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Get Your #BeautySleep Questions Answered By An Expert

We’d all love to be sleeping beauties, but that perfect slumber is ever evasive. How can you wake up every morning, bright-eyed and glowing? 

It’s possible, if you can solve your specific sleep problems. Maybe you’re short on sleep time or just can’t sleep no matter how many boring books you read.

That’s why we’re having an @YouBeauty Twitter chat with our Sleep Expert, Shelby Freedman Harris, Psy.D., director of the Behavioral Sleep Medicine Program at Montefiore Medical Center.

You’ll get the facts, instead of having to bug your friend about what time to cut coffee or if exercise is good (or bad) before bed.

QUIZ: Are You Getting Good Beauty Sleep?

Your health and beauty depends on getting serious beauty sleep. Just look at countless studies—or your face in the mirror after being up all night. Not getting a good night’s rest on a regular basis can lead to poor concentration, weight gain and dull skin. On the positive side, lengthening your quality sleep can lengthen your life.

Here’s a sneak peek at one eye-opening question that Dr. Harris answered:

Q: How do you figure out how much sleep you actually need consistently every night?

A: The next time you have a vacation from work or school (when you don’t have to go to bed or wake up at an early time), record what time you went to bed and what time you naturally woke up. Do this for at least four or five days. So by days four or five, you’ll start to see the average amount of sleep you need nightly. That should be the goal amount you get every night! Keeping the same bed and wake times, seven days a week, is the ideal—and what our bodies are naturally programmed to do.

COLUMN: Sleep to Fit Into Your Skinny Jeans, by Shelby Harris  

So think of what you’d like to know about sleep, such as which sleeping aids are harmful? Does warm milk work on grownups? No question is too silly! Add yours in the comment section below, and bring more when you tweet @YouBeauty on Wednesday, March 9th at 11 a.m. EST! Hashtag? #BeautySleep, of course!