By: Sarah Kester
While you might already have a bedtime beauty routine set in place, it’s time to take things up a notch so that you can truly look and feel rested. We’re talking skin that glows and hair that’s already styled to perfection — and this is all before even drinking your morning cup of coffee.
Ready for your best beauty sleep yet? We asked three skincare experts for their top overnight beauty hacks to guarantee your prettiest sleep ever.
When It Comes to Your Hair
Use a Hair Mask
Hair masks aren’t just a popular way to squeeze in some self-care, they’re actually super nourishing when used on a regular basis. Start by ensuring the product you’re using is meant for overnight use. Some are meant only for quick applications and rinses, so do your research.
When shopping, opt for natural and organic products, says Laura Jones, an esthetician and practitioner of Chinese Medicine who specializes in dermatology. “For a deep conditioning treatment, I use coconut oil or neem oil in my hair,” she says. Lastly, make sure to consider your hair type when making your own hair mask. According to Jones, “avocado or caster oil may be too heavy for oily hair but great for dry or damaged hair.”
By applying a hair mask regularly, you’ll be waking up with gorgeous commercial-ready tresses in no time.
RELATED: 10 Beauty Habits Women with Glowing Skin Live By
Sleep on a Silk Pillowcase
Sick and tired of waking up with tangled, frizzy hair? Try sleeping on a silk pillow.
“There are theories that silk can maintain hydration in your skin and that you can expect better hair days,” says Evie Reyna, a licensed esthetician.
Silk pillows are less absorbent than cotton, which means less moisture from your skin and hair creams will end up on your pillow. Reyna recommends buying a silk pillow that is 100% Mulberry silk since it’s considered the gold standard of silk pillows.
Style Your Hair Ahead of Time
Want to save time in the morning and still look good? Opt for overnight hairstyles that require little to no heat styling come morning time.
If beach waves are your thing, follow this quick tutorial. “Start by parting mostly-dried hair into two even sections and then braid,” explains Reyna. “From there, take out your braids in the morning and, using a wide tooth comb to blend the style, finish everything off by working a dime-sized amount of leave-in conditioner.” This will add smoothness and shine.
Apply Dry Shampoo
Dry shampoo has quickly become a holy grail hair care product. It works by adding texture and volume in your hair and absorbs the sweat and oil that results in grease. This miraculously extends the time between washes. As it turns out, using dry shampoo before bed might be more beneficial. That’s because dry shampoo works best when it’s had sufficient time to settle, says Reyna: “No doubt about it, daily use of dry shampoo before bed can extend your style for days allowing your hair to appear freshly washed even when it is not.”
RELATED: 10 Ways to Help Make Your Hair Stronger
When It Comes to Your Skin
Try a Lip Treatment
After the harsh winter we just had, your lips are probably looking for some serious exfoliation. That’s where this sugar scrub comes in. Simply mix two parts brown sugar with one-part olive oil in order create a lip-smoothing combo, Reyna tells Lively. The dead skin can be wiped away with a clean toothbrush in gentle, circular motions. “Afterwards, seal in the smoothness with a dab of coconut oil or a lip balm containing emollient ingredients like shea butter, lanolin, or beeswax.”
You could also try castor oil, which is a go-to lip treatment for Jones. “It is really soothing and hydrating for dry and flakey skin this applies to the lips too.” It is quite thick and heavy, though, so remember that a little goes a long way. “You could also use a little shea butter if you don't like the idea of putting castor oil on your lips."
RELATED:Lively's Ultimate Lip Care Guide
Wear a Face Mask
Make your beauty sleep work double-time by applying a face mask before bed. “During the daytime hours, our skin is in defense mode. It’s doing its best to stay balanced,” says Reyna. “At night when we sleep, our skin recovers and repairs … instinctively our skin renewal kicks into high gear.”
When doing so, make sure to layer the product over your evening moisturizer and rinse it all off in the A.M.
Jones advises on choosing products that contain low-weight hyaluronic acid. Some of her other favorites include SKN-RG Collagen Boosting Mask or Amala Rejuvenating Collagen Mask, all of which she says, helps her wake up with soft, dewy skin.
