Most people tend to prefer one or the other. Whether it’s taking a relaxing shower before drifting off to sleep or waking up to a cold, refreshing spray of water, showering is a morning or night kind of thing—or both.

Early-risers often cite their perkiness to a quick, cool, energizing shower in the morning. While they certainly shock one’s system, morning showers require extra time.

Initially Fox News reported on associate clinical professor of dermatology at the Yale School of Medicine Mona Gohara’s thoughts about this subject. “A morning shower allows for time to meditate and regroup before starting a long or hectic day,” Gohara said. “This mindfulness can decrease inflammation in the skin by keeping levels of a hormone called cortisol capped.”

There are other pros to morning showers other than alertness, such as hygienic benefits related to the early time of day, like shaving conditions.

“Not only will you be more aware and less likely to cut yourself, ‘mornings are the best time to shave because that’s when you have a surge of platelets—or blood cloggers,’” Gohara said in that same report.

While cool morning showers may leave people feeling energized and ready to start the day, showering at night saves time in the morning and allows one to just roll out of bed, ready for the day. Warmer night showers also allow one to unwind and prepare for bed, and they even help those with insomnia sleep easier.

“The body naturally cools down as bedtime approaches, in sync with the circadian rhythm,” sleep expert Dr. Janet K. Kennedy said to the New York Times. “Showering artificially raises the temperature again and allows for a faster cool down, which seems to hasten sleep.”

However, long, hot showers at night do have their downsides. “Very hot showers tend to take the oil off your skin, and tend to irritate your skin,” Dr. Gary Goldenberg said to the New York Times. “The longer you are in the water, the higher the chance it is going to dry your skin.”

Long, hot showers can be less harmful to skin when using an in-shower moisturizer. These lotions are meant to be used in the shower after cleansing and rinsed off. The extra boost of moisture may be enough to keep showering for hours in steamy conditions.

Night and morning showers both have their pros and cons. While a.m. showers are energizing and have many health benefits, they also require extra prep time in the morning before school and work. Night showers are relaxing and help those who struggle with insomnia fall asleep quicker, and they also save valuable time in the morning to sleep a couple of minutes more. However, night showers can have negative effects on natural skin oils.