Want To Look Fabulous In The Morning? Try This

While late nights might point to either a happening social life or a rewarding career, the effects on your skin and hair are somewhat less than flattering. Faye Remedios chalks out a complete lifestyle guide to help you wake up looking fabulous.

- Faye Remedios

One of the best-kept celebrity secrets— beauty industry insiders will vouch for this—is that the stars with the most flawless complexions are tucked into bed by 10 pm. And any claims to the contrary of wild partying or nights that end at sunrise are usually exaggerations. But that glow is not just down to hitting the hay early. Many factors affect your beauty sleep, including how long and how deeply you rest, what you eat for dinner and even the beauty products you use at night.

WATCH OUT FOR PANDA EYES

Lack of sleep stresses the body and causes it to release more cortisol, which leads to an accelerated breakdown of collagen in our tissues—and you need collagen to keep your skin firm and supple. “Apart from this, the skin looks drier, especially if you have had a late night with drinks and smoking. The shadows around the eyes look more pronounced and the skin looks dull,” cautions Dr Shuba Dharmana, founder, Le’Jeune Medspa. Women who are deprived of sleep have a disturbed skin-barrier function, and a greater loss of water from the skin. They also have far higher levels of inflammatory chemicals, which over time take, a toll on both the outer epidermal layers and the deeper dermal structures. “Also, lack of sleep disturbs our hormonal balance, giving rise to pigmentation, breakouts and early signs of ageing,” warns Rupal Tyagi, certified aromatherapist, perfumer and founder, Wikka.

EIGHT HOURS, EXPLAINED