Repay your sleep debt - wake up to Clarins Multi Active Night Youth Recovery Cream

Clarins may just have the answer for multi tasking women in their new Multi Active Night Youth Recovery Cream, on counters across Northern Ireland this month.

Over the past 50 years, daily sleep time has diminished by about 1 hour: In the USA and France, average sleep time during the week is currently 7 hours. Sleep debt sets in between 25 and 35 when independent adult life and parenting begin.

There's a gender disparity when it comes to sleep debt too. Insomnia is more frequent amongst women due to their natural cycles (hormonal) that add to the effects of today's environmental pollution.

The bad news - skin shows the results of lack of sleep first – and no amount of makeup can compensate.

Analysis of circadian rhythms shows that, unlike other parts of the body, skin is highly active during the night and that this intense activity is essential to help keep skin looking young. However, day time stress, irregular hours and accumulated fatigue slow down nocturnal biological functions. The result is a delay in skin renewal and repair. This leads to a build up of "stress-lag™" that accelerates the appearance of the first signs of ageing.

The good news - good skincare can help.

Clarins have responded this spring with the release of Multi-Active Night Youth Recovery Cream, the expert solution to counter the effects of sleep debt and "stress-lag™" experienced by multi-tasking women.

Skin stimulates its protective functions during the day and renewal functions during the night. Activity in the cell area peaks around 1 am and corresponds to a trough that occurs at 1 pm. The amplitude between peak and trough is measured at 200%.

Between midnight and 4 am, the blood flow system that supplies vital nourishment for the skin's various nocturnal activities, reaches peak activity. The corresponding trough occurs

between midday and 4 pm.

The sleep debt solution: Multi-Active Night cream has been formulated to provide skin with the necessary support at this optimal time. It gives skin everything it needs to share the exceptional benefits of sleep with all the senses. It utilises the power of kiwi extract, imudulin and carob extract:

• Kiwi extract optimizes nutrition and cellular energy to renew or produce skin proteins, cells produce the ATP molecule which stores the energy they need. Nourishment supplied by the blood system, which is most active at night, is metabolized, resulting in the production of ATP molecules. It is therefore essential that epidermal cells be at optimal reactivity level to absorb the large amount of nourishment delivered during this period.

• Imudilin intensifies cellular communication skin is more than just a combination of cells, each working on its own. To coordinate activity correctly, cells exchange information constantly, by releasing specific

molecules or using intercellular connection channels. This information allows cells to develop effective defence systems to counter the effects of daytime aggressions.

• Carob extract encourages fibroblast mobility

The appearance of early wrinkles is caused by changes in the dermalepidermal junction and the papillary dermis, the upper section of the dermis that is particularly rich in collagen fibres. Travelling repair cells, known as fibroblasts, move around the dermis towards damaged areas and produce new fibres to ensure repair. However, this self-repair process, that takes place during the night, slows down with age and stress.

Multi-Active Night cream is available in two versions:

* Youth recovery cream: A lightweight cream for normal to combination skin: a generous, silky-soft texture that's as light as a feather.

* Youth recovery comfort cream: A rich cream for normal to dry skin: a velvety-rich, comforting texture with shea butter.

* Jasmine, freesia and heliotrope notes provide Multi-Active Night creams with a soothing fragrance of well-being.