Sweet Sweet Sleep !

 

 

"Each night when I go to sleep, I die and the next morning, when I wake up, I am reborn".

Mahatma Gandhi

 

   A sleepless night not just renders you grumpy, listless and unproductive, but it can affect our skin the next day, i.e. dark circles, dull skin and increased signs of aging. We need sleep: during sleep our bodies and skin cells regenerate and undo what we endured the day before. Between 12:00 A.M. and 4:00 A.M. our skin is in a process of repair, due to decreased levels of the dastardly hormone cortisol. While important to the body's response to stress, cortisol is also responsible for the body's lower immunity and inflammatory responses.

 

   In our current high-stress culture it is difficult for our bodies to stay balanced. "While there's little published data on exactly how our skin restores itself as we sleep, we do know that the length of telomeres (the ends of our chromosomes that are stretches of DNA that protect the chromosomal DNA like little caps) is better preserved in those with good and regular sleep patterns (the length of a telomere decreases with age). Skin also recovers and heals more quickly in people who routinely get more than seven hours of sleep", says Chicago dermatologist Dr. Quenby Erickson, MD. Research verifies that skin cell turnover is 8X quicker at night. "Sleep is the 'time out' your body requires to make necessary cellular repairs and zone in on restoring your body from the inside out", says sleep expert Michael Breuss.

 

  Make the most of beauty sleep by using products rich with retinols, retinoids, anti-aging, collagen stimulating, hydrating and antioxidant ingredients. During sleep our skin's protective barrier diminishes, thus anything applied topically is easily penetrated. "When your body is asleep, it can focus on other endeavors that it can't hone in on while it's awake. At the top of it's list of priorities are cell growth and repair", says Breuss.

 

  Remember 6-9 hours is on average the amount of sleep an adult requires each night. Allow me to recap: while we sleep skin repairs itself, new skin cells grow, skin defends itself from moisture loss and free radical damage, there is an increase in protein production, less oil is produced and growth hormones are released. Try these nightly skin aids before you head off to bed: Lumixyl's Trifecting Night Cream, Skinceuticals A.G.E. Interrupter, Exuviance's Evening Restorative Complex and spaViolet's Iron Me Out.

 

"The amount of sleep required by the average person is five minutes more".

 

                                                                                                          Wilson Mazrer

 

 

Sun Damage Solutions

  

Skincare to protect from the sun.

 

While sunscreen is a strong defender against sun damage there are products that can restore and repair skin as well. Try retinol to stimulate collagen. "Retinoids are excellent for reducing visible sun damage and they can be used indefinitely", says Seattle dermatologist Peter Jenkins, MD. Try our retinols by Skinceuticals, Revision, PCA and Miss Violet.

 

  Try skin brighteners to lighten dark spots and slow down the production of melanin. Lumixyl's Brightening Pads, Brightening Cream and Night Cream brightens and reduces hyperpigmentation. 

 

  Antioxidants like Vitamin C by Miss Violet and Revision's 30% Vitamin C will brighten dull skin. they will also boost the effects of sunscreens because they squash free radicals. Antioxidants will also heal sun-induced skin damage.

 

  Try peptides to rebuild skin's tightness and elasticity and to help skin replenish collagen. Give Lumixyl's Revitaleyes Brightening Eye Cream chock full of proprietary peptides.

 

  And last but not least try a hydrator. Look for one with occlusive agents such as glycerin or hyaluronic acid. Lavish skin with Exuviance Evening Restorative Complex, Neostrata's Bionic Face Cream, PCA's Skin Collagen Hydrator, Revision's Firming Night Treatment or Skinceutical's A.G.E. Interrupter.

 

Cheers, Miss Violet

The Big Yellow

"The sun is the major cause of everything in the skin we associate with aging", says Seattle dermatologist Peter Jenkins, MD. "Just 11 minutes of sun exposure does more damage to your skin than your body can repair in one day", says Dr. Jenkin. "The effects of sun exposure occur within hours (showing up as a burn), but skin cancer can take years to surface. The consequences of the skin are cumulative and get worse over time".

 

Vitamin C can Help Fight Free Radical Damage

 

"Exposure to UV rays triggers a protective response from the skin that includes the production of melanin (pigment) to absorb and protect the skin from radiation. This then appears as scattered spots based on the health of the skin and the level of exposure", says San Diego plastic surgeon Larry Pollack, MD. "UV radiation creates free radicals in the skin, damaging and breaking down collagen and elastin. These free radicals (cells without a paired electron that can damage skin) can also cause damage to a cell's DNA leading to pre-malignant growths and skin cancer".

 

Five Different Visible Signs of Sun Damage:

 

1. Marbled and loose appearing skin, due to the the breakdown of our ultra plumping collagen.

 

2. Dark spots on sides of the face, cheeks and forehead. The skin produces melanin a a means of protecting itself from the sun which leads to brown spots.

 

3. Loose skin from a breakdown in skin's elasticity. Skin begins to appear leathery, rough and Palm Springs-like.

 

4. Broken capillaries and red splotches. "When blood vessels are damaged by the sun, they swell and become dilated, creating red blotchy spots and visible spider veins on the face", says D. Pollack.

 

5. And last, but certainly not least lines and wrinkles caused by increased free radicals and a loss of elasticity.

 

Cheers, Miss Violet