I’m A Psychiatrist & Dermatologist, This Is How I Care For My Skin

Wechsler is not the first—nor will she be the last—expert to recommend sleep as a nonnegotiable part of her skin care routine. 

“I do often sound like a broken record about sleep because it’s so important. No one wants to hear that adults need seven and a half to eight hours of sleep a night: In America, we think we can shortcut that and we’ll catch up on sleep later, or that sleep is a luxury and not a necessity, but that’s just not true,” she says. “And there’s so much data to back that up. No matter what you do for your skin, it won’t work as well if you’re not sleeping well.” 

For Wechsler, this means staying active during the day, no stressful news before bed, and limiting screen time in the evening. If you want additional sleeping tips, see our guide to better sleep here. 

And as for her patients with issues sleeping, she also recommends starting slow and slowly adding hours to your evening. “You can’t just say, ‘Oh get more sleep’; that’s not helpful. Instead, I encourage people to try and add 30 minutes a night [until they’ve reached that seven- to eight-hour mark]. Don’t try to add three hours at once because it’s too extreme,” she says, noting that you may need to visit a specialist if you’re really struggling.