Last Updated on March 3, 2026 by Giorgia Guazzarotti
Are you getting your beauty sleep? When I was younger, I’d spend countless night up until all hours. Going to bed with the chickens was so not cool. These days, I wish I could fall asleep at 10pm, but, more often than not, my insomnia is keeping me awake till the early morning hours. Doesn’t matter what’s keeping me awake. My skin is paying the price for lack of sleep. Just like the rest of my body (and mind), it looks tired and worn out. People have started asking me if I’m ill. Ugh. Beauty sleep is no myth. You really need it to look your best. Without it, there’s only so much the best concealer in the world can do. Here’s why and how to get all the beauty sleep you (and your skin) need:
Why You Need Your Beauty Sleep
Let’s start with the boring science part. In humans, sleep is divided into two main phases: non-REM and REM sleep. The first phase, which occupies most of the early sleep night, is when your brain gets its well-deserved rest after all the frantic and intense work it did when you were awake. The second phase, REM or “deep” sleep, is when you dream.
It’s during the REM phase that your body regenerates and restores itself (isn’t it awesome)? Here’s how it works. Your body produces human growth hormone (HGH) that helps repair tissues and keeps skin elastic. Skin cells regenerate faster at night, too.
So, if sleep is that important, can you imagine what happens when you don’t sleep enough? Your body isn’t happy, and starts producing cortisol, the hormone that creates free radicals and reduces skin regeneration. And, as we all know, we get those pesky dark circles, under-eye bags, and puffy eyes.
Related: What Really Works To Treat Dark Circles
Struggling to put together a skincare routine that minimises wrinkles, prevents premature aging, and gives your complexion a youthful glow? Download your FREE “Best Anti-Aging Skincare Routine” to get started (it features product recommendations + right application order):
How To Get Your Best (Beauty) Sleep
Ok, so now you know that you need to get at least 8 hours of good sleep every single night (naps don’t count). But how do you do it? Here are what’s working for me:
Beauty Sleep Tip #1: Routine Is Your Friend
Routine can be so boring. But, it can also be helfpul. Going to sleep at the same hour every night and waking up at the same hour every morning really helps. Your body will rebel at first, but, soon, you’ll teach it when it’s time to sleep and when it’s time to wake up, so that it can get all the rest it needs.
Beauty Sleep Tip #2: Watch Your Diet
A large meal and a good cup of coffee are two of the little pleasures in life. But, they also interfere with sleep. Never have them just before you go to bed. The same is true for nicotine, but, then, I hope you aren’t smoking, anyway. I wrote a whole post about how that ages you faster too, by the way. If you smoke, you should check it out.
Related: Why The Low-Glycemic Diet Is The Secret To Younger-Looking Skin
Beauty Sleep Tip #3: Don’t Forget Your Skincare
Doesn’t matter how tired you are, you should always find the time to cleanse your skin and apply serum and moisturizer, at least. The night is a particularly great time to use retinol and vitamin C, two anti-aging superstars that make skin more susceptible to sun damage when exposed to sunlight.
Related: 5 Anti-Aging Superstars You Should Add To Your Skincare Routine Now
Beauty Sleep Tip #4: Create A Quiet Environment
Light and noise can interfere with sleep, too. Make sure your bedroom is dark, quiet, and comfortably warm (but, not too hot, or you won’t be able to sleep).
Beauty Sleep Tip #5: Sleep On Your Back
I’m awful at this. I find sleeping on my side so comfortable. But, pressing your face into a pillow can create crease marks that turn into premature wrinkles overtime. Kinda defeats the purpose of sleeping for better skin, doesn’t it?
FAQs
Does sleep position affect more than just wrinkles?
Aabsolutely. Sleeping on your side or stomach? Your face basically becomes a fluid collection zone overnight. All that excess liquid pools around your eyes (thanks to the million tiny blood vessels living there) and just… sits there while you sleep. Lovely.
But it gets more interesting. Your lymphatic system – the one responsible for draining waste and excess fluid – is actually working overtime while you sleep. The problem is, gravity and position mess with how well it drains. Sleeping on your left side drains better than the right. Even propping your pillow up slightly helps fluid move downward instead of staging a protest around your eye bags.
Why do some people wake up puffier than others?
Because life is unfair, basically. But also: genetics, hormones, diet, and anatomy. Some people’s bodies are just wired to hoard sodium. Estrogen makes fluid retention worse, so if you’re a woman you’ve probably noticed puffiness getting worse at certain points in your cycle. And as your under-eye skin thins with age, even tiny fluid shifts start looking dramatic.
Then there’s what you ate and drank last night. Salty dinner? Alcohol? Didn’t drink enough water? (Yes, dehydration causes puffiness too – your body panics and starts hoarding fluid like it’s preparing for a drought.) All of that shows up on your face at 7am.
Does sleep quality matter as much as sleep quantity?
More, actually. Researchers split women aged 30-49 into good and poor sleepers and the results were kind of brutal – poor sleepers had nearly double the skin aging score, recovered 30% slower from UV damage, and had a noticeably weaker skin barrier. Eight hours of tossing and turning is not the same as seven hours of proper deep sleep. Your skin is not fooled.
