Product watch: Get some beauty sleep
Night-time is ideal for exfoliation, a process that leaves skin more vulnerable to UV rays, which is probably why Kiehl’s made this for “Over-Night” wear.
At-home peels can be slightly intimidating, especially if your skin is sensitive and/or rosacea-prone, but this is actually a pretty gentle leave-on exfoliant.
Or at least it contains plenty of HEPES, a chemical buffering agent, to offset any irritation.
It is also fragrance and alcohol-free, two strong points in favour of any product you’re leaving on for hours. The active ingredient is urea, an exfoliant most often used in the treatment of problem dry skin on the body.
You probably associate it with foot creams or lotions for keratosis pilaris rather than facial products.
Still, it leaves skin brighter, softer, and more even-toned. Water-binding silicones and hyaluronic acid heighten moisture levels.
This is a treatment that best suits normal to dry skin.
Aussie skincare brand Jurlique has created a real gem in this lightweight alternative to greasy night creams.
The brand’s Purely Age-Defying range is packed with soothing all-organic extracts and best suit normal to dry skin.
Fruit and plant antioxidants independently proven to aid skin’s natural repair and defend against collagen breakdown fill the ingredients list for this lotion.
The light texture belies an emollient base of jojoba and sunflower seed oils that makes skin feel super-comfortable and licorice and chamomile extracts are very soothing.
You can expect to awake to softer, plumper skin from the first application.
This lotion smells wonderful, though the formula is fragranced enough to potentially bother sensitive skin.
Sachajuan is a Stockholm salon with an award-winning range of haircare products. Their products have a fast and noticeable impact on strands of every type.
Overnight Hair Repair is especially good at combatting the straw-like results of excessive highlighting and heat-styling. Sachajuan’s “Ocean Silk Technology,” a reparative blend of high-quality sea minerals and algae extracts like carrageen moss, works to increase shine and softness overnight and to strengthen hair over time.
Apply the creamy formula through freshly-washed lengths in the evening. This product is oil-free and won’t stain your bed linen.
Night-time treatments tend to be rich and luxurious in texture, and therefore completely inappropriate for oily skin.
Troublesome though this skin type may seem, it is actually gifted with an in-built, natural moisturiser (sebum) that it produces just a little too well.
A kaolin-based mask like NightWear Plus 3-Minute Detox helps to absorb excess oil gently and without impairing skin’s natural moisture barrier.
It also cleanses just inside the pore lining, so it ideal for an at-home mini-facial. Kaolin is a naturally occurring clay mineral that tightens up the pores and converts greasy shine to a fresh glow.
This mask uses a lot of it and while it seems a shame to wash off a product with so many additional beneficial ingredients after three minutes, leaving on much longer risks over-drying the skin.
Your skin enjoys Estée Lauder’s Super-Antioxidant Complex of brightening gentian root and marine extracts during the brief wait time.
Using blotting paper or a clay mask is more balancing than a detergent-based face wash that makes skin shiny and tight (choose calming water-based cleansers instead).
A good moisturiser plumps the skin around tired eyes while you sleep.
Sunday Riley is a Texan luxury brand beloved of glossy magazine editors and of fashion designers like Emilia Wickstead, who had an SR team do facials backstage at her Spring 2016 show.
The products’ sleek packaging usually bears peppy, positive names like “Start Over” or “Good Genes,” while the small print makes mention of the brand’s NV-5 Ageless Complex.
This complex is a mix of botanical extracts like blue agave, cactus pear and aloe, some of which have been independently shown to help support natural collagen growth and sun-damage repair.
Start Over is one of the few Sunday Riley products that is fragrance-free (perfume isn’t skincare), and suits all skin types.
The cream is both lightweight and hydrating.
It is very soothing and can improve (though not eradicate) dark circles. It is pricey, but the thin lotion-like texture means you need relatively little per application.
Lab Series Skincare’s latest anti-aging moisturiser has a formula just as sophisticated as that of the brand’s Overnight Renewal Serum, €68.
Both are among the woefully small number of male-targeted skincare products that come close to backing up what their packaging promises.
This is probably because Lab Series an Estée Lauder company, so the skincare benefits from the kind of expertise that brought us ladies Estée Lauder’s excellent Advanced Night Repair Synchronized Recovery Complex II, €86.
Like Overnight Renewal, Future Rescue Repair is packed with antioxidants independently proven to heal UV damage, support healthy collagen development and even tone.
Soothing, moisturising extracts make skin look temporarily plumped but you really need to use broad-spectrum SPF25 or higher daily to maximise the benefits of a product like this over time.
I recommend Lab Series Skincare for Men BB Tinted Moisturiser SPF35, €51.
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