Today’s post is all about skin care that works immediately. I’m going to share 6 tips you can do overnight that will have your skin hydrated and glowing in the morning.
When you’re sleeping, your skin is in repair mode anyway, so a lot of these help accelerate that or help NOT hinder it because certain things can stop your skin from having that natural, beautiful repair process overnight. Here are my tips:
- Remove Makeup Overnight. A lot of times you think you shouldn’t leave your makeup on because you’ll get acne …There’s that, but if you’ve ever fallen asleep with your foundation on and woken up with skin that looks a little dull, there’s actual science behind this. When you’re sleeping, the makeup is seeping into your pores and not letting you get oxygen and hydration. Because it’s clogging it, it gives you this aged, dull look. When you’re blocking your skin with makeup, it also stops the natural repair-mode process overnight.
I’ve been really liking cleansing balms (e.g. Naturopathica Manuka Honey Cleansing Balm). They’re not as harsh as makeup removing wipes because you don’t have to pull on your skin as much. (If you have a really moist makeup removing wipe, that works a little better.) I recommend following the cleansing balm with another cleanser because the cleansing balm is just step 1 to get the makeup off.
Another good makeup remover is the Bioderma Hydrabio H2O. I like this because you can put it on a cotton pad, toilet paper or whatever you have just to get it off.
- Lactic Acid (sponsored). This is one of my favorite ingredients when it comes to AHAs (alpha hydroxy acids) or BHAs (beta hydroxy acids). AHAs are your lactic acid and glycolic acid, and BHAs are salicylic acid. I’ve noticed that lactic acid is less harsh and a little more hydrating. The particle size is bigger than glycolic acid, so it doesn’t penetrate as deeply into your skin, making it more hydrating too. It works on the surface to exfoliate, clean out your pores and give you a glow.
I like the Squalane + Lactic Acid Resurfacing Night Serum by Bioosance because it’s non-toxic, but active. This one is a 10% (the highest you can get over-the-counter), but even though it’s the highest strength, they balance it with a lot of good ingredients to make it more soothing: clover, squalene and lavender.
- Humidifier. This is such a game changer to use overnight. All it’s doing is keeping your skin hydrated and moisturized. Dry skin is one of the most common things to make your skin look different immediately. When I don’t drink enough water, I literally see it in my skin …think of a plump, fresh grape vs. a wrinkly, dried up grape.
I really like the Dyson humidifier because it has a couple different settings- cool, moist, etc. *Just make sure you clean the filter because one time I didn’t realize it wasn’t clean, and I woke up coughing!
- Pillowcase. A silk or satin pillowcase is so important for a few reasons:
- Hydration- This fabric doesn’t absorb as much of the moisture as something like cotton or linen would. When you sleep on pillowcases that aren’t satin, it’s actually drying out some of the moisture from your skin. While this might be subtle, every little thing helps.
- Prevent wrinkles- When your skin is crunched up against the pillow, you can get lines, which overtime can become permanent. Satin or silk pillowcases prevent this because your face glides against them nicely.
I’m also really big on changing my pillowcase a couple times a week. A lot of bacteria and dirt can get on there, and your face is touching it for so long …Picture your hair on a train or in an uber and then on your pillowcase. One little hack I do if I don’t have a clean pillowcase is putting a clean t-shirt over the pillowcase.
- Gua Sha. This is basically face sculpting. It will give you an immediate effect. In any kind of face sculpting facial, when they do one side to the other, it’s dramatically different – it’s like you had a face lift on one side and the other side is drooped down.
- Nuface Microcurrent. Microcurrent is basically exercise for your face …almost teaching your muscles to lift and tone. This delivers low level microcurrents which stimulate the production of ATP (what gives our cells energy and promotes cellular turnover). This will also help stimulate new collagen.
How to: I recommend doing this on a fully cleansed face. It comes with a gel that you have to apply to your face first (really important for the currents coming onto your skin). You glide up in different directions, usually doing 3 passes per side. It doesn’t hurt, but once in a while you’ll get a weird sensation.
These are things that work right away and don’t last more than a day or two, BUT if you do them continuously, they have long-term effects.
