Better Sleep Means A Better Self: Here’s One TZR Writer's Secret For Getting It

We’ve all heard that good sleep is key to feeling — and looking — refreshed. The problem? Unlike eating well or being active, you can’t just simply decide to start getting eight hours of nonstop shuteye on a nightly basis. That’s especially true if you’re a light sleeper like me; the sound of rain can keep me up, not to mention my beloved-yet-snoring husband, work worries, and a new house that creaks all night long. If left to my own devices, I’d be exhausted all the time and see the consequences in my skin (breaking out), my mood (bad), and my brain (fuzzy at best).

So, with a brand new year ahead, I’ve been rethinking how I approach my time between the sheets. After all, the benefits of a good night’s sleep are many. On the beauty front, research shows that skin gets the chance to repair itself when you sleep, and one study even found that poor sleep quality can contribute to acne. When it comes to your brain, sleep helps with memory and focus, and can even improve mood. With all this in mind, I recently turned to OLLY supplements to give my rest quality a little boost.

I’m no stranger to OLLY: I first took the brand’s melatonin gummies several years ago while undergoing chemotherapy treatments, which came with a side effect of insomnia. And while I eventually dropped off once I was in remission, it feels like the right time to get reacquainted with those delicious little gummies.

Melatonin, for the uninitiated, is a hormone produced naturally by the body that signals it’s time for sleep. OLLY Extra Strength Sleep supplements pair five milligrams of melatonin with L-theanine, an amino acid that can encourage relaxation and help me avoid mentally rifling through my inbox, as I am wont to do. The blackberry-flavored gummies also include botanicals known to have soothing properties like chamomile, lemon balm, and passionflower.

The most notable shift I saw after adding this supplement to my routine is that I actually fall asleep faster, which is a big deal since my wind-down practices can be described as, well, lackluster. Sometimes I read or do a crossword, but much of the time, either my TV or my phone is involved until I call it a night — only to lie awake for an hour before eventually dozing off. With the help of OLLY, though, I tend to be lights out within a few minutes of sliding into bed.

I’ve also turned to OLLY for other areas of my life, like my mood health. The brand’s Hello Happy Gummy Worms are designed to help balance mood with a blend of saffron and vitamin D in the form of juicy gummy worms — which serve as delightful pick-me-ups in and of themselves. And while the saffron boosts serotonin, the vitamin D supports cognitive function and cellular health, which is immensely helpful for blunting the effects of sleep loss while I rehab my habits.

These products have inspired me to make other healthy adjustments in my routine, like swap my phone alarm for a real, manual alarm clock, go for daily walks around my neighborhood, and invest in a comfortable, light-blocking sleep mask (because even dim light has been shown to disturb sleep).

But I wouldn’t have the energy to do any of it without good sleep, which serves as the baseline for everything else. Because — as I’ve learned firsthand — if you can’t sleep, you can’t do much of anything well, including take care of yourself.