Most of us have woken up with a crease across one cheek that's gone by breakfast. But if those lines start lingering into the afternoon, or never quite leave, you've probably started wondering how to get rid of sleep wrinkles for good.
The good news is that sleep wrinkles have a clear, physical cause, which means there's plenty you can do about them. Here's how they form, why they get more stubborn with age and how to soften them, even once they've set, with the right routine.
What Are Sleep Wrinkles?
Sleep wrinkles form when your face is pressed into a pillow for hours at a time. A review in the Aesthetic Surgery Journal describes how compression, tension and shear forces act on facial skin when you sleep on your side or front, distorting it night after night.
They're different from expression lines, which are caused by repeated muscle movements such as smiling, frowning or squinting. According to the Aesthetic Society, most sleep wrinkles run perpendicular to expression lines and tend to appear on the forehead, lips and cheeks.
That gives you a simple way to tell them apart. Expression lines show up when you make a particular face, while sleep wrinkles usually don't, because muscle movement didn't create them.
They aren't limited to your face either. The American Academy of Dermatology notes that daily side or front sleeping may contribute to sleep lines on both the face and chest.
Are Sleep Wrinkles Permanent?
In younger skin, sleep creases are temporary. Skin has enough elasticity to spring back, so the lines fade soon after waking, but with time and repetition they can become persistent.
That's because skin gradually loses some of its ability to stretch and recoil. As collagen and elastin decline with age and sun exposure, lines that once faded by mid-morning can start to set in.
Sleep habits shift with age too. The Aesthetic Society reports that the number of times we change position overnight falls from around 27 to 16 as we get older, so the face spends longer pressed in the same spot.
Side sleeping is also the most common position, averaging around 65% in the studies reviewed. Put simply, permanent sleep wrinkles are usually the result of years of repetition plus natural changes in the skin, which is why the best approach tackles both.
How to Get Rid of Sleep Wrinkles: Start With the Pressure
The authors of the Aesthetic Surgery Journal review concluded that avoiding facial distortion during sleep is the only reliable way to minimise sleep wrinkles. So before reaching for any product, it helps to look at how you sleep.
Try sleeping on your back
The American Academy of Dermatology describes back sleeping as a simple step to reduce or prevent sleep lines, for those who can manage it. If you're a lifelong side sleeper, it won't happen overnight.
Start the night on your back and use pillows on either side of your body to make rolling over less tempting. Even spending part of the night on your back means less time with your face pressed into the pillow.
Rethink your pillow
If back sleeping isn't realistic, your pillow is the next thing to look at. Specialty pillows designed to reduce contact between your face and the pillow surface are one option the researchers mention.
Silk and satin pillowcases are popular too. They create less friction than cotton, which may help skin glide rather than crease, although there's little research on their effect on wrinkles specifically.
Don't forget your chest
Side sleeping can fold the skin on your chest as well as your face, which is why vertical lines often appear on the décolletage. If you can't avoid sleeping on your side, hugging a pillow can help stop your chest from folding inward.
What to Do About Permanent Sleep Wrinkles
Once lines have set, changing how you sleep helps stop them deepening, but it won't erase them on its own. This is where your skincare routine comes in, with the focus on protecting and supporting the skin's structure.
Make daily sunscreen non-negotiable
Sun damage speeds up the breakdown of collagen, which makes skin less able to bounce back from overnight creasing. In a randomised trial of 903 adults, people who used sunscreen daily showed 24% less skin ageing over four and a half years than those who used it only some of the time.
Apply a broad-spectrum sunscreen to your face, neck and chest every morning, including on cloudy days.
Use collagen-supporting skincare
The American Academy of Dermatology notes that dermatologists often recommend retinoids, which can help decrease the appearance of wrinkles. Introduce them gradually, and check with your GP or pharmacist first if you're pregnant, as retinoids aren't recommended during pregnancy.
Vitamin C is another morning staple. Maysama's Vitamin C Exosome Serum combines gold-stabilised vitamin C with biomimetic exosomes and human Type I collagen fragments grown in plants, and it's formulated to support the appearance of firmer, smoother skin.
It's designed to be applied to the face, neck and décolletage, which makes it a good fit for sleep lines in all three areas. Follow with moisturiser and sunscreen.
Add red light therapy
Red and near-infrared light have been well studied for skin ageing. In a controlled trial of 136 volunteers, people who received red and near-infrared light treatments saw significant improvements in skin roughness and collagen density compared with an untreated control group.
The researchers behind the sleep wrinkle review have also suggested that non-invasive treatments which promote collagen production could help decrease sleep wrinkles. If you'd like a closer look at the neck and chest in particular, our realistic guide to red light therapy for skin issues covers it in detail.
The AURA LED Light Therapy Face Mask uses red (630nm) and near-infrared (830nm) light in a 6-minute treatment. Red light technology has been clinically shown to help reduce the appearance of fine lines and wrinkles and improve skin firmness and elasticity.
For lines on the neck and chest, the AURA LED Light Therapy Neck2Dec uses the same wavelengths with extended coverage across the neck and décolletage.
Maysama recommends using both three to five times a week. Results vary, but they may be seen from around four weeks and are generally more noticeable after three months, so consistency matters more than anything.
Know what professional treatments can and can't do
If you're considering in-clinic options, it helps to know that sleep wrinkles behave differently from expression lines. The Aesthetic Society notes that dermal fillers can temporarily improve any type of wrinkle, but anti-wrinkle injections that relax muscles won't have much effect on sleep wrinkles, because muscles didn't cause them.
A qualified practitioner can talk you through what's suitable for your skin.
A Simple Routine for Sleep Wrinkles
You don't need a complicated regime. The most effective routine is the one you'll stick to, and it can be as simple as this:
In the evening
- Cleanse your face, neck and chest.
- Use your LED mask or neck device three to five times a week.
- Apply a moisturiser, taking it down onto your chest.
- Start the night on your back, with pillows to help you stay there.
In the morning
- Apply vitamin C serum to your face, neck and décolletage.
- Follow with moisturiser.
- Finish with a broad-spectrum sunscreen.
Smoothing Things Over
Knowing how to get rid of sleep wrinkles starts with understanding that they develop slowly, through years of compression combined with natural changes in your skin. That means the most effective approach is a patient one: reduce the pressure at night, protect your skin by day and support collagen consistently.
You may not be able to change your sleeping habits completely, but you can change how well your skin bounces back. Explore Maysama's LED beauty devices to find the right fit for your routine.
