Most of us hate how we look first thing in the morning.
Hair all over the place, eyes puffy and bleary, skin dull and dry, hands rough, etc. We rush to the bathroom to fix it all as quickly as we can!
There are some things you can do, though, to improve the situation. Wouldn’t it be nice to wake up and feel good about how you look? You can!
7 Ways to Wake Up Beautiful
Of course we’re assuming that you’re washing off all your makeup before bed, and that you’re avoiding caffeine and alcohol at least three hours before your head hits the pillow.
1. Change out your pillowcase.
Typical cotton pillowcases pull and tug on your hair, which is what causes that bird’s nest look the next morning. It also pulls on your skin, creating those crease lines in the morning, and making your regular fine lines and wrinkles more noticeable.
If you switch to silk or satin, you’ll experience less pulling and tugging, which will not only help your hair look better in the morning, but will also result in less breakage. It’s better for your skin, too, as your face glides over it and you won’t have to suffer any creases the next day.
2. Sleep on your back.
This can be tough if you’re not used to it, but studies show that other positions put pressure on the skin, which can actually lead to more wrinkles and fine lines. In 2016, for example, the Aesthetic Surgery Journal published a new study showing that when people sleep on their sides and stomach, compression, tension, and shear forces are applied to the skin, leading to the development of “sleep wrinkles” over time.
“Sleep wrinkles form in response to distortion created when the face is pressed against any sleep surface,” said lead author, Dr. Geosel Anson. “They tend to worsen over time due to repetition combined with thinning of the skin and decreased elasticity as we age.”
Researchers suggested sleeping on your back if you can. In addition to reducing wrinkles, it can also help ease pressure on your spine and joints. You can use a specialty pillow to help, like the JuveRest, My Back Sleeper, or the Hullo Pillow. Make sure you also have a good, firm, supportive mattress, as a mattress that caves under the weight of your body will likely make sleeping on your back uncomfortable.
3. Use a humidifier.
Unless you already live in a really humid climate, your skin is likely suffering from dry air at night. Winter air is dry anyway, and when we add heat it gets worse. Summer air can also be extra dry if we use air conditioning.
A humidifier in your bedroom helps keep the room hydrated throughout the night, so the air doesn’t rob your skin of so much moisture. You’ll wake with skin looking plump and dewy instead of dry and dull.
4. Moisturize before bed.
You already know this, but many of us get busy and skip this step, or we’re not careful about what moisturizer we’re using. At night, your skin works to repair itself, so you need something that not only gives you moisture, but encourages repair, as well. Look for a cream that has natural oils and shea butter for serious moisture, as well as other ingredients to help your skin regenerate overnight.
CV Skinlabs Calming Moisture is perfect. In addition soaking skin in natural oils like jojoba and sunflower, shea butter, and aloe vera, it contains beta glucan to help promote collagen production and speed wound healing.
Don’t forget your hands. They tend to show age even before the face, so moisturize them with a thick, buttery cream or oil and consider wearing cotton gloves overnight to seal the moisture in.
5. Treat your lips.
Alligator lips aren’t attractive in the morning, nor are they comfortable. Yet most common lip balms don’t help much overnight. They fade out way too quickly, leaving the lips dry and unprotected.
You need something that will seal in moisture and promote healing. We recommend our CV Skinlabs Restorative Skin Balm, because it has healing ingredients like calendula, sea buckthorn oil, and arnica, along with carnauba and bee’s wax to seal in moisture. Whatever you use, make sure it has natural ingredients, that it’s not made with petrolatum (which leads to long-term dryness and may be contaminated with toxins), and that it’s thick enough to last all night long.
6. Condition your eyelashes.
You may not have thought about this one, but these little hairs can get dry too, and nighttime is the perfect time to give them a little extra care. By conditioning them before you go to bed, you’ll wake up with them looking softer and more lush, plus you’ll be helping to keep more of your lashes over the long-term.
There are a lot of eyelash conditioners out there now, some labeled as “night serums” because they’re made specifically for use overnight. Look for nourishing ingredients like green tea, biotin, and peptides.
If you don’t want to buy a ready-made version, you can use a natural option instead, such as castor oil, coconut oil, olive oil, or vitamin E (squeezed from the capsules). You can even combine some of these in a small container. Dip a clean mascara wand in and sweep it over your lashes. Just be careful not to get any into your eyes.
7. Create the perfect sleep environment.
No beauty trick will work if you don’t get a good night’s sleep. As we mentioned in this blog post, lack of sleep can make you look older. To wake up looking beautiful, you need to wake up feeling well rested.
Start with a clean, dark room and a comfortable, supportive mattress. Keep all technological gadgets like phones, tablets, and televisions out of the bedroom-they emit blue light, which disturbs sleep. Try to keep the room completely dark (use heavy drapes if you need to) as light affects our hormones and keeps us awake.
As you drift off to sleep, you may want to play some soothing music (medication music works well), and you may also want to spritz your pillow with a relaxing scent like lavender to help you nod off.
How do you wake up beautiful?
Sources“Study Shows Stomach and Side Sleeping Positions Cause Facial Distortion and Wrinkles Over Time,” Prime-Journal, August 9, 2016, https://www.prime-journal.com/study-shows-stomach-and-side-sleeping-positions-cause-facial-distortion-and-wrinkles-over-time/.
