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The No-Sweat Bedtime Skincare Routine (That Works!)

The No-Sweat Bedtime Skincare Routine (That Works!)

Prepping your skin for an awesome night’s sleep is super important – and good news, you don’t need to sweat over it…

Quality skin isn’t solely about what you do in the morning and consequently what you see throughout the day. Of course, an effective morning routine that includes gentle cleansing, moisturizing, treating and protecting your skin is essential and, without it, your complexion would be a far cry from what it is today.

However, what your skin gets up to overnight, and what you do to help or hinder this, is just as important. Maybe even more so. 

While you sleep, your skin kickstarts a whole plethora of damage limitation processes. Not only does blood flow increase to nourish and revitalize the skin, but collagen and elastin production accelerates to boost cell renewal and help keep your skin strong, supple and firm. Your body’s natural antioxidant system also revs up to counteract damage from the slings and arrows of everyday life. Think pollution, UV radiation, sweating, irritants – all of which hit your skin hard while you’re awake. This means your poor, delicate skin needs a serious amount of recovery time if it’s going to look, feel and perform at the top of its game.

Enter the power of a good night’s sleep.

Research shows that people who get regular, quality sleep (around eight hours is the sweet spot) have much better skin than those who sleep less, like five hours. This is because short-sleepers miss out on precious time to allow their skin’s overnight restoration activities to do their magic.

Don’t be like those people. Get. Your. Sleep.

In order to get the most out of your invaluable hours of sleep, it’s vital to start your skin off right. And how do you go about that? Well, you must cleanse away the sins of the day for starters, then it's important to amp up hydration; boost those antioxidants, and protect and nourish your barrier function. Sounds complicated? Ha, that’s where you’re wrong. In fact, the simplest night time skincare routine is often the most effective. Read on for five easy steps for nailing your skin's best beauty sleep ever…

1. The Non-Negotiable Cleanse

Newsflash: cleansing before bed is way more important than a morning cleanse. Think about it, by the end of the day you’ve been awake for a good 16 hours and in this time your skin has been subjected to all manner of aggressors including dirt, pollution, sweat and makeup. Do you really want to leave all that grime on your skin overnight? No way! Not only does this stop your skin from functioning properly, but it’ll also reduce the efficacy of any other skincare product you might apply afterwards.

Whatever your skin type and product preference, the golden rule is to cleanse your skin thoroughly but gently, using a mild formulation and avoiding harsh cleansing agents like sodium lauryl sulfate. Use warm, not hot water to help protect your barrier function; massage your cleanser all over your face and neck for at least a minute, and remember to rinse thoroughly then gently pat dry with a clean towel. Our current go-to is our new Tea Tree Super Cleanser+ but we have three incredible cleansers to choose from right here.

2. The Speedy Spritz That Speaks Volumes

Toner doesn’t have it easy. Some people hate it, others just can’t be bothered. But the thing is, toner is an extremely simple step that can really turn up your bedtime skincare routine an extra notch. Take our Ocean Minerals Super Toner, for example. Not only does it require zero effort (remove lid, spritz on skin, done) but it’s packed with minerals, vitamins, peptides and nourishing ingredients that finish off your cleanse to the nth degree and prepare your skin for the next steps in your routine. Fancy boosting cell turnover, hydration and strengthening your skin in, literally, seconds? It’s a no brainer, right?

3. The Restoration Project

Remember that whole rejuvenation process we spoke of earlier? Well, if you want to give your skin a little nudge in the right direction, you have to get on board with a treatment serum. The exact formulation you choose will obviously depend on your skin type and needs (vitamin C for brightening, hyaluronic acid for hydration etc.) but if you want to stick with the number one ingredient for overnight skin restoration, look no further than retinol.

Retinol’s secret is its ability to ‘communicate’ with your skin at a cellular level, accelerating the production of collagen and elastin, improving cell turnover and being an overall demon at strengthening your skin while increasing elasticity and refining everything from lines and wrinkles to dark spots and acne breakouts.

Retinol is often advised for night time use only as it's pretty potent stuff. It also reacts to sunlight, becoming less effective unless you protect your skin extremely well. So bed time is the best time, people!

Try our Retinol Facial Serum for a fabulous overnight skin revamp, but remember to go slow, applying it just two or three times a week to begin with.

 

4. The Treatment For Your Eyes

If you’ve ever had a rough night’s sleep you’ll know that the skin around your eyes is the first area to give the game away. How so? Because it’s thinner, more delicate and contains fewer sebaceous glands than the rest of your face so it becomes dry and shows up fine lines and wrinkles lightning fast.

A lack of sleep also causes the blood vessels under the skin to dilate which increases blood retention and creates dark circles. And we're not done yet. An abundance of cortisol in your system (the stress hormone that goes awry if you don’t get enough sleep) also changes the balance of salts in your body which makes it retain water and can result in swelling under your eyes. Hello puffy eye bags!

The moral of this story? Get your zzzs and help the skin around your eyes look after itself by applying a targeted treatment before bed. We love Hyaluronic Acid Eye Cream which blends HA with vitamin C to hydrate and brighten dark circles, plus vitamin B5 to strengthen and moisturize.

5. The Moisture Lock-In

Sure, your regular moisturizer will do a decent job of locking in hydration and keeping your barrier function ticking along nicely as you sleep. But is ‘decent’ good enough? We don’t think so. Instead, do the best for your skin by applying a targeted night cream that boasts all the ingredients your skin could possibly need to replenish moisture and support its overnight renewal system.

Vitamin C Deep Hydration Night Cream is an awesome way to end your night time routine and will have your skin looking incredible the next morning. Chock full of supportive ingredients like vitamin C, vitamin B5, MSM and aloe it’s the ideal formulation for the night shift. Plus it seals moisture into your skin to help replace that which is lost as you sleep (which is way more than in the daytime, btw!). Oh, and it feels amazing to apply. Yeah yeah, we know that’s not the most important thing in a skincare product, but it’s important to us.

And we know it’s just as important to you!

More About This Article

Georgia Gould

Georgia Gould

Georgia is an award-winning beauty writer who has been in the business for over 20 years. British-born, she began her career as a magazine beauty editor in London before moving to San Francisco, CA in 2012 where she now continues her love as a freelance writer and editor. As well as her editorial work, Georgia has created content for many high-profile beauty brands, including Clarins, L’Oréal, Procter & Gamble, Simple and TRESemmé. Her passions include retinol (obviously), golfing, skiing and walking her beloved Schnauzer, Dave.

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