From Hyaluronic Acid To Hemp: A Guide To Your Nighttime CBD-Skincare
At MANTLE, we understand how restorative a good night’s sleep can be- sleep helps your body to heal, gives you energy for the morning and is also important for good mental health. And, alongside a host of beneficial blessings a night of sleep can provide, studies show that a good night’s sleep is the best time for the skin to regenerate.
It’s no surprise then that, here at MANTLE, we value the balancing nature of a solid good night’s sleep when it comes to supporting good skin. It’s why our hemp-derived CBD product, The Dream Mask, is so good for the skin- it’s a product which requires minimal work with all the balance that a nourishing CBD product can provide for your skin. The Dream Mask encapsulates the concept of effortless skincare perfectly. It does the work for you, working with your body to balance you whilst also infusing a rich cocktail of hydration, nourishment, and regeneration into your skin. While we all love the sound of letting all the nutrients our skin needs into our pores while we slumber, the truth is that no sleep mask can truly be effective without an evening skincare routine alongside it to potentially cleanse and clear impurities, provide enough exfoliation for cells to regenerate, and, ultimately, complement ingredients in other products.
But, first, a little information on the power of vitamin ‘ZZZ’ on the skin.
The Skin Benefits Of Sleep
It’s no wonder they call it a ‘beauty sleep’ since a long, regular sleep pattern is responsible for keeping the skin healthy, strong, and clear. And it makes sense, too- while we’re sleeping, the body goes into ‘healing mode’. Since we aren’t awake and active, expending energy on movement, mental-activity, and other such things, sleep is the perfect break, so the body can truly focus on healing and bringing back all the energy that we’ve used up during the day. Rest is about allowing all that mental exertion to take a backseat, and make way for activation of the body’s natural repair system. Our skin, being the largest organ, gets this repair and regeneration firsthand- which accounts for the extensive studies and scientific research which tell us that sleep is one of the most essential factors in accelerating the healing of wounds on the skin. Apply this principle to combining skincare with sleep to get healthier, juicier, hydrated skin, and you have a skincare hack that requires minimal effort and maximum results.
The Science of Skincare and Sleep
According to science, beauty sleep accounts for a lot more than we initially might think. During sleep, the body makes its own growth hormones (human growth hormone or ‘HGH,’ to be more specific) which speeds up cell repair and regeneration. HGH tends to accelerate skin repair during deep sleep. To be precise, HGH accelerates cell turnover most effectively during our two primary sleep cycles: during REM and NREM sleep cycles. NREM, which is associated with four main stages of sleep, is the most important type of sleep when HGH levels are at their highest; it’s typically associated with deep sleep, and each stage lasts between 50-90 minutes. So, with a restful night’s sleep (preferably beginning a few hours before midnight so we can fit in all four NREM cycles and increase cell turnover for as many chances as we can get), we tend to have more collagen being produced, cells and tissues regenerating and proliferating, higher quantities of blood pumping to the skin for more oxygenation and, of course, elevated mental health, lower stress levels, and an increased sense of wellbeing. Although it may not seem as scientifically beneficial, this latter factor, as we might acknowledge from experience, definitely displays itself on the skin.
Why Nighttime Skincare?
With the aid of great-quality nighttime skin products, you’re going to get the best out of your products. This is because, during sleep, products are able to seep into permeable skin a lot better. In fact, the skin actually begins to open up and become more permeable when evening hits, and stays that way well into the night. This is because our body adheres to a circadian rhythm- also known as the body’s own internal clock. Due to evolution, the skin cells know when the body is most likely to be at rest and, therefore, operate according to this internal clock. Because the circadian rhythm of the skin ensures more activity is occurring at night, while the body is resting, this also results in the skin being more permeable- this is possibly to do with the fact that our body temperature rises during sleep, since heat escapes from the pores. This permeability can potentially result in trans-epidermal water loss from the skin’s top surface, resulting in faster rates of skin dehydration… but, of course, if there’s a robust, nourishing and protective layer on the skin, instead of losing water from the skin cells, we can retain moisture as well as absorb skincare nutrients at much quicker rates.
These potentially beneficial skincare ingredients, such as those within The Dream Mask, can improve the skin drastically by the morning. Combining nourishing skincare with the regenerative aspects of the skin’s circadian rhythm can change the skincare game. What’s more, using a product which is specially tailored to deal with the enhanced permeability of the skin at night can be extremely helpful.
Evening Skincare
Due to the skin’s increased permeability, it’s crucial that, before slathering on a balancing sleep mask, you first prep the skin with ingredients which will clean, detoxify, and hydrate; so that when you finally layer on The Dream Mask before shutting your eyes for the night, there’s the reassurance that the pores are free of dirt and full of retained moisture. A foolproof double cleanse (first oil-based then water-based), an excellent quality toner for restoring the skin’s pH and added hydration, some serums of your choice, preferably infused with hydrating ingredients to strengthen the skin’s moisture barrier (and perhaps a touch of exfoliation or a retinol to promote accelerated cell regeneration during sleep), before adding a moisturising agent to lightly seal the products and lock in hydration- these are all great examples of products which can be layered and applied one after the other to build up a healthy evening skincare routine. You’re preparing your skin for the night, packing it with ingredients which take advantage of the skin’s natural permeability, and, most importantly, seal all these centring ingredients with a thick healing layer of The Dream Mask to top it off. Perfect for preventing moisture from escaping the skin and to potentially promote cell regeneration, a steady flow of antioxidants and, most importantly, layers and layers of hydration to quench the skin and promote that daytime glow.
