Beauty Clinic: How can I help my skin repair itself overnight?

Q. I have heard that skin repairs itself at night and I wonder if, in addition to putting on night cream etc, there is anything else I can do to help as the years go by? A. Not for nothing is it called beauty sleep and there is now science to prove what experts have observed for years, as we explained in our last book The Ultimate Natural Beauty Bible. We all know we look and feel better after a good night’s sleep with plumper skin, wrinkles and lines softer, complexion and eyes brighter – and in a sunnier mood

Curiously though, there was no absolute proof until research at University Hospitals Case Medical Center, Ohio, America showed that poor sleepers had more fine lines, uneven pigmentation and slacker less elastic skin than a matched group of good sleepers.

The study, which was funded by beauty company Estée Lauder, also showed that bad sleepers also recovered more slowly from sunburn, suggesting that you need sleep to repair skin damage. Their skin also lost water 30 per cent faster than the good sleepers.

So sleeping well is paramount. There are two things we suggest: if you tend to sleep poorly, try a natural melatonin supplement such as Viridian Nutrition Cherry Night (one of Sarah’s favourite products).

This ‘nutritional nightcap’, as Viridian call it, contains melatonin (the sleep hormone) from cherries, magnesium to help you relax (including your muscles) and glycine, a calming amino acid, which is a key ingredient in collagen and helps repair damaged tissues. Take a teaspoon in water, juice, milk or yogurt before you go to bed/£24.95 for 150 g from www.victoriahealth.com.

We also love Sarah Chapman Overnight Facial Supplement, £46 for 30 capsules and 30 tablets, the wonderful facialist now with her own boutique in London. (We have known Sarah for many years – as we all age – and she remains just as lovely in every way: so we always want what she has.)

Take one capsule and one tablet nightly before bed and over a period of weeks, watch your complexion bloom. Sarah promises brighter, plumper more resilient skin, due to the 23 skin nourishing micronutrients (vitamins, minerals, antioxidants, coenzyme-Q10 and essential omega fatty acids), which have been formulated to stimulate cell repair and rejuvenation, as well as help you sleep soundly. We really notice the difference.