Your skin is like a mirror, reflecting the signs of your overall health – and when you’re not getting enough sleep, it shows! Puffy eyes and dark circles, fine lines, dullness, breakouts and redness are all signs that your environment may not be supporting your beauty sleep. 

We know that creating a bedtime routine is vital to ensure you’re getting the most optimal beauty sleep, but did you know that the environment you’re sleeping in is just as important?

Cultivating a toxin-free and natural environment for beauty sleep can make the difference between happy skin and a good sleep. In the blog post below, we share our top 8 tips for cultivating the optimal bedroom environment for a good night's shut-eye!

How to create the optimal environment for a good night’s beauty sleep!

1. Ensure you are keeping the room dark

Light is the most powerful cue for our bodies internal clock – our circadian rhythm. When it’s time for bed, keep the room as dark as possible with black out curtains or shades to promote a healthy circadian rhythm. Or, opt for a Satin Eye Mask to block out the light and keep fine lines around the eye area at bay. As important as darkness is for when you want to go to sleep, light is just as important when you wake up! Avoid looking at your phone, which emits skin-damaging and circadian rhythm-disrupting Blue Light as soon as you wake up. Instead, when your alarm rings, jump out of bed and open your curtains to let natural light shine through.

2. Not too hot, not too cold… just right!

Our circadian rhythm also relies heavily on temperature cues! Around two hours before bed, your temperature actually starts to drop, due to a release of the sleep hormone melatonin. Temperature generally continues to fall throughout your sleep, reaching a low point in the early morning and warming up again as the day progresses (Sleep Foundation, 2022)

Body temperate affects your ability to fall asleep, stay asleep and the quality of your sleep, so it is vital that you ensure your bedroom is at an optimal temperature to assist with heat regulation!

A bedroom that is too warm interferes with the body’s thermoregulation process, leading to discomfort, restlessness and ultimately, fatigue. Hot temperatures have been shown to lessen the time spent in REM sleep, causing grogginess and negatively impacting the body’s ability to recover. Too cold, and your body’s cardiac autonomic response is altered, making it more difficult to fall asleep. So, how do you maintain an optimal bedroom temperature?

• Close blinds during the day to reduce heat build up
• Set your air-conditioner to turn on, or lower in temperature at night
• Change your bedding with the seasons, but always use breathable materials such Eucalyptus fibre, which is used for our Organic Vegan “Silk” Pillowcase.

3. Look for a non-toxic, organic mattress

 Look for mattress companies that use organic and renewable fabrics. These are materials like cotton grown without chemical fertilisers and pesticides, or natural rubber latex made from rubber trees, rather than latex blends that may include petroleum-based polyurethane and formaldehyde. Avoid mattresses that use fibrefill or batting that can trigger allergies, breathing issues like sensitivities, and even asthma flare-ups, due to the nature of synthetic “fill” materials. Using flame retardant chemicals in mattresses has adverse health effects on humans over time so ensure that you choose a mattress that avoids fire retardants.

4. Swap your cotton pillowcase for a vegan “silk” one

We have all heard the benefits of having a silk pillowcase, but silk is traditionally sourced in an unsustainable way and is not vegan. Our Organic Vegan “Silk” Pillowcase provides all the same benefits of traditional silk and then some, without being harmful to the earth. Spun from the fibres of eucalyptus pulp, sustainably sourced from renewable forests, it is the perfect addition to your optimal bedroom environment for a good night’s sleep.

This vegan silk pillowcase reduces acne by stopping the spread of bacteria, fights wrinkles and prevents sleep creases in your skin and protects against dust mites and other allergy triggers. It also regulates temperature through breathable and moisture-wicking properties and is hair-friendly, preventing breakage and frizz!

Shop our Vegan Silk Pillowcase here.

If you need some help finding the best pillow material ensure you look for pillows that have low VOC (Volatile Organic Compound) certification, no added fragrances or antimicrobials, no polyurethane foam and no PVC or vinyl.  Organic cotton, buckwheat and millet or 100% natural and organic latex tend to be good filler options.

