5 Ways Sleepless Nights Are Showing On Your Face

Instead of yearning for some good old-fashioned slumber, make sleep a priority and ensure that your body, mind, and soul are at ease so you can rest and feel rejuvenated.

Of course, one bad night’s sleep here and there may leave you tired, cranky, and with a complexion that just doesn’t seem as bright and alive come morning. But when sleepless nights become more habitual than intended, the negative skin side effects of sleeplessness start to kick in. If you get less than the recommended eight hours of sleep per night, here’s how it can affect the way your skin looks and feels.

1. Your skin can look dull.

When we sleep, the body uses this time to regenerate and rejuvenate, and if it can’t, the skin can easily become malnourished. Sleep is also essential for keeping healthy blood flow through the skin and assisting in cell renewal so that your complexion looks glowy, bright and reinvigorated.

2. Your skin can become dry and even dehydrated.

A lack of sleep can cause the complexion to become dry and dehydrated since the body can’t create proper moisture. When hydration levels dip, the skin can look and feel dehydrated, lackluster and less elastic. Plus, drier skin tends to display more obvious signs of aging, especially fine lines and wrinkles.

3. Your skin can become imbalanced and breakouts may begin to pop up.

A lack of sleep negatively affects the immune system, and when our immunity levels aren’t working at high enough levels, the skin is more susceptible to producing the bacteria that leads to breakouts. Plus, a lack of sleep actually increases cortisol (the stress hormone) levels, causing breakouts to ensue.

4. Your skin’s pH levels can drop.

Yes, we hear lots about our skin’s pH levels and how important they are for healthy skin. But truth be told, pH levels have such a profound impact on the skin’s moisture content, which is why everything and anything that creates a less-than-ideal skin mantle results in dry, lackluster skin. A drop in pH levels hinders the skin’s ability to properly produce necessary moisture causing the skin to look and feel dry.

Another reason why normal skin pH is important is that a well-maintained skin barrier serves double duty as an extra layer of protection, too. Compromised skin barriers are not able to mitigate irritants, toxins, and other damaging agents can harm the skin. 

5. You’ll start to develop heavy-looking eyes and dark under-eye circles.

Perhaps the most commonly noticed side effect from a lack of sleep is tired-looking eyes. When the body is deprived of proper rest, the blood vessels dilate, which causes a pooling of blood under the eyes leading to darkness and shadows. Studies show that in those that are sleep deprived, the area around the eyes and cheeks shows increased water loss, too.

To combat restless nights and get the beauty sleep you need every night without that hangover feeling in the morning, reach for MindYourMind melatonin-free stress and sleep supplement.