, a lack of sleep can lead to rashes and even eczema in some extreme cases.

Acne is one of the most frustrating skin concerns and who knew we could take such an active role in prevention! Getting proper sleep can help prevent inflammation and insulin resistance which are both major players in acne. Well-rested skin is better able to fight off infections and help skin clear up faster so when you snooze, you win!

According to WebMD, getting enough sleep is also responsible for helping us maintain a healthy head of hair! There are some hair loss conditions that are actually linked to worn-out immune systems that were caused by a lack of sleep. Sleep also ensures that we get optimal melatonin and cortisol levels to keep our hair looking shiny and full of body!

We spend a lot of our time, money and energy preventing the signs of aging. One super affordable and simple solution to smooth, supple skin is to sleep! When we’re sleeping, our bodies repair cells that have been damaged by the sun or the environment. Another cool thing that happens when we’re asleep is that our bodies produce HGH or human growth hormone which helps skin maintain its elasticity for supple skin!

A little-known beauty benefit of sleep is that it can help our skin strengthen itself against environmental pollutants and chemicals. Stressed-out and sleep deprived skin has been known to be more sensitive and prone to irritation. Getting sufficient sleep each night might seem like a chore when we’re so busy but we’ve gotta make it top priority in order to protect our skin!

I wasn’t aware of this last beauty benefit of sleeping but sleep actually helps our skin stay hydrated so that we avoid waking up looking dehydrated, dull and washed-out. Skimping on sleep can hamper with hydration and cell renewal. Get a full night’s rest to get the refreshed glow from within!

The beauty benefits of a good night's sleep are numerous and very important to not only our appearance, but our health. If you find yourself feeling tired, lacking focus and looking fatigued, do yourself a big favor by taking a nap and making it a priority to schedule 6-8 hours of sleep every night! Have you witnessed the signs of not getting enough sleep?