Get Your Beauty Sleep

While you sleep, your skin is working the night shift, repairing and regenerating itself. It’s important to give your skin a helping hand with topical treatments during those crucial nighttime hours when it is most permeable and best able to absorb them.

- By Sherrie Strausfogel

It’s common knowledge that the sleep hormone melatonin enhances your rest, but did you know that it also increases your skin’s ability to repair itself from UV and pollution damage incurred during the day? And what’s more, the human growth hormone, HGH, which is responsible for accelerating skin’s repair and cell regeneration, also kicks in at night.

To boost overnight cell rejuvenation, your evening skincare routine should include a night cream and an occasional mask. Night creams are formulated to penetrate deep into the skin over the course of several hours and are richer in texture than day creams. Overnight masks are designed to help ingredients penetrate deeply as you sleep, and to work as a barrier and sealant so the active ingredients don’t evaporate.

Use an overnight mask once or twice a week in place of a moisturizer. Apply at least 20 minutes before bed to give your skin time for the mask to be absorbed— so you don’t end up with more on your pillow than on your face.