Not just old wives' tales: Beauty sleep & 8 glasses a day

We've talked before about beauty myths and legends, but there are some oldies that are definitely goodies. Like how you should always take off your make-up before you hit the hay and the folly of squeezing blemishes: the kind of tips that your ma would have annoyed you with when you were growing up.

Recently, I came face to face (ho ho) with the immense difference that two other ancient beauty truisms make to skin. I was glumly putting down the deepening of some fine lines and generally duller than usual complexion to ageing and stress, and getting a bit bloody annoyed about it, too. Then it occurred to me one day - completely out of the blue, in a real 'Eureka!' moment - that I'd fallen into a routine of going to bed far too late and, as usual, was drinking almost no water*.

After just a couple of days of going to bed pre-midnight and sipping a few glasses of water a day, I was actually a bit shocked at the marked improvement I could see. I mean, neither are rocket science, they're things that everyone knows are good for skin, but it's still kind of incredible to be able to spot a noticeable improvement almost overnight. The lines that had nearly made me cry were definitely softer and my skin looked miles better overall.

Guess I can cancel those Botox and peel appointments for now, so ...

* I know, I know: juices and other fluids and fruit and foods count towards your water intake. Only, I don't drink juices, any 'other fluids' tend to be laced with caffeine or use Diet Coke as a mixer, and while I'm a veg fan, me and fruit are barely on nodding terms. Upping my drinking water intake is just much easier for me than completely overhauling my diet.