Whether you’re cramming to finish a task or having a fun night out, your skin takes a hit after a sleepless night. A lack of sleep can make us look sluggish and make our skin more dull and lifeless. Even if you’ve adjusted to little rest, your body can experience stress, leading to inflammation throughout your system.
This inflammation can increase the likelihood of red patches, acne breakouts, and premature ageing. If you don’t want these to happen to your skin, here are tips to improve your appearance, temporarily and in the long term, after a sleepless night.
Tap Massage with Eye Cream
Comfort your under-eye area with your favourite eye cream. For more effective results, revitalise your under-eye area with collagen eye cream. Collagen has anti-aging properties that keep your skin’s elastin firm and healthy, which prevents fine lines, wrinkles, and sagging skin. Other alternatives are also great but opt for those with cooling, de-puffing ingredients for the best results.
Dab the eye cream and tinted moisturiser around your orbital bone gently, not rub or push hard. Use your index and middle fingers and gently tap them in a circular motion around your sockets, brows, and cheekbones. This is called the “tapping massage,” which research has shown to help enhance lymph drainage, reduce inflammation, and even out skin tone.
Mix Eye Cream with Hyaluronic Acid Moisturizer
In addition to eye creams, consider brushing a sheer wash of tinted moisturiser along your lash line, over your lid, and around your eye to look more awake. Do so while the eye cream still feels dewy to the touch. Mixing eye cream and tinted moisturiser helps treat fatigue and cover any darkness or imperfections around the eye area.
Opt for a moisturiser that’s rich with hyaluronic acid. This substance attracts 1,000 times (or more) its weight in water. In other words, it’s very hydrating, which is excellent for your dehydrated, sleepless skin.
You should always apply hyaluronic acid moisturiser first thing in the morning since transepidermal water loss or TEWL (i.e., the amount of water that passively evaporates through the skin) is more significant at night. That means our skin loses more water at night, so we want to return that moisture the next day. Otherwise, our skin dehydrates, leading to rough, scaly, itchy patches.
Colour Correct and Apply Brightening Concealer
The rule of thumb is to use colour correctors in red, pink, orange, or yellow for concealing dark circles. These shades help even out the blue hue of under-eye circles. Yellow, in particular, is versatile for brightening sallowness and cancelling out purple tones while balancing out mild to moderate redness. While it’s meant to tackle skin imperfections, colour-correcting can help you have a more refreshed appearance, especially after a sleepless night.
After properly colour-correcting your bags, apply a concealer to brighten your under-eye more, making sure to choose something that isn’t cakey and obvious. Instead, opt for a concealer that won’t make your eyes look flat or crease up. It should have a dewy texture that can help your eyes look more open and awake, you should also make sure you choose the right shade here for a natural look.
Curl and Apply Mascara on Your Lashes
Curling your lashes gives you an instant eye-opening effect. It helps elongate, lift, and make your eyes appear more open. It’s one of the recommendations you shouldn’t skip, especially if you don’t want to wear a lot of makeup. For the best result you should apply several coats of mascara on your upper and lower lashes to make the eyes appear larger, helping you look more awake.
Stay Hydrated
In the same way it’s important to hydrate your under-eye area so it is important to keep yourself properly hydrated. Because we tend to turn to caffeine, a diuretic, to help us stay up or stay awake in the morning, we will feel the need to pee more often and cause a greater loss of a lot of water.
There’s also evidence that a lack of sleep may contribute to dehydration. Research shows that insufficient sleep disrupts the release of a hormone that regulates hydration. Which is why researchers recommended drinking extra water, especially if you’re tired.
This should go without saying, but ensure to consume eight 250 ml glasses or drink 2 litres of water daily. Aim to drink a 500 ml bottle of water every four hours or at least 250 ml of water every two hours.
Workout
Many people think exercising will make them more tired, so they avoid doing so when they’re sleep-deprived. This may sound counterintuitive, but a quick workout can help you look less dull, pale, or lifeless, especially when sleep isn’t on your side.
Studies have shown that getting your heart rate up helps bring blood and oxygen to your face, causing you to have a healthier, rosier glow. It also warms up your muscles, making you feel well-rested.
Schedule Rest Time
After a long sleepless night, it’s time to take some well-deserved shut-eye. If you still have school or work for the day, spare some time for a quick 10- to 20-minute power nap to give you the boost you need to get through the day. As much as possible, plan to go to bed earlier the following night so you can get some well-deserved rest.
Final Thoughts
Although pulling an all-nighter can be inevitable since there are some things that just need to be done, it’s not medically recommended. A lack of sleep doesn’t just play an active role in premature ageing but is also linked to many chronic health problems, which can be fatal. Always follow a good lifestyle and routine to avoid poor sleep. If you’re suffering from a condition, don’t take it on alone; see a doctor to prevent it from progressing further.
