Timeless Well
  • Sleep
  • Skin
  • Routines

An evening wind-down for better sleep, and kinder skin

One-minute read

A striped sun setting into layered hills as a new moon rises, painted in botanical watercolour

Sleep is the least glamorous anti-ageing habit and probably the most important one. When I sleep well, everything is easier: I move more, eat better, and my face looks less tired. These are the steps that have stuck.

An hour before bed

  • Dim the lights and, if you can, charge your phone outside the bedroom
  • Have a warm shower or bath; many people find the cooling-down afterwards makes them sleepy
  • Keep caffeine for the morning, and go easy on alcohol, which tends to make sleep lighter later in the night

Thirty minutes before bed

  • Cleanse gently and use a simple moisturiser; there's no need for a ten-step routine
  • Write tomorrow's three most important jobs on paper, so they're not circling in your head
  • Five minutes of slow breathing (see the post on six breaths a minute)

In the morning

Daylight soon after waking helps set your body clock. A short walk or a coffee by the window counts. And on bright days, sunscreen does more to protect skin from ageing than almost anything in a jar.

If sleep stays difficult

Everyone has bad nights. If poor sleep goes on for weeks or affects your days, talk to your GP. They can look for causes and suggest proven approaches such as cognitive behavioural therapy for insomnia (CBT-I).

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