I’m not going to lie. I could use a little extra beauty sleep. Okay, a lot. Hours and hours, actually.
Since that’s not going to happen, I need to take advantage of the precious few hours I do have, and make them count, beauty-wise. And that means so much more than just taking my makeup off before I fall into bed. If you can, take just a few minutes to plan ahead for the next day. Lay out your outfit. Remove the old tired polish from your nails. Tweeze a couple of stray hairs. A few small habits can make all the difference in how fresh (and young!) you look the next day. Have a little more time? Try one of these 7 simple ways to look younger overnight. From taking an evening bath (it can even replace your morning shower – try incorporating a treatment or two) to easy, effective overnight skin treatments, the simple strategies shown here can help you wake up looking your best!
As always, the pictures are links, so simply click on product pics to shop! *
Bathe at Night
I have pretty much always bathed at night because, well, I have to do this to my hair. And by bathe, I mean bathe, not shower (although I love those too) because nothing beats a bath when you want to sneak in a little extra pampering. Sure, you can still take a quick morning shower if you need one to wake up, but recent studies show that there are many benefits to bathing or showering in the evening. You rinse the day off and emerge relaxed and refreshed. Take an extra minute or two to apply a scrub, shave without slicing your legs, and soak in a skin-hydrating bubble bath. An in-shower body treatment, like St. Tropez Gradual Tan In Shower Tanning Lotion, can help you emerge with a subtle glow. Keep a stash of creams nearby, and as soon as you emerge, apply your evening skincare products so that you’re ready for bed. A little pre-bed hair prep will make getting ready the next morning so much faster. Finish with a multipurpose firming body lotion and you’re ready for bed!
2. Take Your Vitamins
While others hotly debate the connection between vitamins and skin, I’m already sold. After all, there’s plenty of evidence that healthy people look better, and that an enviable glow requires more than just a skincare product. (I know. Sad, right?) In an effort to keep up the astonishing results of my skin rejuvenation program, I’ve been using ZSS Skin Systems. ZSS is a “serum-meets-supplement” skincare system that uses an approach called bidirectional beauty. This basically means that it treats your skin from the outside, using a serum, and on the inside, using special supplements formulated with powerful antioxidants like Zeaxanthin. (I think that’s where the Z comes from!) Anyway, it’s derived from paprika peppers and helps increase cell renewal and even out skin tone. There’s a formula for acne and a formula for aging. I have been using it for a few weeks now and love it.
3. Slip Under a Sheet
I’m not talking about those sheets, although a little sleep sounds awesome right now. I’m talking about one of the hottest (and quickest) trends in skincare: sheet masks. Sheet masks are so trendy that beauty bloggers have been posting sheet mask selfies on Instagram. Why are they so popular? Unlike regular masks, they don’t make a mess and only take a few minutes. I like to put one on after I’m already in bed, and I’ve been known to fall asleep this way. (Give your husband a little heads up on this. I’m not going to lie – they look a little disturbing, so you might want to wait until the lights are off. Kevin is still recovering…)
After I take the mask off, I apply my favorite nighttime anti-aging serum (I can do this while lying down, because I’m an extremely experienced cream-applier) and go straight to sleep. As always, pick a sheet mask based on your skin concern. (Masque Bar from Look Beauty makes different formulas (for brightening, wrinkle-reducing and acne-fighting), and at about $3 a treatment, they’re pretty affordable too.)
Here, a few of my top sheet mask picks:
4. Cover Your Eyes
Age and exhaustion are not kind to our eyes. They make them look shadowy and puffy and dry and line-y. (That’s a word! Honest.) I have always loved eye mask treatments because they just seem to perk your eyes right up, and they’re so quick and easy to use. Here are my faves!
5. Try an Overnight Skin Treatment
Facials aren’t just for waking hours anymore. Now, you can give your skin a mini-treatment while you sleep, with sleeping peels, oils and masks designed to rejuvenate your skin while you rejuvenate your body!
6. Get Your Beauty Sleep
As a perpetually tired mom, I can sleep anywhere. As a matter of fact, I’m half asleep right now, as I write this. (Now that’s multi-tasking!) My husband, on the other hand, needs complete dark and silence to fall asleep. Whichever side you find yourself on, there’s no doubt that you’re happier, more patient and, yes, younger looking when you’ve had your beauty sleep. Here, 3 products that can help you do that.
A. A Better Bed:
Sleeping on an old, sagging mattress isn’t going to help you catch any quality sleep. If you hate your mattress, consider investing in a better quality one. It doesn’t have to be handmade in Sweden, like the Hastens mattress, below (which start at $5000) but I’m sure that can’t hurt. If a new mattress is not in the budget, a great mattress topper, new bedding, or even a new pillow can help improve your odds of getting some rest.
B. A Better Pillow
As a chronic side sleeper, I worry about the inevitable wrinkles that will come after years of pressing my face into a pillow, but I just can’t sleep on my back! Fortunately, there’s a solution – a new breed of specially shaped pillows designed to prevent sleep wrinkles. The best known is the JuveRest, an anti-wrinkle pillow designed by a doctor that helps your head stay in just the right position, all night long, to prevent sleep wrinkles. (For worry lines and frown lines, however, you’re going to need Botox).
C. A Better Pillowcase
Friction isn’t your friend. It causes frizz and wrinkles and all sorts of other trouble while you sleep. Silk pillowcases have been the go-to solution for years, and they’re still fabulous, but the newest anti-wrinkle pillowcase uses copper oxide fibers to take the anti-aging beauty treatment known as sleep to the next level. Skeptical? So was I, but the reviews have me tempted to try this out for myself. And when I do, I’ll post an update here!
7. Prevent Cleavage Creases
Your face isn’t the only thing that gets smushed and wrinkled as you sleep. Your cleavage area is one of the earliest spots to show signs of aging, especially if you have a C-cup or larger (and especially if those cups are surgically enhanced). Fortunately, there are solutions, from an ingenious little cushion that sits in your cleavage while you sleep, to anti-wrinkle patches and pillows.
And there you have it—7 ingenious ways to look younger overnight. Never considered an undereye patch or a wrinkle pillow? They may seem unusual, but the items on this list will virtually guarantee that you get your beauty sleep—no matter how little you snooze!
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