As Above. So Below. || Sleep

Growing up, a good night’s sleep was oft proclaimed as the cure for most problems. This sage advice appears to be emerging as a universal truth that scientific literature is finally catching up to. Sleeping well consistently does not only benefit us in the now, but has an incredible impact on our future health.

Most of us would agree (66% to be accurate) that after a number of sleep deprived nights there is a negative impact on our appearance. You probably wouldn’t recognise me if you ever met me after a week of night shifts! Those days are firmly behind me now, but a study published in Sleep Medicine has demonstrated that even a short period of disturbed sleep in otherwise healthy, typically well rested, women resulted in impaired skin quality and facial appearance.

Sleep is recognised a cornerstone of good health, now seen on par with a healthy diet and exercise. With our busy lifestyles, work, childcare, and social media habits, sleep can very easily be sacrificed. However, it is becoming increasing clear that over other health habits, sleep is likely the one we should be prioritising. A University College London study has just demonstrated that in the absence of good sleep, the benefits of exercise were not appreciated in certain groups of people. Similarly, lack of consistent sleep was associated with reduced weight control and ability to manage blood sugar levels.(1)

Getting regular, good quality sleep reduces our risk of mortality. Research published this year found that those who regularly slept for at least 7 hours a night had a 40% lower risk of premature death than those with irregular sleep.(2) As Matthew Walker (author of Why We Sleep) says: shorter sleep, shorter life.

Sleep is an essential physiological process that impacts every aspect of our health. It not only energises us, stabilises our mood and fuels our creativity, it is essential for our long-term whole-body and mental health. Of course, if sleep benefits our entire body, it must also benefit our largest organ. Here are a few of the functions carried out by our skin while we sleep:

1. Collagen Production

Our skin produces more collagen while we sleep as part of its process of repair. Collagen is the protein responsible for giving our skin elasticity and reducing the appearance of wrinkles. Sleeping just 5 hours a night was shown to lead to the development of twice as many wrinkles when compared with 7 hour sleepers.

2. Blood flow for the glow

Our body brings more blood flow to our face while we sleep, carrying oxygen and nutrients with it. This gives our skin a rosy glow and keeps the dull pallor at bay. Getting blood flow to our face at night also reduces puffy and red eyes the following morning.

3. Skin Barrier Permeability

Our skin is constantly repairing our skin barrier, but this process naturally slows while we sleep. The benefit we gain from this easing-off is the improved penetration of actives. Water loss is increased as we sleep however, our skin loses even more moisture through the process known as TEWL (trans-epidermal water loss) when we sleep poorly. One study found that people who sleep well have 30% better barrier repair than those who don't. (3) 

4. Products are better absorbed with good sleep

During the day, our skin is busy protecting us from the sun and fighting free-radicals and your skin thickness is increased. At night, without these exterior stressors, our skin can focus on repair. The additional blood flow to our skin at night allows our skin to soak up all those gorgeous active ingredients we've applied in the evening. Without a good night's sleep, we don't reap the same benefits with our skincare.

There is sadly no serum or treatment that can replace a good night's sleep. However, if you would like to reap the benefits for your skin and overall health, here are some tips to get a glorious sleep. Note: these routines will take time to implement and have an effect, so it's best to try to introduce one at a time and you will gradually see the benefits. Of course if sleep is really troublesome we recommend having a chat with your GP to ensure there is no underlying issue. Additionally, there will be periods of your life when sleep is not as easy to come by and these recommendations are for when you have the time to prioritise sleep.

Le Formulaire Recommends || Tips for achieving gorgeous, healthy sleep:

 Our incredibly intelligent bodies have an intuitive system that allows us to wake with the daylight and fall asleep with the dark – this is our circadian rhythm. Late night working, scrolling and bright lights interrupt this fantastic evolutionary function, but we can create systems for ourselves that will bring our bodies back to baseline.

