Most people would choose to wake up looking their best every morning ― but that isn’t a reality, for a multitude of reasons.
While there can be many factors at play, nighttime behaviors and habits can impact your appearance, sometimes making you look puffy, red or dehydrated.
These habits can exacerbate existing skin issues and compromise your skin barrier (the outer layer of your skin), leading to dry skin, inflammation, irritation, bumpy patches and more.
Below, dermatologists share the common nighttime habits that aren’t doing your looks any favors:
1. Eating salty foods.
“If you’re going out to dinner, having a big heavy meal with a lot of salt, that can definitely lead to more fluid retention throughout your body,” said Dr. Aegean Chan, a dermatologist and founder of More Than Nine Skincare.
And since the skin on your face is thinner, puffiness from the fluid retention will show up here — and especially around the eyes, Chan added.
While it’s not possible (or enjoyable) to totally cut out salty food every night of your life, limiting high-salt meals the night before a big event could be a good idea.
2. Drinking alcohol.
It likely goes without saying that alcohol consumption isn’t helping your appearance
“If you’re having that nightcap or that glass of wine with dinner, that’s really going to dilate your blood vessels and lead to more fluid retention that you may notice as puffiness in the morning,” Chan said.
After drinking alcohol, you may specifically notice puffiness in the under eyes or in the face, added Dr. Shelia Farhang, a dermatologist and founder of Avant Dermatology and Aesthetics.
Instead of alcohol, reach for seltzer water to hydrate you and reduce any next-day puffiness.
3. Sleeping in a dry room.
Sleeping in a dry room, which tends to be a bigger problem when the heat is on in the winter, can take a toll on your skin health, according to Farhang.
“If you already have sensitive skin from rosacea, or, now you have eczema flaring, when you have a dry room, your skin is more sensitive, basically, because dry skin equals compromised skin barrier,” Farhang said.
Dry air also causes the loss of water from the skin, but a humidifier “can hydrate the skin,” Chan added. So when you wake up in the morning, your skin looks and feels better.
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4. Not getting enough high-quality sleep.
You know how you look puffy or have darker-than-usual under eye bags after a bad night of sleep? There’s a reason for that. Quality of sleep, along with how much you sleep, impacts all the systems in your body.
“Your sleep is your time to reset, for your body to sort of recover from the day,” Chan said. “And most people, when they have a stretch of really good sleep, restorative sleep, they’re in REM for a lot of the time … many people do report, anecdotally, that they feel like their bags are lessened. They look more awake.”
“In terms of the skin, they’ve done studies looking at circadian rhythm [the body’s 24-hour internal clock] — the skin does reset itself at night, and a lot of the skin barrier repair does happen at night,” Chan added.
5. Skipping nighttime moisturizers.
Not moisturizing your skin properly at night may make you wake up with dehydrated-looking skin.
“I think one easy thing that you can do is really prioritize supporting that skin barrier. To me, as a dermatologist, that means using really thick moisturizers when you go to bed,” Chan said.
These come in all different forms; nighttime masks, thick creams and even classics like Vaseline and Aquaphor, Chan suggested.
If you have really dry skin and use Vaseline and Aquaphor a few times a week to boost moisture, “it’s called slugging,” Chan said. “Essentially, it acts like Saran Wrap or like a bandage over your skin, and it just optimizes that skin barrier repair.”
This way, you’ll wake up with smoother, bouncier and more hydrated skin, Chan noted.
6. Allergies.
While allergies aren’t a habit, per se, not taking allergy meds certainly is. And your allergy-induced watery eyes and stuffy nose aren’t only annoying, but those same allergies can also make you look pretty swollen, Farhang explained.
“Allergies can contribute to facial puffiness more than people even think they do … you can get really, really swollen, especially around your nose and under your eyes, where the sinuses are,” Farhang said.
Understanding your environmental allergies and taking antihistamines can help combat this swelling.
7. Mouth breathing at night.
If you breathe through your mouth at night, you may notice a few aesthetic consequences. It not only makes your mouth dry, but can also cause dry, chapped lips, Farhang said.
It’s worth talking to your doctor to find out why you’re mouth-breathing overnight. It could be related to allergies or untreated sleep apnea, both of which have solutions available.
While you don’t need to totally switch up your life for the sake of morning beauty, the healthy habits mentioned above can help your body holistically, and not just the way you look in the morning.