How-To

How to Sleep Better

Written by OSEA Staff | Last Updated on: January 23, 2026.

Sleep is something we think about a lot at OSEA. So much so that we’ve created an entire line of products around it–The Dream Collection–designed to reduce the visible effects of stress on skin during its nightly repair phase. Sleep is fundamental to good health and healthy-looking skin, yet getting enough of it continues to be elusive. To shed more light on the subject, we sat down with sleep expert, Dr. Shelby Harris, a board-certified psychologist specializing in behavioral sleep medicine. Ahead, Dr. Harris shares expert insights on optimizing sleep through more mindful bedtime routines, the surprising role scent plays in helping “quiet the body and brain” and answers our most burning question: can you actually catch up on lost sleep?

Q&A With Dr. Shelby Harris

Board-Certified Sleep Psychologist

Sleep Hygiene Basics

If you had to break good sleep hygiene into three or four core pillars, what would they be?

Keep a consistent wake and bedtime routine.
Create a solid wind-down routine to ease into bed.
The rule of 3 hours: limit alcohol, heavy meals and vigorous exercise within 3 hours of bedtime.

Any simple daytime habits you wish more people would adopt, before they even think about products, supplements, or “quick fixes”?

Keep a consistent wake time, get some light exposure in the morning and make sure you move during the day. Limit caffeine within 8 hours of bedtime as well. And if these things aren’t enough, seek help, as there are more treatments that can be done, even without medication.

For someone who feels like they’ve “tried everything” to sleep better, what are a few small, realistic changes you’d suggest they try this week?

Maintain a consistent sleep-wake schedule overall and don’t make up for lost sleep in the morning. Also consider if there’s any snoring, pauses in breathing, restless legs, teeth grinding as that can impact sleep too. If nothing works, talk with a sleep specialist.

Nighttime Rituals, Body Care & Wind-Down Routines

Why is it important to have a consistent pre-bedtime routine?

We crave routine. It helps to quiet the body and brain, signaling that bedtime is soon to come. We rely on bedtime routines for our kids, why should we not need them as adults?

What’s the best way to wind down before bed?

There’s no one right way to wind down. It has to be something you enjoy that guides you to bed. Find something that’s quiet, calm and relaxing that you can do in dim light.

Many people include skincare or body care in their nighttime routine. How can a slow, mindful body ritual—like applying our new Dream Bio-Retinol Body Serum support relaxation and better sleep hygiene?

Having a routine that is calming and includes a tactile aspect for putting on serum (which can be massaging in the product) is another way to help the body know that sleep is soon to come - especially if you do it routinely.

The senses play a big role in how we relax. Are there particular sensory elements—such as temperature, touch, scent, or sound—that you find especially helpful to include in a wind-down routine?

Scent can be very useful in winding down. Certain scents such as lavender can be extremely calming and help quiet the body and brain as well.

Bio-Retinol, Overnight Skin Repair & “Beauty Sleep”

We often hear that the body and skin repair themselves at night. From a sleep and circadian-rhythm perspective, what is actually happening while we sleep that makes nighttime so powerful for recovery and renewal?

During the nighttime—especially during deep sleep—collagen is produced, helping skin feel elastic and firm. Cell regeneration also happens during sleep, repairing damage from environmental stress. Blood flow increases as well, bringing more oxygen to the skin.

Sleep Myths

What are a few common sleep myths you’d love to clear up for readers—especially those that tend to fuel anxiety when people wake up in the middle of the night?

“You can catch up on lost sleep on the weekends.” You can a little bit, but the reality is that most people are so sleep-deprived they’ve built up a sleep debt that can’t fully be made up.”

“Sleep is a quiet time for the brain and body.” In fact, sleep is a very active process, with the brain processing emotions and consolidating memories.

Watching the clock at night doesn’t help you gain control over sleep. Effort is the enemy of sleep, and watching the clock only makes you more anxious with doing mental math.

Dr. Shelby Harris is a clinical psychologist and sleep specialist, and a Clinical Associate Professor of Neurology at Albert Einstein College of Medicine. She is board-certified in Behavioral Sleep Medicine (BSM) by the American Academy of Sleep Medicine and treats a wide range of sleep disorders, including insomnia, nightmares, circadian rhythm disorders, narcolepsy and apnea treatment noncompliance, using evidence-based, non-pharmacological treatments. Dr. Harris is the author of two self-help books, The Women’s Guide to Overcoming Insomnia and The Essential Guide to Children’s Sleep. She has appeared on the Today Show, World News with Diane Sawyer, Good Morning America, ABC7-NY’s Eyewitness News, CBS News and ABC’s Primetime: Live.