Getting Beautiful in Your Sleep

I am writing this for time-crunched moms and others who want to stay beautiful as they grow up (oops! I mean grow older). One thing that works for me is to take a little extra time at bedtime to set myself up for the next day. Your mom probably told you to clean your kitchen and lay out your clothes before you go to bed. Here are some more things you can do at night so you can wake up the next morning feeling all prettified:

Put olive oil around your eyes. EVOO (extra-virgin olive oil) is the bomb when it comes to moisturizing. I put it on my eye area after I get out of the shower at night. After it sinks in, I add my night cream. Your eyes will look less puffy and the fine lines will almost disappear over time.

Smear Vick's Vapor Rub all over your feet, then put some old socks on. When you wake up, all those dry, flaky lines all over you heels will be gone, and soft, moist skin will be there instead. An added bonus is, if you wear high heels all day and tend to limp a little when you wake up, the soothing action of the vapor rub will eliminate that morning limp. Rub the rest into your hands and sleep with gloves or socks over your hands if you can stand them.

Sleep on your back. This is good for your posture, and also it helps counter the effects of gravity pulling down on your face all day. And speaking of the effects of gravity . . . .

Wear a sports bra to bed. You really should not go around without a bra at all, lest gravity pull too much on your precious twins. I learned this tip on a stripper website, and I find that it really works. My breasts are on the small side, but I notice a definite lift in about a week or so. And while we are at it . . .

Sleep in your workout clothes. The Army taught me this one. It is so much easier to get up and work out when you are already dressed for it. And, by not dirtying PJ's AND exercise clothes, you will save on laundry, too.

Protect your hair. Hair, especially long hair, tends to get tangled in your sleep. It also gets smushed around and bent at bizarre angles, flattened and mashed. Avoid all these issues and wake up with hair that is clean, soft, and decent enough to leave the house. I personally prefer to sleep in a snood, because it keeps my curls in place while my hair dries. If I arrange my hair correctly when I put it on, I will have almost nothing to do to it the next day. Other options are a satin night cap (keeps hair clean and protects it from breakage), or a scarf to wrap and tie, to protect your style for the next day. Many women with longish hair shampoo at night, apply leave-in conditioner or aloe-vera gel, and then braid their hair, tying it off with non-breakage bands. Which ever option you choose, the main points are to keep hair protected from tangles and breakage, to keep the ends moist and conditioned by protecting them from the air, and to keep the hair clean and/or preserve the style for the next day. You want to wake up, take off your head covering, and go.

Use a clean pillow case. Seriously. I change mine every couple if days, flipping the pillow on the other days. Satin cases are said to be the best, both for being gentle on your hair and for not contributing to wrinkles when you have your face smashed up against the pillow. I don't have satin ones, just plain old cotton, but whatever they are made of, pillow cases absorb oil from your skin and hair, harbor mites, and collect dust. Changing them frequently is a good, easy way to help keep your hair and skin clean at night.

Do a mask. Remember those old TV shows where the Mom always went to bed with a gross green paste smeared all over her face? I have found out what that stuff is, and there is a good reason so many women used it, it became a cliche. The modern version of this mystical green glop is Queene Helene Mint Julip Mask .This stuff is best! You can use it as directed, allowing the mask to sit on your skin for a mere 15 minutes. Better yet, smear it on at bed time and let it work its magic all night long. In the morning, you will wake up with firm, glowing skin. Any acne issues you had will be dramatically reduced, blackheads will disappear, and pores will be magically refined.

You will notice that most of these suggestions cost little or nothing, and none of them take more than a few minutes to do. I promise you, if you get in the habit of taking care of yourself at night, you will wake up in the morning with a running start to your day.