How Nighttime Skin Repair Works

We all know the importance of tailoring our skin care routines to each finicky season. But to do it twice a day? Our skin takes on a brunt of daily environmental stressors, and it’s up to a good night routine to repair it.

Turns out that even when our body is at rest, our skin is busy recovering from a hard day’s work. This makes it essential to have a proper nighttime skin care routine! We’ll review what happens to our skin during the day versus the night, and how your nighttime routine can set you up for the ultimate ‘beauty sleep’.

Have you ever wondered why your morning and nighttime skin care routines aren’t identical? The explanation is simple: our skin has different needs to take on the day versus rest and recoup overnight. In fact, you encounter many different daily pollutants that can easily overwhelm the natural reparative functions of your skin.

Environmental stressors from outdoor pollution and UV radiation to free radical damage can (and will) impact the health of your skin over time. Temperature variations like excessive humidity or dry air can also send our skin into a tailspin. Though you may be in an office or at home, skin aggressors like blue light emitted from electronic devices can damage your dermis over time, too.

The big problem with these external skin aggressors is that they can affect what’s near and dear to our hearts – our skin! Lack of radiance, hyperpigmentation, and even garden-variety dry or reactive skin can all be triggered by the elements. Free radicals contribute to premature aging like fine lines and wrinkles, and can wreak havoc on our complexions.

A good night’s sleep does more than thwart the dreaded “you look tired” comment from coworkers. Sleep actually repairs you. While you’re getting a good snooze, your skin is working at a cellular level to recoup and recover itself for a new day. Your body boosts blood flow to the skin, which means you wake up glowing like a goddess (among other perks)!

This adequate blood flow not only helps you wake up bright-eyed and bushy-tailed, but also kicks panda eyes back to the zoo. While you’re getting your beauty sleep, the process of cell mitosis or cell division t(hat occurs in order to renew and repair skin) is at its peak. This includes the shedding of dead skin cells, and subsequently replacing them with younger cells. Good morning vibrant, rejuvenated skin!

While some skin functions are on the up flow while we sleep, Transepidermal Water Loss (TEWL) increases and sebum production slows down. Since our immune system is in overdrive working to renew itself (or fighting of infections or viruses) your skin’s ability to maintain adequate moisture decreases. This is why your nighttime skin routine is so important.