1.     Dance to your circadian rhythm.

Create a routine that suits your lifestyle and do your best to stick to it – if you need to be up at 6am, aim to be in bed by 10pm to give yourself enough time to get at least 7-8 hours’ sleep.

Don’t sleep in at the weekend, this will disrupt your routine, instead wake up your usual time and enjoy a few pages of your book, newspaper, or the next episode in your current series.

Test different sleeping lengths to see which end of the 7-9 hour window suits you best.

2.     Early coffees and afternoon herbal teas!

Ordering a cappuccino after midday in Italy would have you laughed out the door – and we believe rightly so!! While the case in Italia is more so related to the heaviness of milk, it is best to restrict your coffee intake to the mid-morning to ensure a good night’s sleep. Coffee makes us feel awake by temporarily blocking our adenosine receptors. Adenosine, also known as sleep pressure, is a molecule in our blood that builds up during the day to make us sleepy and ready for bed in the evening. By blocking these receptors, caffeine keeps us up and reduces our sleep quality. A good rule of thumb is to have your last coffee 10 hours before you plan to sleep. If you aim to sleep at 10pm, your last coffee of the day should be at 12pm. In an ideal world you would also delay your first sip for 90 mins after waking to allow your receptors to clear in the morning.

3.      Get sunshine in the morning

Getting outside in the morning to take in the sun’s rays for 20 minutes does wonders for your circadian rhythm. It inhibits melatonin to make you feel more awake and energise you for the day ahead. Giving yourself this morning boost will set yourself up to be wonderfully sleepy later in the evening.

4.     Practice great sleep habits

Treat your bedroom as a sanctuary from life’s busyness. Keep the lights dimmed and keep the temperature at 18C. If you can, leave your phone, tablet, and/or laptop in another room while you sleep, and keep your bedroom cosy and dark. This will also give you the freedom from the unhelpful morning scroll upon waking.

5.     Create an indulgent night time routine

The evening can be the perfect time to put ourselves first and bring calm into the day. By creating a relaxing bed-time routine, our mind and body will start to recognise the pattern, lowering stress hormones and building delicious melatonin and adenosine to have us ready to sleep as soon as we rest our heads on the pillow.

Le Formulaire recommends:

- Practice some mindfulness by making a gorgeous cup of non-caffeinated herbal tea, feeling the warmth of the cup and inhaling the scents as we drink.

- Follow this with a warm shower or bath and your favourite skincare routine. Warm showers and baths encourage our body to cool itself as we sleep, finding the perfect temperature for a restful night.

- Use skincare recommended by Le Formulaire to encourage collagen production and repair while you sleep.

- Spend 5 or 10 minutes reading or journaling in bed to allow your skincare to absorb and your mind to rest before drifting off to pillowy heaven.

Creating a routine that allows for good, consistent sleep will improve your quality of life ten-fold. Knowing that you are looking after your future health is incredibly rewarding. A well-rested community allows us to focus on the enjoyable aspects of life.

(1) Ad libitum weekend recovery sleep fails to prevent metabolic dysregulation during a repeating pattern of insufficient sleep and weekend recovery sleep. Depner CM, Melanson EL, Eckel RH, Snell-Bergeon JK, Perreault L, Bergman BC, Higgins JA, Guerin MK, Stothard ER, Morton SJ, Wright KP Jr.Curr Biol. 2019 Feb 11. pii: S0960-9822(19)30098-3. doi: 10.1016/j.cub.2019.01.069. PMID:30827911.

(2) Regular, Optimal Sleep Tied to Lower Mortality Risk Megan Brooks https://www.medscape.com/viewarticle/992942?reg=1

(3) Oyetakin-White P, Suggs A, Koo B, Matsui MS, Yarosh D, Cooper KD, Baron ED. Does poor sleep quality affect skin ageing? Clin Exp Dermatol. 2015 Jan;40(1):17-22. doi: 10.1111/ced.12455. Epub 2014 Sep 30. PMID: 25266053.