Can getting enough sleep make me more attractive?

Both better quantity and quality sleep is an attractive feature, in everyone. A study from researchers at the Karolinska Institutet in Sweden published in the prestigious British Medical Journal showed that when given a choice, people thought individuals with more sleep looked attractive!

Researchers took pictures of 23 people on two separate occasions, the first time when they were sleep deprived (after being awake for 31 hours), and the second time after 8 hours of sleep.

Sixty-five “observers” were blinded to the condition (meaning that they did not know which occasion they were rating (sleep deprived vs. well rested) and asked to rate people on perceived health, attractiveness, and tiredness. And what do you think the results showed? People who were sleep deprived were rated as:

1. less healthy looking
2. more tired looking
3. less attractive

Not surprisingly a decreased rating of looking healthy appeared to be associated with ratings of tiredness and less attractiveness.

Today, sleep medicine is a highly regarded field of study that continues to provide insights into the power of sleep in the support of health and beauty, as well as longevity. Just about every system in the body, including your inner-beautification capabilities, is affected by the quality and amount of sleep you get a night.

One underappreciated aspect to sleep that is especially influential to our sense of well-being is its control of our hormonal cycles. So much of our circadian rhythm—the cycles our bodies experience throughout the twenty-four hour day—revolves around our sleep habits. A healthy day/night cycle is tied into our normal hormonal secretion patterns, from those associated with our eating habits to those that relate to stress and cellular recovery. Cortisol, for example, should be highest in the morning and progressively decrease throughout the day, with the lowest levels occurring after eleven at night. With (hopefully) low evening cortisol levels, melatonin levels rise. This is the hormone that tells you it’s time to sleep; it helps regulate your twenty-four-hour circadian rhythm. Once released, it slows body function, lowers blood pressure, and, in turn, core body temperature so you’re prepared to sleep. Higher melatonin levels will allow for more deep sleep, which helps maintain healthy levels of growth hormone, thyroid hormone, and male and female sex hormones. All good things for keeping up appearances. Let’s not forget that proper circulation in your facial skin gives your face color. Rosy cheeks after being in the cold, after you exercise, or even after feeling deep embarrassment, are the direct result of facial blood circulation. And you don’t get that without adequate sleep.

From The Mind-Beauty Connection: 9 Days to Less Stress, Gorgeous Skin, and a Whole New You by Amy Wechsler.

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