5 Ways to Transform Your Skin While You Sleep

They don’t call it beauty rest for nothin’. While you’re dreaming about being BFFs with Jennifer Lawrence, your skin is hard at work. It does most of the heavy lifting on its own, but that doesn’t mean you can’t help it along. Get the most of your snooze time and wake up glowing with these tips:

Clean up

As you sleep, new skin cells make their way to the surface of your skin—but only if you do your part. Scrub away dead skin cells before bed with a hydrating cleanser. Can’t make it all the way to the bathroom sink for some reason (*cough* too much wine at happy hour *cough*)? Keep makeup wipes on your nightstand for a quickie cleanup.

Hydrate

No, we’re not recommending that you wake up every hour to down a glass of water—but you can keep your skin hydrated all night long. Keep a humidifier near your bed to wake up dewy and fresh-faced. You’ll notice a difference...especially in the winter months, when your heater leaves skin feeling parched.

Hit snooze

Your skin creates new collagen and gets a blood flow boost while you sleep—so don’t cut your snooze time short. Try to get at least seven hours a night to reap all the benefits of the skin’s nighttime repair process.

Add a pillow

Prone to puffy eyes in the morning? Before you pile on the concealer, try piling on the pillows. Elevating your head a bit more while you sleep can help reduce swelling come morning.

Bust out the heavy duty products

You’ve got your cleanser-toner-moisturizer-primer routine down in the AM, but what about nighttime? Products like dark spot correctors and ingredients like retinoids don’t play well with sunlight, so you’ll get the best benefits if you put them on right before bed. Sweet dreams!