As you peacefully snooze each night, your body’s busy using that downtime to repair itself. Human growth hormone, which is key in healing all of the body’s cells and tissues, revs up while you’re in a deep sleep. This also means skin rejuvenation kicks into high gear, making quality sleep restorative both internally and externally.
Conversely, skimping on shut-eye robs you of precious repair time, making your skin look a little worse for wear. Studies have also shown that sleep-deprived skin ages faster, and we don’t have to tell you how a terrible night’s sleep reveals itself as under-eye circles and puffiness the next morning.While your skin’s already working to repair and renew itself, why not give it a little boost? There’s no sense in wasting all that time when you can be beautifying yourself.
To get the most of your (hopefully) 7 or 8 hours, try one of these powerful anti-aging, skin-repairing products. From creams and serums, to eye patches and even a wrinkle-reducing pillow, they’ll work their magic as you lie back and peacefully snooze away.
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Juverest the Sleep Wrinkle Pillow, $180: Sleep wrinkles—created when your face is smushed against the pillow—can’t be fixed by a few Botox injections since they’re created my mechanical force, not muscle movements, explains plastic surgeon and inventor Dr. Goesel Anson. This specially constructed pillow sets you up to sleep flat on your back, and has a special fail-safe feature so that when you inevitably roll over in the middle of the night, your face is still propped up a bit so it’s not pressing into anything. It might take up to two weeks to adjust to the new pillow and sleep posture, Anson adds, but once you do, your skin (and back) will be thanking you.
Kate Somerville RetAsphere Micro Peel Retinol Glycolic Treatment, $90: This leave-on peel infuses skin with retinol to reduce wrinkles and speed up cell renewal. Glycolic acid and lactose work together to resurface and renew the skin, improving texture and minimizing pores, while licorice extract and arbutin brighten and correct tone—leaving you with a glowing complexion.
Fresh Sugar Lip Serum Advanced Therapy, $35: Get a younger looking pout with this nourishing treatment. Ingredients like acmella flower extract and kigelia Africana fruit extract reduce fine lines and wrinkles, helping you fend off that totally inconvenient lipstick crepe. Sugar, vitamins C and E, grapeseed oil and others all hydrate and nourish the lips, leaving them pillowy soft without a flake in sight. Hyaluronic spheres help fill in wrinkles and plump up the skin to enhance volume and firmness.
G.M. Collin Instant Radiance Eye Patches, $50: These cooling and hydrating patches only need 20 minutes to reduce the appearance of fine lines and provide quick relief for tired, stressed out eyes. But leaving them on overnight turns them into a deep treatment with intense rejuvenating effects.
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Clarisonic Sonic Radiance Brightening Transformation Kit, $125: Use your Clarisonic religiously? This booster pack for the handy skin brush was created specifically to brighten skin and give you smooth, radiant, youthful results. Before bed, use the Skin Renewing Peel Wash and the special Radiance Brush Head, and then apply the included brightening serum as your last and final step. (Don’t have a brush already? This kit includes the cleansing device, too.)
Kiehl’s Super Multi-Correcting Eye-Opening Serum, $48: Wake up looking just as rested as you feel with this serum that repairs over time, but also gives instant results. Sodium hyaluronate (a form of hyaluronic acid) intensely hydrates and plumps skin, botanical extracts stimulate protein synthesis and improve firmness, and light reflectors immediately make the eye area appear brighter.
Caudalie Polyphenol Overnight Detox Oil, $52: A combo of grapeseed polyphenols and vitamin C make this dry oil an antioxidant powerhouse that renews skin cells and flushes out toxins and free radicals that contribute to aging—at the perfect time when skin is working to do the same thing naturally.
Korres Black Pine Firming, Lifting & Antiwrinkle Night Cream, $68: Antioxidant-rich black pine trees are known for being super resilient, mostly due to their strong defense system against harsh environmental conditions. This, along with more powerful plant actives like black tea, soy and wild yam, help the skin produce lipids and collagen fibers—resulting in plumper, smoother, younger-looking skin.
Restorsea Repairing Neck and Decollatage Treatment, $150: With so much focus on our faces, sometimes the neck and chest get neglected. But if you don’t want old-lady neck (which, we assume you don’t), you need to give these areas some TLC too. This moisturizing formula hydrates skin and smoothes fine lines, while also improving skintone and protecting against free radical damage. The brand’s proprietary enzyme gently exfoliates dead skin cells, promoting new skin cell growth.