It all comes down to what happens during deep sleep – cortisol drops, HGH peaks, cells regenerate. Miss that window and none of the repair happens, even if your alarm goes off at the “right” time.
Can you catch up on beauty sleep over the weekend?
I know this isn’t what you want to hear, but: no. Not really. One Korean study found that just one bad night measurably tanked skin hydration and elasticity – and those effects pile up. Another found that even shifting your bedtime later (without reducing total hours) still damaged your skin barrier and wrecked your facial microbiome diversity. Your skin runs on a circadian rhythm. Disrupt it enough and no amount of Sunday morning sleeping in will fix it.Consistency beats heroic weekend sleep marathons every single time.
Can better sleep reduce acne or eczema flare-ups?
Yes – and honestly this one deserves way more attention than it gets. Bad sleep spikes cortisol, which cranks up inflammation, throws your sebum production off balance, and weakens your skin barrier simultaneously. That’s basically every condition for a breakout or flare-up checked off in one go.
Multiple large-scale reviews confirm it: poor sleep makes acne, eczema, psoriasis, and rosacea measurably worse. And here’s the cruel part – itchy, inflamed skin also keeps you awake, so you end up in this horrible loop where bad skin causes bad sleep causes worse skin. If you’ve been fighting a chronic skin condition and nothing’s working, sleep is genuinely one of the first things worth fixing.
The Bottom Line
Getting your eight hours of sleep is not negotiable if you want healthy and flawless skin. Hopefully, these tips will make it easier for you to get all the beauty sleep you need.
I usually sleep 5-6 hours….yeah..eye bags, tired eyes..all my fault! lol
I’m definitely not sleeping enough! I don’t get major eye problems by the morning, but I’m afraid in a few years that will change! :S
The satin pillowcase sounds helpful, I will check one ASAP.
Thanks for sharing 🙂
not sleeping enough too. if it were up to me i’d stay up the whole day. there’s just so many things to do! but, yeah, i guess i should be more conscious. 🙂
I’m surely not getting the hours in, when I am I’m always in rem sleep, the deepest sleep. It would take an fire to wake me up. lol. that reminds me, i really have to get one of those silk pillows.
Nikki: you need to sleep more!! Your eyes will thanks you! How can you manage to sleep only 6 hours?! I’m a zombie all day if I don’t sleep for 8 hours!
Eru: lucky you! I always sleep 8 hours a night and still have dark circles under my eyes, I think that’s genetic though so not much I can do about it. But you definitely need to sleep more, you’ll feel a lot better if you do. 🙂
Sab: I know what you mean. I don’t really like sleeping (do you think I’m weird? everyone thinks so lol). I just keep thinking of all the things I could do instead of lying in bed. But I can’t function properly if I don’t sleep for at least 8 hours, my body needs sleep and so does yours 🙂
Jnie: lucky you! I’m a very light sleeper, the faintest noise is enough to wake me. The silk pillow is really good, you should get one soon!
I got a satin pillow case as a gift from this company- Neero & Ana. It beats the cheap one I bought from Linen N things. It seems to help me sleep better for some reason and makes my skin really soft and smooth and it does help my hair too. Try it. It works.
It’s great that you got it as a gift! I love satin pillowcases, they’re great and so useful!
Haha, I get about 4 hours a night after drinking caffeine all day and night (I only drink Pepsi Max, nothing else) and I usually eat after midnight!
It’s a wonder I don’t look like a swamp hag. But hey, Touché Eclat is a great substitute for sleep.
I just read that you release a hormone when you sleep that help controls hunger. Here’s to being skinny and glowing!
Anastasia: I can believe you sleep so little! I’ve only slept 7 hours tonight and I’m already fallin asleep! It’s not good for you, you should get more rest!
Concealers are great to hide dark circles and bags, I just wish Touche Eclat was cheaper!
Sara: you’re right. Lack of sleep causes hormonal shifts that increase feelings of hunger. That’s definitely another good reason to get your 8 hours sleep!
I had heard the same thing about cotton pillowcases. They absorb the moisture from your hair and skin that’s needed to be healthy. Cotton also causes split-ends and bedhead. I began using satin pillowcases a couple of years ago and what a difference. My hair is much healthier and I don’t have those pillow creases on my face in the morning. There is an amazing website that sells not only solid colors but these awesome prints. I found a set that is perfect with my color scheme in a soft, beautiful print and I found a set in a funky pattern. Both are so amazingly comfortable. I also bought a peppermint eye pillow that is just so relaxing. The name of the company is A Touch Of Satin. Their website is http://www.atouchofsatin.com They had a page that talked about all the benefits of sleeping on satin. Give them a look and let me know what you think.
Thanks for your comment. I love satin pillowcases too, they are really good for you and have lots of benefits. I’ve checked the webiste and I love that they have so many styles and designs to choose from.
It’s Silk pillowcases you need to sleep on
check out the benefits of silk at http://www.silkgifts.co.uk
You’re right, silk pillocases are great and have lots of benefits like preventing thinning of the hair and not absorbing natural moisture off your skin and hair.