Far from being an old wives’ tale, getting your beauty sleep has been proven by experts to be the real deal in transforming and even anti-ageing your skin. When sleep is compromised, it shows: a tired-looking complexion, darkness under the eyes, puffy skin and a lack of vitality - all bad news for skin, not to mention your grumpy mood.
’During sleep, levels of stress hormone, cortisol, fall,’ explains Dr. Terry Loong, Medical Director at The Skin Energy Clinic (drterry.com). Too much cortisol causes premature ageing, breakouts and breakdown of collagen, which will diminish skin’s firmness.’ During sleep we also release melatonin - an antioxidant that fights off free-radical damage from the day’s environmental exposure, so our skin repairs itself overnight. ‘We also release human growth hormone (HGH), which maintains…