Life

6 Ways to Get Your Best Beauty Sleep

August 26, 2016

beauty-sleep-3There is very little in this life that’s more important to me than sleep, and I would sacrifice most things for a tight 8 hours. There’s just something about luxuriating in bed that feels so unbelievably indulgent to me. In the morning, I stay in bed until the last possible minute, giving myself juuuust enough time to take a quick shower, brush my teeth, and give my hair a quick zhuzz with some dry shampoo. At night, I’m rarely in bed past 10:30 PM. I’m a light sleeper and sensitive to light and noise, so I’ve picked up my fair share of tricks over the years to optimize my sleep time and prevent tossing and turning.

Don’t drink caffeine after 4 PM. I mostly try to stay away from coffee, but if you’re a big caffeine drinker (coffee, in particular), stop drinking it after 4 PM. Cutting your caffeine intake off will let you fall asleep faster and ease nighttime anxiety.

beauty-sleep-5Sleep with separate blankets. If you share a bed with a blanket hog (or if you are one, like meeeee), get separate blankets. What now seems so simple took a long while to figure out, hah. Once you have your own blanket, you’ll never wake up shivering in the middle of the night because your blanket has been savagely torn off by your blanket-hogging significant other.

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Try aromatherapy. I am obsessed with the smell of lavender, so this trick is easy for me. I spritz a little bit of the thisworks Deep Sleep Pillow Spray on my pillow, which smells like lavender, patchouli, ho wood, and vetiver. You can also get an aromatherapy diffuser and rotate a few drops of essential oils. I recommend lavender (obvi), eucalyptus, and sage.

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Use contoured memory foam pillows. Memory foam is a modern miracle. I’m a side sleeper and would often wake up with a stiff neck and shoulder when I used a traditional pillow. Everything changed when I picked up this memory foam pillow, which is specifically designed for side sleepers to provide neck support. I also use a contoured memory foam pillow between my knees to support by lower back (I’m 100 years old lol).

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Download the Sleep Cycle app. You guys, there’s an app that tracks your sleep patterns. What a time to be alive. Do you ever wake up to your alarm in the morning and feel like you’re Rip Van Winkle waking up from a 100-year nap? That’s because you were probably in delta sleep, the deepest level of sleep. With Sleep Cycle, every night you turn on the app, set your morning alarm and place your phone face-down near your pillow (but not underneath). The app detects your movements throughout the night and can determine which type of sleep you’re in (there are 5 types of sleep determined on your brain waves: alpha, beta, theta, delta, or gamma!). Then, in the morning, the alarm will wake you when you’re in the lightest type possible to make getting up easier (alpha or theta). It tracks your sleep patterns over time and compares you to others using the app. Incredible.

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Try a humidifier. Okay, this is kind of embarrassing to admit online, but for the past month or so, I’ve been snoring at night. I don’t know what’s causing it, but I’m convinced that it’s partially due to the extremely dry California climate (heeyyy 5-year drought!). I recently bought a humidifier for our bedroom and I do think it is helping, if only just to wake up with a slightly less dry mouth in the morning.

I hope these tips help you get some much-deserved beauty sleep!