How you sleep affects everything about you. A good night’s sleep is essential for skin health, since this eight hours is when your body repairs damage at a cellular level. It gives your body a chance to rest and allows the brain to process the day. While you may think of sleep as a time of inactivity, your body is actually cycling through four distinct sleep phases multiple times throughout the night. Sleep helps you feel better, perform better, and look better. If you’re missing out on your beauty sleep, try establishing a steady bedtime routine that signals to your brain and body that it’s time to wind down. While having a steady skincare routine is essential to great skin, the following habits can help you get your best beauty sleep so that you can look and feel the way you were meant to.

The Bedroom: A Sanctuary for Sleep

A comfortable bedroom invites you to have your best possible sleep. Start with your mattress — how long has it been since you last replaced that crash pad? If it’s been over five years, it’s time to start thinking of a replacement. Over the years, your mattress collects dirt, sweat, and dead skin cells that attract dust mites. A dirty mattress can exacerbate asthma and allergies, leading to sneezing, runny nose, and sinus pressure that can disrupt sleep.

A dirty mattress isn’t the only thing that can set off allergies and disrupt sleep. Indoor air pollution can be worse than it is outdoors. Easy ways to improve air quality include switching to natural cleaning products, airing out your home every so often, and changing your air filters on a regular basis. If you want to ensure that your bedroom’s air quality is at its best, consider investing in a personal humidifier. As long as you keep your home’s overall humidity range between 30 and 50 percent, a humidifier improves indoor air quality while relieving cold symptoms, dry skin, chapped lips, nose bleeds, dry throat, and sinus congestion.

Helpful Bedtime Habits

A soothing bedroom environment isn’t always enough. Sometimes, our bodies and minds are simply too overwhelmed to fall asleep, leading to stress-induced insomnia. Try the following helpful bedtime habits to relieve stress and encourage a restful night’s sleep.

  • Stop staring at those screens! While your electronics may be calling for you, spending too much time in front of them at night is disrupting your ability to fall asleep. Electronics emit blue light wavelengths that prevent the release of melatonin, an essential hormone that regulates your circadian rhythm. At least an hour before bed, turn off the television, put up your laptop, and stash away your smartphone in the name of better sleep.
  • Try a natural sleep aid. Sleep is elusive for many reasons. When anxiety keeps you up at night, consider adding CBD oil drops to your bedtime ritual. A dose of CBD can relieve anxiety and systemic inflammation, which can help you settle in. If you’re not sure what to purchase, this CBD oil buyer’s guide offers guidance based on a variety of categories, including most concentrated and best value. Melatonin is another natural sleep aid that tells the mind and body it’s time for sleeping.
  • Relieve physical tension with a few bedtime yoga poses. Doing yoga before bed helps quiet the mind and relaxes the body. Remember to focus on your breath with long, full, deep inhalations and exhalations for maximum benefits.
  • If you’re just not feeling sleepy, try taking a warm bath. The heat of the water raises your body temperature slightly. When you step out, the sudden drop in temperature signals to your body that it’s sleepy, making it easier to drift off to dreamland. To get even more bang for your bath buck, use aromatherapy bath products that relieve stress and anxiety.

A comfortable and inviting environment is crucial to the quality of your sleep. Make sure your bedroom is ready for rest by investing in a good mattress and improving your indoor air quality. To help your body lull itself into slumber, try a few helpful bedtime habits, such as turning off electronics, taking a natural sleep aid, performing a gentle yoga sequence, or indulging in a warm bath to release stress and tension before bed.

If you’re looking for more ways to improve your skin, and an education that can lead to a career helping others do the same, contact New York Institute of Beauty today. NYIB’s Esthetics program covers the anatomy of skin and walks you through all of the essential elements of skin health and wellness. If you are unsure of a career in Esthetics, make an appointment for a facial and rejuvenate your skin!

Written by guest author Sheila Olson of fitsheila.com