What are you doing?
I'm about to do a face mask.
"Now," he asks.
Yes, now.
Even though we were going to bed shortly, I felt it was the most opportune time to indulge in a facial mask. This idea was partially inspired by a series of Instastories that flashed through my screen earlier that day.
The saga featured a series of 3 images. The first portrayed a young lady, looking slightly tired, asking her followers whether they cleansed prior to bed or in the a.m. Next, she inquired if she should go the extra mile (beyond basic cleansing) to masking her skin before dozing off to sleep.
Then came a short clip of her rummaging through a draw of infinite types of masks. Finally, we see her looking like a completely different woman. Skin glowing like the sun. The transformation was admirable, but does it make sense to use your precious facial masks only to fall asleep shortly thereafter?
I'm joining team "mask before bed" and I'll tell you why.
In order to understand why masking before bed is so awesome, we must first be aware of what happens to our skin as we sleep. Sleep is the time for our body to rebuild and repair. That's why we function so horribly when we don't get enough. Much of the repair process takes place internal but many of the internal processes have a real impact on our skin.
I mentioned before that our human growth hormone (HGH) levels are at their peak while we sleep. These hormones are responsible for youthful, healthy looking skin. When our HGH is outta whack, we end up looking tired and miserable. When our HGH levels are in high gear, new cell production is at its peak.
You might ask yourself, "if my body is already hard at working rebuilding my skin, why do I need to mask?" Great question! When you go to a spa for a facial, do they immediately layer their special treatment products on a cleansed face? Typically not. First they'll likely steam for deeper pore cleansing. Chances are, they'll even exfoliate to remove dead skin cells. Then, they'll layer the nourishing products. The pore cleansing and exfoliating only help to heighten the overall results.
But, what do we do before bed? We cleanse, add moisturizers, then sleep.
What if we took a few moments to prep the skin first? That's what masks do. They cleanse deeply. They exfoliate. They perfectly prep our skin for the next step. Your ultra expensive skin creams will be received differently by the skin if you prep it accordingly.
Back in the day, when I had out of control acne, a mask before bed could mean that I'd wake up with clearer skin. It was a must.
Also, have you noticed that your skin has been a lot drier when you wake up? Moisture levels in the air have plummeted and your heater is only making the situation worse. Add to this the fact that our skin naturally dehydrates overnight (like the rest of our body). Imagine the difference your skin could experience if you were to treat yo' self to a hydrating mask just before bed.
You'd wake up with the skin of an angel. At least that's what I'm speculating. But you'll never know unless you try this for yourself.
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