Formulas that work while you sleep

While deep in slumber, we fuel our imagination with dreams brought on by leftovers in the subconscious (repressed feelings from that last argument with your coworker on his-less-than-desirable cubicle habits, perhaps) or particularly vivid memories (a recent breakup) or hunger pangs (if you can eat your feelings, you can sleep with them too). While we sleep, our brains aren’t the only things whirring in the darkness while the power-packed sleeping pill your druggy friend recommended works its magic.

During the twilight hours, without pollution, loud music or your boss yelling in your ear (hopefully) to disrupt the skin’s natural healing process, the skin’s primed for therapy. Like a lubed-up celebutante after a good alcohol buzz, the epidermis is more open to the regenerative properties of skin-curatives.

The circadian rhythm has programmed our bodies to respond to external elements based on the time of day. According to research, during the day, when environmental stressors are at their peak, the skin is designed to fight elements that cause our brow to furrow. With skin in protection

No regrets: “I can put together a long list of mistakes that I’ve made in the past. Sometimes you learn from it and sometimes you don’t.”

mode, it’s at a slow metabolic rate, which explains the rise in sebum secretion. When the clock strikes midnight (till about four a.m.), our rhythms tend to relax. So at night, while you’re getting your beauty rest, skin is busy repairing the damage wrought from a day working in the city. According to studies, “the blood flow increases, the skin absorption of actives rate and cell turnover is at its peak.”

Kiehl’s Midnight Recovery Concentrate has proven to be a powerfully potent formula, an intense concentrate designed to “biologically replicate skin’s natural lipids for optimal skin repair during the night.”

A water-free blend of squalane, night-blooming evening primrose and lavender essential oils, coriander and rosehip seed oils work to replenish lipids, restoring skin’s natural appearance by morning, nurturing it and revealing skin that’s softer and more well-rested.

Supremya, the anti-aging serum under French label Sisley, works on the same premise, providing optimal rejuvenation during night hours. Devised to prolong the cell’s lifespan, in order to give it time to self-repair before reproducing, and stimulating cells’ protective shell to keep skin insulated from harmful elements, Supremya’s formula is based on a patent-pending phyto-complex compound derived from four botanical active ingredients. Promising fuller, smoother, luminous skin — wrinkles filled in, restructuring of marks on the skin’s surface and an improvement in dermis texture — Supremya is that holy grail in a bottle hedonists have been pursuing in the pursuit of perfect skin.

These potent brews are particularly attractive to lazy consumers. These formulas do all the work, while you sleep. All in all, a dream of a proposition.