How To Get Your Beauty Sleep

I am a big sleep lover. Always have been, always will be. And when I don’t get my beauty sleep well, let’s just say, it’s not pretty.

There are many sleep disrupters. One’s offspring for starters – it begins when they are born and morphs into sheer sleepless panic when they are teenagers and out till all hours. Just when you think it is safe to get some shuteye, the husband develops a weird snoring pattern. Are you kidding me! No wonder I am looking ravaged.

First things first, I dispatch said husband to our favourite dentist, Dr Michael Finkelstein, to have a Snoreguard fitted which, praise the lord, fixes the dreadful snoring.

So now it’s time to address my visage.

One hot tip I have picked up on the beauty circuit is that to get the most out of your nocturnal skincare, it’s best to begin the process as soon as you arrive home in the evening. Take your makeup off and the grime of the day and apply your night-time skincare ritual for long-lasting results.

In my search for some after-hours beauty revivers, I have come up with the fab five to try …

Elemis Pro-Intense Lift Effect Night Cream, $256 at Mecca, (call 07 5564 6767 for salon stockist details) is for you if saggy skin is a concern. This rich – but also somehow lightweight – cream uses plant stem cell technology (gardenia is a star ingredient here) to re-energise slackening skin and tighten things up. Skin looks beautifully plump by morning.

Estée Lauder‘s signature Advanced Night Repair range has a long history of night-time winners – my favourite for the delicate eye area is Advanced Night Repair Eye, $120. Apply a tiny amount and massage onto the orbital bone with your ring finger.

Guerlain Issima Midnight Recovery Secret, $145 … the name says it all. A must on those nights when you tumble into bed in the wee hours, with an early morning meeting looming.

To nourish hair overnight, try L’Oréal Paris Hair Expertise Ever Strong Overnight Repair Treatment, $42 (from supermarkets). Just set and forget.

And for soothing pillow talk you can’t go past, The Body Shop Deep Sleep Dreamy Pillow and Body Mist, $29.95. Even the process of spritzing your pillow has a calming effect and sets up a lovely pre-sleep ritual.