Life's Great Mysteries - Why do we call it “beauty sleep” even though we wake up looking like a hot mess?

I saw this question posted on FB, but no answer was provided. Well, I'm not afraid to tackle the big questions, so let's dig into this.

“I need my beauty sleep.” I’ve heard this phrase uttered countless times, though I’ve never really understood it. The phrase dates back to the early 1800s. Its first use might have been when it appeared in Charles White’s 1828 book, "Herbert Milton." During that time, people widely believed that any sleep you got before midnight would enhance your health and beauty. Hmm… sounds to me like a way to get people to stop staying up so late. As for me, I am almost always asleep well before midnight… but I don’t think it has helped my beauty much.

But why before midnight? Did people believe that, if you stayed awake until 12:01 AM, the sleep you got afterwards didn’t do you any good? That’s silly, so I’m going to file the whole midnight thing under “folklore.” Today, the phrase “beauty sleep” is usually used in a humorous way to refer to any good night’s sleep. Even so, the whole idea that sleep can enhance your health, appearance, and state of mind has persisted to this day. Is there any scientific basis to this? Does sleep really make us look better?

Let’s examine what happens during a typical 7 to 8 hours of sleep. During the first three hours or so, your body starts producing a growth hormone called somatotropin, produced by the pituitary gland. As we get older, this hormone actually does help maintain youthful, healthy-looking skin. Without somatotropin, our skin cannot repair the damage that occurred during our waking hours. This of course would lead to physical signs of aging.

Starting at about four or five hours into your sleep, your body begins producing melatonin, a hormone that helps regulate your sleep/wake pattern. It also acts as an antioxidant that helps protect your skin.

Also, during the final three hours, your body goes into your REM stage of sleep. This is when your body’s stress hormone (cortisol) decreases. Your skin drops to its lowest temperature of the night, and your muscles relax, which allows your skin to have its deepest recovery of the entire night. If your alarm wakes you up in the middle of your REM sleep, this reduces these benefits.

When you don’t get enough sleep, your body interprets this as stress, and stress has all kinds of effects, including more acne and drier skin, not to mention puffy eyes and that general sleep-deprived face we all experience at times.

There you go… there really is a scientific basis for the old saying. So, be sure to get your nightly beauty sleep.

Photo credit:
- Sleeping dog - DepositPhotos