Because beauty sleep is more than skin deep
Consistently find yourself getting less than the recommended seven to nine hours slumber a night? You might think burning the candle at both ends is no big deal, but read on to find out how not getting enough sleep could actually be affecting your body and your brain.
Don’t skimp on the shut-eye
Whether it’s because you’re studying for exams, bingeing on box sets, or you simply find yourself down a social media rabbit hole at 1am watching Mrs Hinch hose down her kitchen bin with the latest antibacterial spray (we’ve all done it), there are a few reasons why staying up well past your bedtime probably isn’t your best move.
“Sleep, regardless of age, is extremely important for a healthy lifestyle,” says Lisa Artis, sleep advisor for The Sleep Council. “It’s a basic and fundamental human requirement and has restorative functions.”
That means if you’re staying up half the night (or more) then trying to function properly all day too, it could be affecting you in more ways than you think.
What happens when you skip bedtime?
When you’ve not had enough sleep the night before, it’s written all over your face - quite literally. Dark circles, red-rimmed, bloodshot eyes and sallow skin are all giveaway signs of tiredness.
As we sleep, tissue grows & repairs itself, & the immune system is strengthened.
But it’s not just your appearance that starts to snitch on you when you’ve been pulling an all-nighter.
“As we sleep, tissue grows and repairs itself, and the immune system is strengthened. The brain also repairs itself during sleep and researchers believe sleep is critical to healthy brain function,” Lisa reveals. “In fact, researchers also believe the brain performs actions vital to learning and memory during sleep. Sleep also affects the levels of hormones and other important chemicals circulating in your body. Getting too little sleep disrupts all of that.”
This means if you’ve not had enough sleep, your brain might not be working to its full capacity, and you might not be retaining information as well as you normally do. Getting a good night’s sleep lets your brain and body recharge and helps you make sense of the things that have happened during the day. This means the next day you’ll feel fresher and ready for anything.
Pulling the odd all-nighter can’t hurt, right?
As long as you’re prepared to feel a little cranky the next day, staying up late once in a blue moon isn’t going to have too much of a negative impact, but if you’re a serial offender it might be worth trying to change your sleep habits.
“Just one bad night’s sleep affects our mood, concentration and alertness,” says Lisa. With this in mind, long-term sleep deprivation might not be the best idea.
According to Lisa, it’s important to establish a regular sleep pattern involving going to bed and waking up at roughly the same time each day to help you wake up feeling fresh as a daisy and ready to take on anything. “Your bodies and minds will feel so much better for it,” she says.
Don’t lose sleep over it
Ever gone to bed with the best intentions, only to lie awake for hours on end wondering why you can’t sleep? You’re not alone and (if you’re anything like us) you then find yourself feeling wide awake looking up ways to get to sleep.
If sleep just seems to escape you and the land of nod feels like a million miles away, try taking a dip in a relaxing bath before bed with Feather & Down Sweet Dreams Bath Essence, and give your pillow a quick spritz with Botanics Lavender & Sweet Marjoram Pillow Mist to help you drift off.
Take a look at our top tips for a good night’s sleep for more ways to help you sleep easy.
If you’re struggling to sleep because you share a bed with a serial snorer, or you regularly wake yourself up snoring (it happens), check out Snoreeze Throat Spray, which targets the main cause of snoring and is effective for up to eight hours – just enough time for you to get a decent night’s kip!
So, next time you get tempted by that next episode of your favourite box set or wonder if you should pull an all-nighter to squeeze in a little extra exam prep, think how much better you’ll feel after a decent night’s sleep instead. If you’re concerned about how much sleep you’re losing and nothing seems to be helping you drift off to sleep, your GP may be able to help.
Sweet dreams!
