Beauty sleep Everyone talks of 'getting some beauty sleep' and according to new research from the Karolinska Institutet in Sweden, quality shut-eye really does make others perceive you as more beautiful.
For the study, participants were not permitted to drink alcohol for two days prior to the experiment. Smokers were also excluded. Then each participant had their photo taken in the afternoon, between 2pm and 3pm on two separate occasions. On one occasion they had had normal sleep – eight hours; on the other they had been deprived of sleep (having been awake for 31 hours). The lighting was kept the same for both photograph sessions, and the camera set up too. The 23 participants didn’t wear any make-up for either of the photograph sessions, and their hair was combed back off their face but left loose.
Using these photos, the researchers then asked 65 other study participants, who had not taken part in the previous part of the study, to rate each photograph for attractiveness. They also asked the participants to say whether or not they felt the people in the photos looked health or unhealthy, tired or untired. Despite having only experienced one night of less sleep, these study participants were viewed as being less attractive, less healthy and more tired too.
While the study authors couldn’t say exactly what about the sleep-deprived faces looked different to the others, they conclude that there must be 'facial signals' that indicate a person’s lack of sleep and make us judge that person as less healthy, less attractive and more tired.
The Sleeping Beauty Cheat Sheet
Sometimes you can’t get the sleep you need, and for those days, try these tips:
- Remove Skin loses its glow when you’re tired because the body’s cell renewal process slows when you’re fatigued. Exfoliate to slough off dead skin cells and you’ll also encourage new cell growth.
- Renew Drink plenty of fluids to help your body keep skin cells healthy. Apply a tinted moisturiser to fake a glow and to give your skin a soft, fresh feel.
- Reduce Soften the puffiness under your eyes with something cool: cucumbers, tea bags or even a flannel that’s been run under the cold tap. This will also help reduce redness in your eyes – use eyedrops too.
First published December 15, 2010