Getting Our Beauty Sleep
It turns out the notion of beauty sleep is not a fairy tale. Plenty of scientific research supports the recommendation of 7-9 hours of sleep for your skin’s health, and although we can’t rearrange your busy schedule for you, we are here to help you get the best sleep you can while you rest and, in turn, a radiant glow each morning.
Here’s the skinny on sleeping sound and waking up with stunning skin.
Just like you, the team at Wren & Wild is passionate about our skincare routines. Our overflowing bathroom cabinets and 10-step evening rituals reflect our dedication to achieving healthy, glowing skin. However, after all this hard work, it can be discouraging to wake up not feeling refreshed, especially when faced with puffiness, dark circles under our eyes, or creases on our face or chest. So, what exactly is beauty sleep, and how can we achieve it?
According to Healthline, we first need to understand that “sleep is the time when your body repairs itself. During sleep, your skin’s blood flow increases, and the organ rebuilds its collagen and repairs damage from UV exposure, reducing wrinkles and age spots.” We go from protection mode against the elements we are exposed to during the day into restore/repair mode.
Second, they remind us that the length of time our delicate skin is in contact with our pillowcase matters. “Think about it: Your face against rough, drying cotton for one-third of its existence could do a number on the appearance and health of your skin.”
Knowing a little bit about what’s going on in our body’s largest organ once we turn out the lights can help us prepare our sleep routine, choose the products we use, and turn beauty sleep into a reality.
Our Bedtime Routine
To the best of our ability, consistency in our sleep schedule is beneficial to our sleep health. Ideally, shutting down electronics and preparing our bodies and space happen around the same time each night, creating a ritual that we look forward to.
Magnesi-Om from Moon Juice is the perfect pre-bedtime cocktail to signal to the body it’s time for some rest. Team Moon Juice explains why. “Research shows that Magnesium helps to regulate neurotransmitters, or the chemical messengers in the brain. Magnesium may also help with better sleep by interacting with your nervous system. Magnesium can also play a larger role in relaxation, helping to reach a deeper level of quality sleep. A study found that participants who consumed 500 mg of Magnesium daily reported reduced insomnia, increased sleep quality, and improved early morning restfulness.”
Want to supercharge your relaxation response? Try a nighttime soak with Odacité’s Soul Soothe Bath Soak to help you wind down. Step into Zenitude! Or indulge in the restorative ritual of Osea’s Vagus Nerve Line, which is explicitly designed as the antidote for the stresses of the modern day.
Wash Your Face
Ask any team member, and we will agree that washing your face at night is essential to our skincare routine. You're not just washing off sunscreen and makeup but also pollution, dirt, and the day's energy. This signals to your mind and body that the day is over, and it's time to repair and rejuvenate.
The dual cleanse is the nighttime ritual we all need. I love spending a couple of minutes massaging my skin with an oil makeup remover followed by a gentle cleanser to ensure my skin is fully free of dirt and makeup and soft and smooth.
Try Fitglow Beauty's Makeup Cleansing Oil or Montana Harvest from Odacité for your first cleanse ritual.
Follow with a soothing, brightening, or purifying cleanser from Indie Lee. Each one designed for your skin's unique needs and will leave your skin perfectly prepped for the steps to follow.
Repair
Products like retinol and retinol alternatives are great for helping accelerate the repair process that happens at night. I mean, who doesn’t want to reduce the appearance of fine lines and wrinkles while they sleep? Augustinus Bader’s The Retinol Serum or Marie Veronique's Multi-Retinol Night Emulsion are great options to leave your skin feeling and looking lifted, smooth, plump, and clear by morning. For a complete spa-like evening routine, consider adding Fitglow's Phyto-Retinol Eye Balm for the delicate eye area and Ilia's Overnight Lip Wrap for your lips.
Mask
No matter how thirsty or sun-loved your skin may be, Tammy Fender has the most luxurious solution that has quickly become a Wren and Wild evening routine fan favorite. Try the Restorative Radiance Masque. Loved by those in the know for its ability to quench skin while delivering a super-luminous glow, this rich, bisque pink mask is blended with reviving botanicals—from Jasmine to Rose and Lotus to Baobab—to soothe, nourish, and revitalize.
Beauty Tools
It makes sense that the position you sleep in affects the condition of your skin, given the ideal length at which we are doing it. Sleeping on our stomach can pool fluid in the face, causing puffiness, and sleeping on our side can cause lines and creases in our face, neck, and chest, increasing the appearance of aging skin. Here are a few beauty secrets that have us waking up with a youthful skip in our step. Ditch the old dry cotton and switch to a luxurious Satin Pillowcase from Kitsch which is also a dream for your hair! Add of their Sleep Eye Masks to increase the quality of sleep by reducing the light and keeping your skin in a place of deep relaxation all night.
Experience the rejuvenating benefits of these techniques and wake up feeling like you’ve indulged in a luxurious day at the spa, even if it was just in your dreams! Happy snoozing.