Grab some beauty sleep

Morning folks, not long now til we have to turn the clocks back an hour whereby the only benefit to me is, for one night only, we get an extra hour in bed.  Apart from that, how many hours a night do you actually get and do you notice the difference if this amount is increased or decreased for whatever reason?
It's a known fact that sleep can have a major impact on everything from your weight and mood to your ability to function like a normal human being. Now, a new study  suggests that lack of sleep can, in fact, have an effect on your appearance—beyond the obvious dark Alice Cooper-esque black circles.
For the study, researchers from The Karolinska Institute recruited 25 students (male and female) to participate in a sleep experiment. Each person was given a kit to check how much they slept through the night and was instructed to monitor two good nights of sleep (sleeping 7-9 hours) and two bad nights of sleep (sleeping no longer than 4 hours max).
After each recorded night, researchers took pictures of the students and showed them to another group of people who were asked to analyse the photos and rate each student based on attractiveness, health, sleepiness, and trustworthiness. As expected, people who were sleep-deprived ranked lower on all counts. The group also said they'd be less likely to socialise with the students who got less sleep.
"Findings show that acute sleep deprivation and looking tired are related to decreased attractiveness and health, as perceived by others," the study authors conclude. And the fact that one might want to avoid contact with a "sleep-deprived, or sleepy-looking individuals" is a strategy that makes sense, evolutionary speaking, the researchers explain, since "an unhealthy-looking face, whether due to sleep deprivation or otherwise" signals a health risk.
As Gayle Brewer, Ph.D., a psychology expert not associated with the study explained to the BBC, "Judgement 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."
Of course, "most people can cope just fine if they miss out on a bit of sleep now and again," lead researcher Tina Sundelin, Ph.D., told BBC. "I don't want to worry people or make them lose sleep over these findings."
The study sample size was small and there's still a lot more research to be done when it comes to determining how important those 7-8 hours of sleep really are, but we can always get behind another reason to catch up on some much-needed zzz's. So for now, try your best to avoid those lost hours of mind-numbing Instagram scrolling before bed—and get some damn beauty sleep.
Til next week, take care
MB