We all know that a good night’s sleep can do wonders for your skin. Yet for many of us eight or nine hours of shut-eye a day are almost impossible with work and family demands. Fortunately, there is a range of overnight beauty creams and masks designed to accelerate skin renewal and repair damage when our skin is most receptive to active ingredients.

Celebrity facialist Jocelyn Petroni says although a good daytime skincare regimen is crucial to protecting our skin from the sun and other environmental factors, such as pollution, wind and toxins, our night skin routine is actually more important. This is because we have the opportunity to nourish the skin and lock in vital moisture while our face is free from make-up and our body is in a relatively controlled state.

“At night, our skin relaxes and absorbs more than it secretes, so prepping the skin properly and applying the right night treatment products is key to healthy skin,” says Jocelyn. “Overnight, our skin regenerates and heals itself”.

Aurelie Felix, Product Development Manager for skincare at Elizabeth Arden, says the loss of water is a big problem while we sleep and to counteract it, she recommends applying moisturiser generously to the skin. “Overnight, there are two processes that cause you to lose water gradually – the first is respiration. Each time you exhale, you lose a little bit of water,” says Aurelie. “The second is transpiration though the skin, also known as sweat. Over the course of the night, both of these processes eliminate quite a bit of water. And because we naturally lose moisture during the sleep process, it’s very important to maintain healthy levels of cellular hydration topically.”