Science of Hare: You’re Drunk and So is your Face

I know. I know. The title screams something a drunk person or a five-year-old would say.  But since, it’s ‘Sober January’ (btw I’m not participating because I have free beer in the office 🍺) I thought I’d drop some knowledge on you guys. When you get drunk, the raging hangover the next day isn’t your only problem, you’ve also done a number on your skin. AND, since it’s the first thing that people see…your face.

So let’s talk about the most immediate effects. After a night of heavy drinking you can expect poor choices, texting, and also feeling like your body hates you.  Aside from losing the ability to make good decisions, alcohol (as I’m sure we know) dehydrates. Too much booze also messes with your sleep cycle; which explains why you still manage to wake up at 8AM when you stumbled home at 4. Dehydration plus that lack of rest reduces your body’s ability to recover on a cellular level, that’s why your face looks flushed and droopy in the morning.  Much of the body’s water is held in the skin, so hydrate.

Long term, you can expect to see the effects of alcohol on your liver start appearing on your skin. As you liver processes alcohol, it creates a byproduct called acetaldehyde, which happens to be toxic to your body’s largest organ aka your skin.  This can cause your skin to lose its youthful appearance and get wrinkles.  

Also, the booze releases histamines into your bloodstream which turns your skin red.  As a black male, skin redness is not something I often notice but for our fairer skin readers…now you know!  Booze also opens up your pores making it easy for dirt and oil to accumulate and, putting yourself at risk for pesky acne.

Moral of the story, if you must drink do so in moderation and hydrate as much as possible…water, coconut water, Pedialyte (mix 50/50 with water), whatever you prefer, but remember to take care of yourself and your skin.