It really is beauty sleep

Adults need 7-9 hours sleep a night. When you sleep, your body recharges, so you wake up feeling refreshed and revitalised and ready to take on the day.

If you repeatedly don’t get enough sleep, it shows in your face: dark circles under your eyes and poor skin condition. During the night, your skin’s natural replenishing and repairing cycle is active. If you want to look fresh as a daisy, make sure you get enough sleep each night because it's a powerful beauty treatment.

Here are some of our top tips for switching off, unwinding and getting a good night’s sleep.

1. Have a regular routine

It supports your body clock if you go to bed and get up at the same time each day. Your evening skin ritual of cleansing, toning and revitalising supports your evening routine, wind down and relax in readiness for bed as well.

2. Make lists

Create a list of any jobs that will need to be done the following day. Any thoughts you may have write them down, rather than keep mulling them over in your mind. Use Reminders on your phone, then you don’t have to worry about all the things you need to remember.

3. Avoid alcohol, caffeine and sugar

All are stimulants so perhaps a small wine with dinner and/or a cup of weak tea after dinner, no coffee. Any later drink a chamomile tea instead, and no late night sweets.

4. Bedroom

Bedroom temperature should neither be too hot or too cold, around 18 degrees is optimum. Your bedroom needs to be dark and quiet. Your bed needs to be cosy and fabulous.

5. Daily exercise

Exercise, particularly in fresh air aids a good night’s sleep, as does yoga, tai chi, meditation.

6. Resolve

Resolve any issues before bedtime, it’s important to go to bed in a peaceful frame of mind.

7. Technology

The screens of devices such as tablets and smartphones emit what is known as blue light. All light can suppress the secretion of melatonin – the hormone that controls our day-night cycles – in the evening and night-time, but blue light has a particularly pronounced effect and studies have shown that it’s best avoided at night. One such study has found 2 hours on a device lowers melatonin (brain’s body clock hormone) levels by 22% so…

a) No technology 2 hours before bedtime - ok, at the very least one hour then.

b) iOS has a Night Shift function. Go into SETTINGS > DISPLAY & BRIGHTNESS > NIGHT SHIFT > SCHEDULED usually 8pm to 6am, and this function automatically warms your phone’s screen colour during those hours.

c) Make your bedroom no device zone – no phone, computer, tablet or television.

d) Read a book instead, or use an e-reader that isn’t backlit, but illuminated from the front with LED such as Kindle Paperwhite are quite different from the blue light omitted from many other devices.

A recent study found reading reduced stress by a whopping 68%.

8. Calming Moor Lavender

a) We recommend a relaxing bath with Epsom Salts (magnesium) and Moor Lavender Calming Bath Essence.

b) You may also use Moor Lavender Calming Bath Essence in your compressing and hydrating basin water when you’re getting preparing for your evening facial cleanse. When you’re holding the compress around your face inhale deeply through your nose for aromatic benefits.

c) Moor is a specially prepared peat extract used for its grounding energy to help get you out of your busy thoughts, and it’s also protective, shielding you external influences.  Moor Lavender Calming Body Oil is also available.

d) Pour some Moor Lavender Calming Bath Essence in a small bowl in your bedroom, add very hot water, shut the door, allowing the aroma to disperse.

9. Beauty sleep and your skin

Your skin eliminates and regenerates during the night time. Dr. Hauschka has a no night cream stance because heavy, occlusive night creams impede the natural nighttime functions of your skin. Instead botanical extracts held in a light formulation serum to support and guide your skin during the nighttime, so you wake to refreshed and revitalised skin in the morning!

• Night Serum for all skin types which is based on organic rose apple blossoms and fruit

• Regenerating Serum to support a mature skin 40+

• Regenerating Intensive Night Serum to support a mature skin 50-55+ which is experiencing increasing dryness and may also be finding skin to be increasingly sensitive

Did you know that night creams impede your skin’s natural regenerating and eliminating activity during the night time? 

• During the night your skin is metabolising and eliminating the day’s waste, that’s one of its many functions as the largest organ in your body.

• The night time rhythm of the skin is one of a ‘breathing out’.

• How do you know this is happening? Because skin disorders such as eczema, shingles, chicken pox or measles are much worse during the night. How often have you woken up in the morning to be greeted by a pimple?

• There are no environmental factors that you need to protect your skin from while you’re asleep.

• A night cream – which is usually a heavy, expensive, occlusive substance impedes your skin’s normal night time process.

• At first our light night care stance seems unusual, however within one month (a skin cell cycle) you’ll need no more convincing!