Lack of sleep is contributing to the ageing of your skin!

Most of us have experienced a bad night’s sleep or had a late night out on the town. But one too many sleepless nights can lead to, fine lines, dark circles lackluster skin and ageing.

When we don’t get enough sleep, our body releases more cortisol (the stress hormone). In excess amounts, cortisol can break down skin collagen.  Collagen is the protein that keeps skin smooth and elastic.  Stimulating collagen production is vital when it comes to slowing down the process of ageing skin. Therefore lack of sleep = stressed out skin!

Without sleep our skin can become imbalanced, dehydrated, and red and it also becomes more susceptible to the odd breakout. Sleep is food for the brain, body, and skin and if we don’t get enough, we deprive each one of its nourishment.

Lack of sleep affects the moisture levels in our skin; it decreases the pH levels in our complexion which contributes to the less youthful, dull appearance of the skin. When the skin’s pH levels drop, it can create an imbalance causing unnecessary dryness and redness .This is why it Is important to use skin care products that keep your skin at a better balanced, slightly acidic pH level like the ZO skin health and medical range from Dr Zein Obagi. ZO is a medical based skin care range that allows your skin to keep moisture in and bacteria OUT!

Eye bags and dark circles are the NO.1 giveaway sign that you may not be getting enough sleep!

Pulling an all-nighter is the top reason why our blood vessels dilate. Dilation of the blood cells leads to dark circles. Getting more sleep helps reduce the puffiness and dark shadows from under our eyes. Sleeping face down can also cause puffy eye bags. Liquid can pool in the trough of the under-eye throughout the night and cause puffiness.

At Health & Aesthetics Elstead, Godalming in Surrey, we have a range of solutions to help you re awaken your eyes after all those late night stop outs over the festive period. For example:

• Hydrafirm from ZO is a firm favourite to combating dark circles and puffiness
• Re energise your eyes with the quick Hydrafacial Perk eye treatment
• Cover unwanted under eye shadows with the Glo minerals camouflage correction concealer kit