5. Remove distractions

 When we talk about creating the perfect bedtime routine, often one of the first things to come up is to “ditch the devices” an hour before bed. The effects of Blue Light from our devices has been shown to confuse our circadian rhythm, making us feel alert and unable to fall asleep. By removing your TV, phone, tablet and all electrical devices from your bedroom, you can physically switch off without the harmful effects of EMFs and blue light.

6. Feng Shui your environment

 How can you possibly get a good night’s sleep if you are overwhelmed or uncomfortable in the environment you are in? Feng Shui is a practice born out of positioning objects and colour together to invite harmony and bring the right energy into an area. Over recent years it has gained in momentum and many people choose to design their home using the principles of Feng Shui.

A few of our favourite Feng Shui principles for a good night’s sleep include:

• Accessorise with blue – it promotes calmness and tranquillity, making it the perfect colour addition to your bedroom!
• Avoid placing a mirror in your bedroom, the Ancient Chinese believe this to be bad Fen Shui as a mirror hinders a peaceful sleep.
• Over clutter in a bedroom can disrupt flow, in Feng Shui, less is more!
• Add indoor plants to your bedroom that help induce sleep! We like Lavender (known for it’s calming scent), Snake Plants (improves air quality and humidity) and Aloe (increases oxygen levels at night)

For more advice on how to Feng Shui your environment – check out our blog post here!

7. Use relaxing scents and essential oils

 One of the easiest ways to create a relaxing environment for a good night’s sleep is to burn a scented candle! However, be wary of the scents you choose at bedtime, and ensure the ones you pick are not synthetic, and promote rest and relaxation rather than vibrance and energy.

Our Blue Lotus Dreaming natural soy wax candle contains a calming blend of Blue Lotus and Mt Blanc Lavender, designed to help you breathe in peace and envelop yourself in a cocoon for tranquillity – perfect for a good night of beauty sleep! The fragrance used in the candle is 100% natural and derived from essential oils.

Tip: Burn your candle for one to two hours before you go to bed, never leave a candle burning overnight, or unattended.

Shop our Blue Lotus Dreaming Candle here

8. Ensure you and your skin are ready for a good night’s sleep!

 When we are preparing our skin to rest, it is important we are using the right products for overnight skin rejuvenation. The Edible Beauty Sleeping Beauty Mousse is an essential night-time treat for your skin. Made from pink clay to visibly purify, revitalise and provide vital moisture while you rest. Formulated with Pink Clay, Zeolite and Alpha-Avocuta, it works to soften, brighten and purify the skin’s appearance, so you wake up to a visibly brighter and more radiant looking complexion the next morning.

For more benefits using a sleep mask can provide whilst you’re dreaming – check out our blog post here!

Shop Sleeping Beauty Purifying Mousse here.

Just as our bodies have a circadian rhythm, so does our skin! At various times of the day, our skin is working on different processes, and understanding these processes can help us to mould our skincare regimes to optimise the skin’s rebuilding and repair processes.

Our Broccoli Blue Light Revitalise Serum contains a unique active ingredient, B-CircadinTM, which has been clinically proven to resynchronise the skin’s circadian rhythm when it becomes deregulated by exposure to blue light and external pollutants. As a result, your skin appears visibly awakened, with a reduction in puffiness and dark circles, and an increase in skin radiance. To make the most of this powerhouse ingredient, apply 3-4 drops of Broccoli Blue Light Revitalise Serum to your face, neck and décolletage every morning. Its blend of high-dose antioxidants and clinically proven actives will work to protect the skin from the damaging effects of Blue Light and pollution whilst resynchronising the skin’s body clock if out of balance.

For more information on supporting your skin’s circadian rhythm, read our blog post here.

Shop Broccoli Blue Light Revitalise Serum here

Whilst we can do our best in re-establishing the dreamiest bedroom environment, ensuring we are getting the appropriate hours of sleep every night, is the key to success when it comes to beauty sleep! Make a habit of ensuring your sleep is a top priority and you will start to notice the befits it has for your healthy, vitality and beauty!