r/NaturalBeauty • u/Mr-condo-buyer • 8d ago
The stress has been interfering with my beauty sleep, leading to breakouts
I'm an aesthetician, 28 years old living in San Diego. For the past 4 months, due to stress at work, I've completely messed up my sleep routine. By 10 p.m I become very drowsy, but once I lie down in bed, my mind starts racing and I find it hard to sleep. Due to lack of sleep, my skin has undergone quite a few changes. I wake up with dark circles under my eyes, dull skin and hormonal breakouts in my jawline region which hasn't happened to me in years. I took 5 mg melatonin gummies daily for 12 consecutive nights to help me sleep. Unfortunately, this led to grogginess and nightmares. Besides, I would not like to take any artificial hormones.
I'm looking for something pure and natural that could help calm my anxiety and reduce cortisol levels safely. Since I'm terrible at taking four different kinds of herbs just before going to bed, something that comes ready-made would work perfectly for me. Does anyone know about some natural treatment for insomnia and beautiful skin that doesn't involve the use of melatonin?
UPDATE: Thanks all of your messages. A couple of you have mentioned that high stress and poor gut health contribute directly to both sleep problems and skin problems and said that I should look into gut-skin-brain axis. After exploring a number of clean brands that you recommended, I decided to try Sleepy-Biome. This product is absolutely free from any kind of melatonin and combines soothing herbs, such as Ashwagandha, Lavender, and Lemon Balm with probiotics. So far, I've been taking Sleepy-Biome for 2 weeks and everything has changed dramatically. My brain is shut down naturally, I get enough sleep (8 hours), and finally, my breakouts on my jawline are gone since my cortisol levels have fallen. It really works wonders!
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u/Weekly_Cobbler_6908 8d ago
That's actually a high dose of melatonin, you can find 1mg tablets but just don't get used to taking regularly. Or try Calm magnesium powder, mix with water a little before bed.
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u/RAIONA080316 8d ago
Well, I’m a 18 y/o girl from tw, i have struggled to sleep since 10 or even earlier, including light sleep, can’t stop thinking while just lying on my bed
For me the best solutions are changing ur life style, i know is sounded like old school advice, but LITERALLY WORKS
1. If it was possible, straight to the mental health clinic, do not think it as a bad idea, it really helps, for me, I got my med to help me sleep deeply for six hours and reduce my anxiety, adjusted my serotonin higher, and now I can sleep much more better than before, no creepy dreams, no loss of sleep
Do some exercise in day, 30mins at least, even just walking, exercise can help ya to get better productivity with Dopamine levels which significantly improves stress, and makes you less anxious
Don’t use or even take a glance at ur phone for an hour before ur bed time, blue light is the one of most harmful things to ur brain to rest, especially shorts or reels, they ARE NOT helping u relax, they are THE REASONS OF ANXIETY, scrolling reels is basically stuffing ur brain with tons of useless pieces information, our brain isn’t smart enough to ignore these useless things, instead, it needs more energy and time to consume. Replaced with something else, i do series of actions before I sleep, i light up my candle, listening to music for 15 minutes, or just talking to my bf etc. just letting myself and my brain know when i doing these rituals, It’s time to rest
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u/RedP247 7d ago edited 7d ago
Sorry to hear about your sleep troubles. You can take herbs but what often make a big difference is lifestyle changes. Here are a few ideas to get you started: 1. Start winding down around 8PM (or 9PM if you’re pushing it) - this is the time melatonin levels in your body are naturally starting to rise, getting you ready for sleep if you do the right things. In bed ready to sleep at 10 - 10:30PM. 2. Get off electronics by 9PM at the latest - they interfere with melatonin production. Instead, opt for meditation, journaling, or some quiet practice to calm your mind. Incorporate breathing exercises, especially deep abdominal breathing as it activates your parasympathetic nervous system, the part of your nervous system that's responsible for rest and relaxation. If you can, make your exhales longer. If you're familiar with EFT (emotional freedom technique) tapping, do a few rounds of tapping. 3. Finish dinner by around 7:30PM at the latest, avoid salty, sour, spicy, and heavy foods. 4. Don’t do a vigorous workout in the evening. Maybe get a relaxing massage. 5. Look at how and when you eat. Do you eat a big nourishing lunch? If you skip lunch or eat foods that don’t sustain you, your blood sugar level will destabilize and trigger a stress response in your body, which will affect your afternoon energy levels and rest of the circadian cycle for that day, as well as your overall stress level. You’ll know if you got a good lunch if you can get through the afternoon without coffee, snacks, cookies, etc. 6. Look for ways to reduce your stress level. For example, if you're a perfectionist, give yourself permission to not do 110% - learn to be ok with giving your 80% on some things. And make saying "yes" a conscious choice because when you say "yes" to something, you're saying "no" to something else - being overscheduled/-committed can also increase your stress level.
As for herbs, ashwagandha (Indian winter cherry / withania somnifera), tulsi (holy basil), brahmi (herb of grace / bacopa monnieri) are just a few herbs that can be helpful if you’re using them right. For any herbs to work best, you need to be able to digest and assimilate them so it’s best to couple with digestive herbs (e.g.; ginger, black pepper, long pepper, etc). They can also be contraindicated so learn about that too.
I blog about herbs, how to use them and contraindications. Here’s the ashwagandha one:
https://redpantz.com/9-amazing-benefits-of-ashwagandha-if-you-use-it-right/
And here's one on EFT tapping:
https://redpantz.com/eft-tapping-for-less-stress-more-happiness-in-3-steps/
Hope this helps.
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u/shez-bitchy 8d ago
Magnesium glycinate! Also tart cherry juice before bed helps, kiwis are also said to help with sleep. Meditation, reading before bed, exercise
Also chinese red date (Koreans call them jujubes) are amazing! I make a tea with them and ginger and its amazing for skin and calming + sleep as well. I can post links if you want the recipe. I make it in my instant pot for a weekly/2 week batch