Reflections: Shut-Eye For Skin

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How much do you know about sleep? We all know we need it, and most of us know that the required amount of rest for most individuals hovers around seven to nine hours per night (more needed for children and teens). The reason we need sleep is both complicated and simple at the same time. More, quality sleep benefits every system in the body, and a healthier body means better skin. How it benefits the body, and skin, is where it gets involved. For example, we so often hear that we need rapid eye movement (REM) sleep, but did you know that there are five stages of sleep? To make matters worse, we’ve got to go through four stages of sleep to get to the good stuff, as REM sleep occurs at stage five. REM sleep is not just where you dream about Channing Tatum, but it is also where the skin repairs itself.1

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This issue is all about sleep: why we need it, how it affects skin and how to get more. For starters, Terri Wojak discusses the five stages of sleep, noting their effects on the body and skin. She then goes into further detail on how sleep affects hormone levels, circulation and lymphatic drainage, explaining what these changes mean to skin. She adds a checklist of actions that can be done to improve a client’s nighttime skin routine.

Continuing the sleep conversation is Ginger Downey, who focuses on how reduced sleep causes skin to age. Lack of sleep results in a lower rate of cell regeneration, which in turn leads to skin that recovers less efficiently and shows signs of aging sooner. In addition, reduced sleep increases cortisol levels, and this can lead to increased oil, inflammation and loss of elasticity.

There are a number of ways a spa can help clients sleep better, with one of them being massage. Goldie Bonnel describes five massages such as bamboo massage and poultice massage that can increase client relaxation and promote better sleep.

Finally, take advantage of improved nighttime cell regeneration with the products curated by our editors. We all know we need more of it, and now we all know why and how to get more of it. Here’s to seven to nine hours of beauty sleep, and to waking up with beautiful skin!

Yours in education,

Katie Anderson

Katie Anderson

Senior Managing Editor

[email protected]

References

  1. https://sleepfoundation.org/excessivesleepiness/content/how-much-sleep-do-we-really-need-0
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