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Many studies have long shown the importance of maintaining a personal skincare routine to promote healthy skin free from signs of skin aging. It is important to stress, however, that skin care does not end after you apply sunscreen and cosmetics in the morning.
Your skin deserves pampering that requires enough time, effort, and the right beauty products. Unfortunately, this requirement is seldom met in the mornings as this is a busy time for most people. During sleep, the body can focus on renewal and repair, making skincare paramount, with different needs from daytime. Read on to learn why it's important to have a separate night skincare routine.
Your day is filled with tons of activities that affect the quality of your complexion more than you think. As you go through your work and completing your many responsibilities, your skin is being exposed to harmful environmental elements. Exposure to UV rays, pollution, dirt, and free radicals will eventually result in skin aging and other issues.
Given how much your skin had to put up with during the day, you must provide it with the right care after a long day. Your night skincare routine steps should address the specific needs of your skin as it goes through various changes when you sleep. Below are some of these skin changes and the reasons why you should maintain a nightly skincare routine:
A lot of things that your body go through when you sleep relates to your skin. This is the reason why most people refer to this natural process as “beauty sleep.” Clinical studies have long shown how people who are sleep deprived appear less attractive than those who had sufficient sleep.
The primary reason why at least a 7-hour sleep impacts how you look the following morning, is that your skin cells undergo faster regeneration during this time. Your body has an internal clock that essentially determines which processes your body undergoes. Many types of research have ascertained that the body clock signals regeneration and repair of cells when one is asleep.
Considering that your skin cells are working hard during nighttime, they require a lot of nutrients to do their job properly. This is where a good night skincare routine will come in handy as your skincare products provide needed nutrients that can maximize the cells' regeneration process. When this happens, your skin cells will be renewed, thereby resulting in a younger-looking skin.
Vitamins A and C are two of the most powerful skincare ingredients that would be most beneficial in promoting the cells regenerative process. Vitamin A has been found to greatly impact cellular processes on the surface and deeper layer of the skin, resulting in powerful skin benefits.
Application of vitamin C-based products in the evening, on the other hand, produces remarkable skin anti-aging benefits. A study on the effectiveness of topical vitamin C in the rejuvenation of photodamage proved this fact. Subjects in the said study with premature wrinkles showed significant, visible improvement in wrinkling after applying a formulation of vitamin C for 12 weeks.
Your skin needs to rest from exposure to harmful environmental factors. Just because you are in the comfort of your bed and safe from UV rays and pollution it does not mean you can go without cleansing. If you fail to properly cleanse your skin, the dirt and oils accumulated by your skin during the day will cause havoc at night.
To completely give your skin a break from harsh external elements, cleansing should be the first step in your night skincare routine. Note that while facial cleansing should completely eliminate dirt and grime, it should be gentle enough to avoid skin irritation.
Instead of using facial cleansers that are made from man-made chemicals, use cleansers with natural ingredients like oat or oatmeal (Avena sativa) and with gentle surfactants. In ancient times, oatmeal had been used mostly for its soothing benefits. More recent studies, however, revealed the effective cleansing activity of oats because they contain compounds called saponins.
A good cleanser removes impurities from the skin, ridding pores of dirt and oils that can cause acne breakouts. It's also useful to follow up with a toner or micellar water in order to remove any trace residue and balance skin,
Your skin has a natural moisturizer called sebum, an oily and waxy substance produced by the sebaceous glands. While your skin produces more sebum during daytime for lubrication and protection, clinical investigations revealed that sebum production is significantly decreased at night. This is the reason why your skin loses more moisture at nighttime. You're also not drinking water usually at night.
Considering that your skin has too little sebum over night, it becomes more prone to dryness, itching, and irritation. To address this problem, you need to effectively moisturize your skin at night using night creams or masks that contain hydrating ingredients like aloe vera, mushrooms, or hyaluronic acid.
Mushrooms are growing in popularity as a cosmetic and skin care ingredient since observations and studies show its many skin beautifying benefits like effectively replenishing lost moisture. Hyaluronic acid (HA), on the other hand, is a vital component in skin moisture. Note that sebum production is also influenced by aging and HA is effective in hydrating and keeping moisture locked in your skin.
A vital component of a healthy and beautiful skin is moisture. Thus, a nighttime skincare routine will be extremely lacking if you fail to moisturize your skin.
You may not be aware of it but your skin reaches its highest temperature at night and it becomes slightly more acidic than when it is daytime. High temperature and acidity results in a much drier skin. This is why most nighttime skincare products are packed with moisturizing properties to sustain the skin’s high need for moisture.
Dry skin is not only unattractive, but it also leads to the appearance of visible signs of skin aging like wrinkles, fine lines, and rough skin. Furthermore, when your skin loses moisture, it becomes more susceptible to developing irritation and and sensitivities.
