People often joke about their needed beauty sleep in order to look their best, but what many don’t know is exactly how influential rest is upon how well you look. When we sleep our body goes through a series of stages not only to help be more alert, but to rejuvenate cellular turnover. As our muscles relax blood flow is increased throughout our body, aiding in restorative healing of bone, soft tissues, and muscle development. This is also when growth hormones get to work, which are essential in cellular development.

The lowered respirations, body temps, and heart rate we experience are all part of this process supported by an uninterrupted sleep. Unfortunately over a third of adults fail to get the 7 to 9 hours of rest they need and deserve each night due to a combination of poor sleep habits and comfort. When you don’t get enough sleep, or your sleep is interrupted, then your body never reaches the stages it needs for a better looking you.

Take Back Your Sleep

Luckily you can reclaim your lost sleep and get yourself sleeping better to take advantage of what a good night’s rest has to offer. Nighttime skin remedies may help hydrate and keep your skin looking fresh, but it can only go so far if your skin is unable to refresh on a cellular level.

The first thing you need to do is get into a good habit of getting to bed at a decent time to get the hours you need. Creating a sleep schedule, turning off electronics for at least 60 minutes before bedtime, and avoiding stimulants like caffeine and sugar at least six hours before bed can all help you get yourself to sleep easier. However, all this may not be enough if you struggle to get comfortable each time you head to bed.

Since poor comfort knowledge and outdated mattresses are a leading culprit of a bad night, you really should pay attention to the role your sleeping surface has on your rest. If you find yourself waking in pain, or tossing and turning struggling to get to sleep, then you need to pay a bit more attention to your sleep comfort. Mattress surfaces are not a one size fits all, and your needs are as unique as your height, weight, and preferences allow.

Sleep Comfort Counts

When on the search for the perfect mattress, first take into account your natural sleeping position. Side sleepers need a softer surface in order to allow proper weight distribution along pressure points. Shoulders and hips in particular need a reactive surface to help keep your spine in alignment, or you may end up putting strain on the surrounding muscles and tissues within your back as they work to provide correct posture.

Back and stomach sleepers need a more firm surface to support the natural curves of the back. So do heavier bodies as weight distribution is often better distributed over a firmer mattress.

This spinal alignment is a vital part of a proper rest seeing as it protects your central nervous system. Stress upon your back, or unnatural spinal positions can cause unnecessary pain and stiffness, and is a leading cause of interrupted sleep.

Invest in Your Rest

You spend a third of your life sleeping, so it makes sense to invest in your rest. There are many mattress choices on the market to choose from, and picking the best one for you can seem a daunting task. As mentioned, knowing your sleep position preference is a step in the right direction so you aren’t confused surrounding whether you prefer a softer, or more firm comfort surface simply based on what that sounds like.

• Take into account your budget. There are many mattresses to meet the needs of any financial option. Although less expensive mattresses may not always last as long as a higher quality choice, there is nothing wrong with them as a way to help reclaim your rest. Also consider some of the newer online mattress startups seen within the industry. These companies cut out the brick and mortar costs to provide you with warehouse to front porch delivery. Plus most offer healthy sleep trials to help guarantee your purchase.
• Understanding the quality of the choices you’re presented with is also a good way to get the best bang for your buck. Mattress construction and the materials use differ from one company to the next, but one thing does stay the same from one mattress to the other, and that is material quality standards.

Knowing these standards help explain what you are investing in. Foam mattress quality, for example, is measured by density in pounds per cubic foot. Poly foams, a lower grade foam used mostly as supportive foundations is often considered of good quality if they weigh in at 2lbs/cu.ft or more. Memory foams and latex foams, which are used in surface comfort layers, should fall above 3.0lbs/cu.ft to meet higher quality standards.

Innerspring or hybrids, which are a combination of innerspring and memory foam or latex, are held to a standard of coil gauge and how the springs react to pressure. A thicker coil (lower gauge) is of better quality that a thinner choice, and pocket coils are considered a more expensive choice due to how they react individually to pressure, opposed to a continuous coil that moves more uniformly.

Help refresh your skin and get rid of those dark circles naturally with a better sleep. Your overall health is dependent upon your sleep quality, and you should take the time to work towards a better night’s rest through good habits and your sleep comfort.

Your mattress is a vital part of this process, and if you know you have been sleeping poorly, it’s time to take a look at what might be the culprit. Good mattresses are easy to find with a little time and knowledge, but if you aren’t sure you want to make that investment quite yet, at least consider a new mattress topper as an alternative to get the beauty rest you deserve.

Are you waking up feeling refreshed and well-rested?

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-BeautyStat Editorial Team