How to be beautiful: How to get your beauty sleep

Owning a separate set of night-time beauty products is not in itself a sign of serious discipline in your skincare regime. It's actually using them every evening that signals a higher state of being, cosmetically speaking.

There's something particularly captivating about the idea of products that get to work while you sleep; you can't help hoping, as you apply a night cream, that you will wake up looking markedly better when you next open your eyes.

It's not an entirely unreasonable expectation, either, since skin-cell renewal is faster at night and studies suggest it's a good time to boost that natural process with active ingredients.

Nevertheless, some dermatologists argue that smothering your skin with heavy creams 24/7 is counter-productive, making lightweight products a good choice. It's also a welcome vindication for those of us who sometimes forget to use any at all. Rhiannon harries

Biotherm Aquasource Nuit

Gel for non-greasy hydration

£28, boots.com

The youth as we know it

Lightweight brightening and guide resurfacing

£65, blissworld.co.uk

111 Skin Nocturnal Eclipse Nc Y2

High-tech formulation for heavyweight anti-ageing

£110, harrods.com