To help your skin cope with dryness due to its rising temperature, use overnight recovery masks or other skincare products packed with ingredients that deeply moisturize the skin. Such ingredients include lightweight plant oils, shea butter, rose essential oil, and broccoli extract.
Another skin change that happens at night is high skin penetration. This means that your skin’s barrier is down, so it can readily absorb whatever skincare products you apply. Moreover, since your skin is more relaxed and generally safe from harmful environmental elements at night, this is the perfect time to use skin beautifying products, especially those with vitamins A and C or alpha hydroxy acids.
To protect your skin from premature aging, make sure to apply products that contain ingredients rich in antioxidants and nourishing properties. Creams and other botanical products that contain cucumber and apple extracts are effective for this purpose.
Cucumber extract is packed with antioxidants that protect the skin from the damaging effects of free radicals and environmental pollution. It also has soothing benefits that aid the skin in recovering from overexposure to the sun.
Apple extract is also known for its anti-aging properties. Apart from being packed with antioxidants, apple extract contains large amounts of vitamin C, natural acids, as well as polyphenols and catechins that are most commonly found in green tea.
Note that ingredients with anti-aging and skin brightening properties are most suitable for your night skincare routine since their effects do not have to compete with the effects of sunlight. Sunlight causes your skin to produce more melanin or the dark pigment of your skin, which is why it counteracts the results of such products.
If you suffer from certain skin conditions like acne, use skin products with sweet orange oil as an active ingredient. Orange oil has been clinically proven to improve acne-prone skin, clearing acne lesions up to 75%. Take advantage of skin’s receptiveness at night by using natural products that have been proven effective in promoting skin health.
Having a healthy and beautiful complexion is practically impossible if you do not observe a night skincare regimen. Keep in mind that your skincare routine in the morning is meant primarily to protect your skin since you will step outside and be exposed to harmful elements. During night time, your skincare habit is focused more on skin repair and renewal as it goes through physiological changes.
To come up with the most beneficial and effective nighttime skincare routine order, consider the following tips:
No matter how tired you are, you should never go to bed wearing makeup. There are numerous negative consequences if you fail to make cosmetic removal a priority in your skincare routine.
One of the most obvious results of sleeping with makeup on is that your skin would practically "bathe" in pollution the entire night. When you are outside, your skin is exposed to environmental elements like dust, dirt, and pollution. All these things gather onto your skin the entire day and they would remain stuck in your facial skin overnight if you didn’t bother to clean your face.
Secondly, your pores will be covered over with makeup and dirt, which can exacerbate oil production and irritate pores. Your skin needs to breathe at night for better cell regeneration and this process is affected if heavy makeup covers your pores. Give your facial skin a break and a chance to recover from stress by cleansing it thoroughly.
Lastly, skin with makeup, dirt, pollution, and bacteria is the perfect situation for developing irritation and acne. While your skin has natural coping mechanisms to tolerate a lot of things, it cannot hold up when exposed to damaging elements for a long period of time. Ultimately, you cannot forego cleansing in your nighttime skincare steps.
Since your skin loses moisture throughout the day and can get much drier at night, you should not fail to replenish lost moisture. Keeping your skin hydrated is critical to maintaining a healthy complexion.
Studies have shown that skin moisturization provides numerous appearance and skin care benefits. One study published in Skin Research and Technology revealed that moisturized skin appears more radiant and attractive compared with drier skin. Another study asserts that moisturizers protect the skin from chronic skin conditions while at the same time improving skin integrity.
Moisturization should immediately follow skin cleansing considering that your skin loses moisture after this process. A serum with hyaluronic acid followed by a nourishing night cream or hyaluronic acid overnight mask and eye cream will keep you looking fresh in the morning.
Contrary to what most people believe, all skin types benefit from moisturizing, even oily skin. If you have oily, sensitive, or acne-prone skin, you may consider using moisturizers based onaloe vera since it provides grease-free hydration coupled with anti-inflammatory and antibacterial effects.
As the number of studies showing the harmful effects of skincare products made from man-made chemicals increases, more and more people are relying on natural beauty products. Various plant and fruit extracts, as well as essential oils, have been proven to improve the health, texture, and integrity of the skin.
Since your skin is most receptive at night time, make sure that your nighttime skincare routine will include the use of natural skincare products that will address your specific skin issue. For instance, if you are in your mid-20s or older, botanical ingredients with anti-oxidative and anti-inflammatory properties will aid in preventing the visible signs of skin aging.
Some of the most potent natural ingredients that promote beautiful complexion include oat extract, tremella mushroom, hyaluronic acid, squalane, green tea extract, chamomile extract, as well as watermelon, cucumber, and apple extracts.
While people are taught to never look at outside appearances to judge another person, it is undeniable that people still “judge a book by its cover”. Your skin’s health significantly impacts other people’s perception and their behavior towards you. Given this reality, maintaining a separate night skincare routine is just a small price to pay to experience the many advantages of a healthy and beautiful skin.