Pop Your Eye Cream in the Fridge
Need your eye products to work double duty to cover your eye bags? Make the most of your eye cream or serum by popping it in the fridge to chill.
“Cooling down your eye cream constricts blood vessels, improving puffiness and swelling that some women notice in the morning,” says Dr. Sphoorthi Jinna, a dermatologist at Bobby Buka MD Dermatology.
Spot-Treat Blemishes
Spotted a pimple before bed? Don’t panic and spot-treat it instead. “I would use Manuka Honey (UMF 15+ or MGO around 500) as a spot-on treatment because of its anti-bacterial properties,” says Jones, adding that it’s important to do a patch test to check for sensitivity. “The Manuka Honey also promotes healing so can prevent blemishes from leaving a scar.”
Reyna suggests using what she calls an “ingredient cocktail.” In other words, “a combination of ingredients like Sulfur (to dry out surface oils) Salicylic acid (to dissolve pore clogging debris) and a skin healer and soother such as Calamine lotion.”
Another method to shrink that pesky pimple is to use benzoyl peroxide gel, explains Dr. Jinna: “Ice can help as well! If you have time to pop into a dermatologist, a quick steroid injection can also provide a quick fix.”
Give each method a try to see which works best for your skin. Just feel confident that your blemish will feel like nothing but a bad dream in no time.
Apply Self Tanner Before Bed
If you wish to wake up looking like a bronzed goddess, self-tanner is your best bet. To ensure an even glow, Reyna advises this process: “Start by exfoliating in the shower and apply a hydrating body lotion to towel-dried skin.” Make sure to pay extra attention to areas prone to dryness such as heels and elbows. “Once you are seriously hydrated, follow up with your favorite self tanner, wait for it to dry, and hit the hay,” adds Reyna. “When you wake up, shower off any excess self tanner and radiate.”
When It Comes to Your Hands & Nails
Moisturize for Softer Hands
Your hands show some of the first signs of aging, so treating them right is a must. You can keep some restorative hand lotion by your bed or try these expert tips. “You can try an overnight hand mask that involves placing your hands in moisturizing hand gloves overnight,” Jones tells Lively. She suggests doing this with a thick layer of your favorite hand cream or suitable oil. “Neem, coconut, apricot kernel or sweet almond oils, for example. I would do this once to twice a week to deeply hydrate and plump up the skin.”
Scrubs with an oil base to exfoliate work well too. “Look for products containing oil evening primrose or sea buckthorn oil,” says Reyna. “Both of these ingredients are rich in omega fatty acids and antioxidants.”
Always Moisturize Your Feet
Your feet deserve some serious TLC, too. A lot of the same principles for the hands also apply to the feet. The only real difference is that you can use socks instead of gloves after moisturizing. This will help soften the hard skin on the soles of the feet.
Additionally, “keep feet smooth by massaging a generous amount of foot cream with an alpha hydroxy acid into your feet at night (AHA’s loosen the “glue” that binds the skin cells together), place some thick socks on, and kick your feet up for at least 30 minutes,” explains Reyna.
Keep the Cuticle Oil Nearby
Giving yourself a mani-pedi before bed can spell out serious disaster since you’ll be unable to use your hands for a while. To fix this, speed up the drying process by using a quick dry spray or sealing your manicure with a quick dry top coat. Then grab your hair dryer, combine the cool setting with low or medium fan speed, and use sweeping motions across your nails until your nails are dry to the touch.
Add Collagen Beauty Glow to Your Tea
As we know, hyaluronic acid is a skin-saving ingredient. It also just so happens to be a staple in Vital Proteins Collagen Beauty Glow, which contains HA, biotin, and vitamin C – the latter of which help to promote collagen production. Just add a scoop of our Collagen Beauty Glow to a cup of hot water for a soothing nighttime tea.
To top off all these beauty hacks, consider investing in a humidifier since dry air can wreak havoc on your skin. “A humidifier hydrates the air, and in turn, can help your skin from drying out. This is an absolute must for women with dry skin,” says Dr. Jinna.
You might also enjoy spritzing your pillow with relaxing lavender and chamomile pillow spray. Combining these overnight beauty hacks and a new humidifier with these relaxing scents, you’ll be off to beauty dreamland in no time.