Getting Beauty Sleep Helps you Look Healthy

Beauty may be in the eye of the beholder, but it seems that not getting enough beauty sleep may influence what the beholder sees.

Researchers at the Karolinska Institutet in Stockholm took photos of 25 university students after they had two consecutive nights of good sleep (or beauty sleep) and then again after they had slept for only four hours a night for two nights, according to an article on BBC.com. People then looked at the photos and rated the students on attractiveness, health and appeal. Respondents generally judged the sleepy students as less attractive and less healthy. They also were less willing to socialize with them.

Gayle Brewer, a psychology expert at the University of Liverpool, notes: “Judgment of attractiveness is often unconscious, but we all do it, and we are able to pick up on even small cues like whether someone looks tired or unhealthy. This study is a good reminder of how important sleep is to us.”