Sleeping beauty.

Sleep’s your best ever beauty-booster … and the good news is you don’t necessarily need eight hours to benefit!

You can slap on the most expensive make-up in the world and spend a fortune on clothes, but if you look and feel tired, you’ll still have a bad case of the beauty blahs. According to traditional wisdom, the only solution is eight hours’ sleep a night. But by the time you’ve come home and had dinner you’d have to go straight to bed to fit all that sleeping in!

How much sleep is enough? You don’t have to feel guilty if you don’t clock up the regulation eight hours’ shut-eye anymore – new research has discovered that the perfect amount of sleep varies from person to person! When it comes to waking refreshed, it’s the quality, not the quantity, of snoozing that counts.

BED TIMING

Surprisingly, too much sleep can be just as bad for your looks as too little! It can throw your body clock out of sync, make it harder to fall asleep the next evening and prompt you to wake in the middle of the night. On the other hand, too little rest will leave you snappy and listless.

If you’re getting just the right amount of sleep you’ll wake up without an alarm, feel energetic, and fall asleep easily at the end of the day. To find out how much between-the-sheets time is right for you, keep track of your sleep patters for a month. Wake up at the same time each day (use an alarm to make sure) but vary your bedtime. Get eight hours’ sleep a night for the first week, seven and a half hours the second week, seven hours for the third week and six and a half hours the final week. At the end of every day jot down a brief note on how peppy or tired you felt. By the end of the month you should be instantly able to see the bedtime that best suits you.

Now you’ve worked out your perfect sleep time, allow yourself several months to adjust to it. Take note if you feel grumpy or snappy though, as it could mean you’ve underestimated your sleep needs. (It’s worth pointing out here that natural body rhythms mean we often feel a little drowsy around 2 – 3 pm, especially after a heavy lunch, so don’t worry if you feel a little sluggish then. You should perk up by the evening.)

2. Reading Comprehension

a. General Comprehension

Read the article and say whether these statements are true of false. Give reasons.

T/F

…….. 1. If you are tired you can’t look beautiful.

…….. 2. Too much sleep can be just as bad for your looks as too little.

…….. 3. To find out how much sleep you need, keep track of your sleep patterns for a week.

…….. 4. You should write down a brief note on how peppy or tired you feel.

…….. 5. You have to adjust to your perfect sleep time during several weeks.

…….. 6. We rarely feel sleepy around 2 – 3 pm.

…….. 7. We should feel worn out by the evening.

1. Detailed Comprehension

Read the article another time and answer the following questions.

1. What do our good looks depend on?

2. The author asks the question «How much sleep is enough?» What is the answer to this question?

3. Why is too much sleep bad for your looks?

4. What should we do to find out how much sleep time is right for us?

5. What is the next step after we have worked out our perfect sleep time?

6. What do natural body rhythms mean?

7. What could you advise a person with sleep problems?