You know you need your beauty sleep, or at least that’s what you’ve been told.

But do you believe it, or do you think beauty sleep is a story tale myth?  Beauty sleep is for real and a much needed part of your daily self-care regimen.  When it comes to youthful-looking skin, sleep is the closest thing you’ll find to a magic wand to reduce wrinkles and make new collagen.  More collagen means plumper skin that is less likely to wrinkle. Getting restful sleep nightly allows your body to repair and regenerate.  Restful sleep can actually prevent weight gain, aged skin, poor health and diseases.

So how much sleep do you need?

Most adults need 7 to 9 hours of quality sleep.  Quality sleep means you wake up feeling refreshed!  Some key indicators of quality sleep as reported by the National Sleep Foundation include:

• Falling asleep in 30 minutes or less upon going to bed
• Sleeping more (at least 85% of total time) while in bed
• Waking up no more than once per night

If you are getting less than 6 hours of sleep each night, your appearance and your health may give you away.  You may be suffering from fatigue and be unable to function properly.  Your skin will also be unable to function properly, and this will be evident by puffy eyes, dark under-eye circles, premature wrinkles, dull and dry skin, sagging eyelids, drooping mouth corners, and sallow skin.  All of these conditions can be improved by improving your quality of sleep.  The exception may be dark under-eye circles in individuals who are genetically predisposed to this condition.

An additional benefit of beauty sleep is that your skin care products are more effective while you sleep.

During the day, your skin is working hard to defend itself against the sun and damaging free radicals, while at the same time protecting your internal organs.  When it’s time for bed, your skin is ready for a break from a hard day’s work just as you are.  This break is the time your skin needs to repair and renew itself, so it’s crucial to be sure your skin is completely cleansed of all makeup and sunscreen worn throughout the day.  When you go to sleep with makeup on, you don’t give your skin a chance to recover from the oxidative stress it battles all day.  With your skin thoroughly cleansed, it can receive your night time serums and moisturizers which have a higher absorption rate and increased effectiveness because blood circulation to the skin increases and skin cells regenerate more rapidly at night while your body is resting, renewing and rejuvenating.

Sources: National Sleep Foundation, Web MD