A GOOD SLEEP EQUALS HEALTHY SKIN

It is well known that the skin’s health can improve while we sleep, Estée Lauder pioneer researcher into night skin science has signed Dr. Matthew Walker, PhD, as the brand’s first-ever Global Sleep Science Advisor to educate consumers on the vital connection between the importance of healthy sleep habits and good health.

 

 

A renowned author, sleep scientist and Professor of Neuroscience and Psychology at the University of California, Berkeley, Dr. Walker will bring the latest insights, research findings, and resources to advance Estée Lauder’s ongoing work in understanding and resolving the impact of poor sleep on skin health.

“My mission is to educate as many people as possible on the fundamental importance of sleep for our overall health,” said Dr. Walker. “I’m thrilled to partner with Estée Lauder, a brand that is grounded in science, to educate their consumers around the world on the impact of sleep on mind, body and skin.”

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

To celebrate today’s World Sleep Day we have an insightful  Q&A with Dr. Matthew about the fundamentals for having a good sleep.

 1. How do you define good sleep?

There are four macros that define good sleep: Quantity, Quality, Regularity, and Timing, or “QQRT.” Try and focus on these four macros for better sleep and better health.

• Quantity: This is defined as the number of hours you sleep. Adults typically need 7– 9 hours of sleep per night to get enough deep sleep and REM sleep. This ensures you wake up feeling refreshed. However, babies, teens, and those recovering from illness may need more.

• Quality: Quality is about how uninterrupted and restorative your sleep is. Fragmented sleep leads to poor sleep quality, often felt as daytime fatigue. Sleep trackers can help measure quality, with an efficiency score of 85% or higher being ideal. But over-monitoring can cause “orthosomnia”—sleep anxiety. Check scores weekly, not daily, to reduce stress.

• Regularity: A consistent sleep schedule improves sleep by aligning your body’s internal clock. Aim for a fixed bedtime and wake time within a 30-minute window, even on weekends. Research shows that regular sleep reduces risks of heart disease, diseases such as obesity, and even overall mortality.

• Timing: Align your sleep with your chronotype, which is the natural inclination of your body to sleep at a certain time, or what most people understand as being an early bird versus a night owl, or somewhere in between. Sleeping out of sync with your natural rhythm results in lower-quality sleep, but balancing it with life’s demands is key.

 

2. Why is sleep important?

Sleep is the single most effective thing we can do to reset the health of our body and our brain. There doesn’t seem to be a major system within the body or operation of the mind, that isn’t enhanced by sleep when we get it, or medically and psychologically impaired when we don’t get enough sleep. A lack of sleep is strongly linked to numerous poor health outcomes, such as chronic illnesses like diabetes, obesity, heart disease, hypertension, anxiety and more. Prioritizing sleep is essential for maintaining physical health, emotional stability, and cognitive function.

 

3. What is the link between Sleep and Mental Wellness?

Many of us intuitively link sleep to our emotional health. Our research studies using brain imaging have revealed that without sleep, the emotional brain becomes hyperactive and irrational, swinging like a pendulum.

A key structure at the centre of this phenomenon is the amygdala, the brain’s emotion-processing hub. When individuals are sleep-deprived, this region becomes over 60% more reactive, compared to a modest activation when well-rested. The reason lies in the prefrontal cortex (PFC), the brain’s “CEO,” which regulates emotional impulses.

Sleep deprivation effectively takes the PFC offline, severing its connection to the amygdala. This disconnect leaves the emotional brain unregulated, like a gas pedal without a brake.

One of the remarkable benefits of sleep, particularly REM sleep or dream sleep, is its role in providing emotional first aid. REM sleep helps take the painful sting out of difficult emotional experiences, allowing you to feel better about those events the next day.

In essence, dreaming functions as a form of overnight therapy, emphasizing that it’s not just time that heals all wounds, but the time spent in dream sleep that offers emotional recovery. Importantly, it’s not only that you dream, but also what you dream about, that matters.

Individuals enduring traumatic experiences who dream about those events are more likely to find a resolution to their depression compared to those who dream without engaging with the events themselves. These findings underline the vital role of dreaming in shaping our waking lives.

Sleep, and dreaming in particular, appears to be an indispensable ingredient in our mental and emotional well-being. Research shows that after sleep, individuals rate emotional experiences as less intense, with decreased amygdala activity observed in brain scans. Notably, this calming effect isn’t just a function of time but specifically the restorative power of sleep. As E. Joseph Cossman said, “the best bridge between despair and hope is a good night’s sleep.”

 

4. How can we all get better sleep?

• The first tip is regularity—going to bed and waking up at the same time every day, including the weekend. Your brain has its own master twenty-four-hour clock, the suprachiasmatic nucleus, which expects and thrives under regularity, including your sleep/wake schedule.

• Temperature—your brain and body need to drop their temperature for you to fall and stay asleep, so the ambient temperature must be cold.

• Darkness —we need darkness at night to trigger the release of melatonin.

• Walk it out – if it’s been around twenty-five minutes, and you can’t fall asleep, just get out of bed, do something relaxing in another room, and come back to bed only when you’re sleepy.

• Try to stop drinking coffee after around noon and not drink alcohol frequently in the evenings.

• Try mindfulness meditation before bed, or a sleep story, or take yourself on a mental walk you know well i.e., try to get your mind off itself.

• Stay away from naps, especially after 1 pm in the afternoon, which is a bit like snacking before your main meal; it’s just going to take the edge off your sleep appetite.

• Take a hot bath or hot shower before bed.

 

Dr. Walker will be leveraged for both internal and external events, press opportunities and educational content across brand channels. Estée Lauder will also serve as the exclusive partner of Dr. Walker’s new Global Sleep Education Foundation, which aims to address the global sleep-loss epidemic through free transformational education programs as well as support breakthrough sleep science research.

 

ESTEE LAUDER’S NIGHT POWER SKINCARE 

Estée Lauder’s powerful nighttime beauty regimen to wake-up with a well rested, radiant looking skin: Apply on face and neck the Revitalizing Supreme + Night Power Bounce Creme Moisturizer that will boost the skin’s bounce and firmness at night, waking up to a plum and hydrated skin in the morning. Add extra power performance to your night beauty routine by applying on top of the creme the Advanced Night Repair Serum Synchronized Multi-recovery Complex that promotes the skin’s renewal while you sleep and seals the cream’s power.

 

 

 

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