Occulsifying
If you truly want to reap the possible effects of layering skincare products (and we recommend you do, because you will definitely feel the difference when you awaken) patting on The Dream Mask and then applying an occlusive, such as carrot seed oil, on top, will help you seal everything in. Finishing with an oil can really help to keep all your skincare ingredients layered onto your complexion, without you needing to worry about losing any moisture. For a particularly beneficial potential effect, try using an oil rich in fatty acids as this may really help in nourishing the skin and layering the lipid-moisture barrier with more nutrients.
Combining an oil such as hemp oil with our CBD skincare products may also accelerate the potential balancing effects of both products, since hemp seed oil and CBD are derived from the same plant- cannabis Sativa. Overall, the combined effects of both products can only centre, not hinder, the quality of your skincare routine. Since cannabis-derived products work better when they’re combined, not separated, using hemp seed oil to seal in all that skincare goodness is recommended.
The Balance Of CBD-Infused Skincare
Our CBD-infused skincare products already contain a lot of ingredients to promote balance and your own personal glow. Our premium sleep product, The Dream Mask, includes enough hero ingredients to impact the skin in a range of ways.
Anti-Oxidising
Antioxidants pack a punch. And if you don’t know already what these molecules can do for the body and skin, here’s a heads up: antioxidants are molecules which donate their electrons to unstable free radicals (harmful molecules), preventing them from damaging the skin cells.
Skincare infused with extracts of CBD, vitamin E, niacinamide, and buckthorn, such as The Dream Mask, may all impact free radical damage while you sleep. Too many free radicals can cause oxidative stress to the skin: this is when there’s an imbalance between antioxidants and free radicals in the skin, resulting in possible skin afflictions, such as chronic skin damage. Your skin needs antioxidants to protect and preserve the delicate layers of skin cells, which could be disrupted by free radicals at any time. It’s hard to escape the glaring nature of free radical damage: often they may penetrate the skin from a host of different environmental factors which can’t be avoided, such as sun exposure, pollutants, smoke, chemical exposure, and individual diet.
The best way to prevent free radical damage is by compensating with antioxidants, such as those present in The Dream Mask. The ‘hero ingredients’ within The Dream Mask packs a double-punch of nourishment for the skin. Not only does sleep naturally heal and repair- combining a good night’s sleep with a potent cocktail of ingredients infused with a variety of antioxidants will effortlessly accelerate repair and promote a juicy, youthful glow when you awaken.
Regenerating
Hero ingredients such as niacinamide and bakuchiol, which The Dream Mask contains in abundance, can be extremely calming for the skin during sleep.
Niacinamide, despite its complicated-sounding name, is an extract of vitamin B3- and it’s a hero ingredient, indeed, completing a series of regenerating roles in our skincare such as helping hydrators to retain skin moisture, aiding in skin cell regeneration, managing acne and texture, and protecting the skin from environmental damage- just as any great antioxidant must. Bakuchiol, much like niacinamide, also packs a punch with its restorative regenerative properties. Thought of as a lighter, less sensitising, less scary retinol, bakuchiol reduces signs of fine lines, wrinkles, and texture without accompanying any cautionary tales- unlike its sister product, retinol, which can sometimes promote itching, irritation, and redness in sensitive skin.
Hydrating
Possibly the most important factor in The Dream Mask, especially when bearing skin permeability in mind, is the array of hyaluronic acids present.
Hyaluronic acid is a humectant- an ingredient which is responsible for hydrating all the layers of the skin. Since skin hydration is exceptionally important in keeping the moisture barrier strong and maintaining a smooth, radiant complexion, humectants are especially important in the evening, after a long day of moisture-loss.
Humectants are essential ingredients for hydration, since they work to attract water molecules from the lower layers of the skin to the top layers; since the top layer tends to lose water at a faster rate (due to trans-epidermal water loss), humectants are best when they’re sealed onto the skin with another occlusive. The Dream Mask is an incredibly well-balanced means of infusing hydration into the skin with little change of trans-epidermal water loss as, with masks, which sit on the skin in a thick layer, the hydrating ingredients are effectively sealed into the skin.
Sleep: An Important Skincare Ingredient
Often, we forget how important sleep is for the skin. And, since a regular sleep pattern can improve our sense of self care, help heal us from infections, and possibly even promote muscle repair, it’s clear that sleep can restore the mind, body and spirit in a range of different ways. At MANTLE, we’ve always held the belief that the skin reflects wellbeing- since a regular sleep pattern can restore the skin, reflecting radiance from the inside out, it’s clear that saying holds true. Incorporating The Dream Mask into your sleep schedule can’t be a bad thing, either!