Wrinkles: Why You're Getting Them in Your Sleep and How to Prevent Them

Good golly- why do they call it 'beauty rest' when you're actually causing wrinkles as you snooze away? Learn why you may be causing wrinkles as you sleep, and what you can do to prevent them. This way, you actually really are getting your beauty rest instead of aging yourself in your sleep!

The way you sleep can actually determine where you're prone to get wrinkles during the night. And we all thought a good night's rest would allow our skin to rejuvenate and prevent wrinkles, right? Well, kinda...unless you're sleeping the wrong way, then you are actually encouraging wrinkles, not preventing them. Learn the right and wrong way to sleep so you can keep wrinkles at bay, at least for a few more years.

Sleeping on your stomach makes you more prone for forehead wrinkles and those yucky little wrinkles between your eyebrows. Why? The American Academy of Dermatology (AAD) found that if you sleep on your stomach, you furrow your brow more and you end up with those brow and forehead wrinkles that are oh-so attractive. The way your face gets squished into the pillow just leaves you with those 'sleep lines' that will eventually become more permanent. Relax your forehead and eyebrow furrows in the morning when you wake up with a nice little massage to keep those lines from becoming permanent.

Sleeping on your side can cause wrinkles as well. In fact, the side that you sleep on will actually have deeper, more defined wrinkles than the side you don't sleep on. Again, the AAD found that sleeping on your side pushes your face into the pillow or bedding where cheek and chin wrinkles will form more quickly. You've seen people sleeping on their side with their cheeks all scrunched up- that motion creates those lovely mouth wrinkles that can be difficult to get rid of. Giving your face a stretch by opening your mouth wide and moving around your jaw helps to wipe away those lines when you first wake up, but what way can you sleep that will actually keep wrinkles at bay?

Your best bet? Sleep on your back. If you don't have your face pressed into a surface for hours on end, you're less likely to end up with sleep lines that just won't go away. The last thing you want is to age while you sleep, so sleep on your back, the AAD suggests, and keep a younger looking face longer. If you really want to wake up looking refreshed rather than aged, sleep on your back with a great pillow which props your head up at an angle. This way, the blood that normally pools in your face during the night can circulate out of your head. You won't wake up with a puffy face this way, and sleeping on your back will be much more comfortable if you have your neck properly supported.

Don't want wrinkles in your sleep but still want to snooze on your side or stomach? Prevent wrinkles by drinking tons of water daily (dry skin is more prone for wrinkles anyhow) and wear a great moisturizer to bed, like the tried-and-true olive oil or coconut oil remedies slathered on your face for sleepy time. A well-moisturized face is more likely to rejuvenate and replump for the morning than a face that doesn't get some bedtime TLC- so make sure to keep your face nice and moist, and wrinkles be damned!

Oh, and oddly enough, stretch mark creams make excellent anti-wrinkle creams, because stretch mark creams usually have collagen, Vitamin E, and other moisturizers in them for plumping up and repairing skin. If the creams can work wonders on your scars, imagine what they can do for your face- and more often than not, stretch mark creams will fare better (and be cheaper) than an anti-wrinkle cream will for your face anyhow. Don't forget to moisturize your eyelids as well- you don't want them to get crepey!

Sources:

personal use of bedtime moisturizer

friend who is a makeup artist

http://www.webmd.com/healthy-beauty/slideshow-reducing-wrinkles