You’ve been there, I’ve been there, we will probably be there again…and it sucks. You wake up after a night of indulgence and not only is your face so dry it could hold a five-day rain, but your eyelids are also the size of Montana and your skin is so red, it has the New York Times green with envy. It’s the after effects of alcohol on the skin—and it ain’t cute. Here’s what we can do about it according to two experts.
By: Lisa Fennessy
Meet the Expert
Dr. Cassie Wilder
Dr. Cassie Wilder is a registered Naturopathic Doctor (NMD) serving the greater Twin Cities area. Her passion is empowering her patients through education, understanding, and support through their healing journey. After graduating from Iowa State University with a Bachelors of Science in Kinesiology and Health, Dr. Wilder earned her Doctorate of Naturopathic Medicine from Southwest College of Naturopathic Medicine & Health Sciences, a fully accredited and nationally recognized institution in Phoenix, AZ. During her clinical training, she received extensive hands-on training with many leading experts in the field of functional medicine and developed a passion for treating hormonal imbalances, thyroid disorders, cardiovascular concerns and adrenal fatigue.
Meet the Expert
Hayley Wood
Hayley Wood is a licensed esthetician, nutritional therapy practitioner, and founder of Therapeutic Skin Coach. With 16 years of experience in holistic skincare and education, Hayley has a passion for skin health education and offers custom plant-based facials in Dallas, Texas as well as online consultations and classes.
IN THIS POST:
- Treating hangover skin from the outside in
- Treating hangover skin from the inside out
- The TNK cheat sheet (TLDR…)
I personally love indulging in a glass of wine (or two), a craft cocktail or some champs, but what I don’t like is how my face looks the next morning. Puffy, inflamed, angry. UGH….and I know I’m not alone (although I will say, I can drink a glass of natural wine and have zero visual impact on my skin). So I was excited to connect with both Dr. Cassie Wilder and esthetician Hayley Wood to get the 411 on what we can do both internally and externally to get our skin to bounce back faster. Let’s start with the external…
Treating hangover skin from the outside in
Hayley Wood says, “The best thing you can do for your skin after a night of drinking is focus on replenishing your hydration and reducing any inflammation. The most beneficial approach includes working from the inside out, but oftentimes we can skip the skincare or even do too much in the aftermath of a night full of cocktails. [I recommend] 3 productive, actionable steps you can take to benefit your skin without the excess work.”
1. Avoid excess heat
Hayley continues, “A warm shower or a hot bath may feel ideal to help recover after a night out drinking, but consider doing some cold therapy to the skin instead. Ice rollers, gemstone rollers or an ice mold can help reduce puffiness in the skin while helping you wake up. It’s also known to soothe the nervous system, so you can get a restful recovery.”
TNK recs for cooling skin
These stainless steel, liquid-filled ice globes are like cryotherapy for your face. They are the perfect size to fit into your eye socket, have a flat edge to rest on your temples and work super quick to cool the skin. We’ve tried several versions of this and the LILFOX ones stay the coldest the longest.
Jenny Patinkin Rose on Rose Face Roller | $38
There are a ton of rollers out there. We love this one for the quality, attention to detail and design. Rollers do it all, including aid in lymphatic drainage, reduce inflammation boost circulation and help to depuff. Plus everyone needs a little rose quartz in their life.
This reusable, pill shaped, silicone ice mold helps to depuff, refresh and invigorate skin. Fill with water or get fancy and add your favorite floral essence, cucumbers, rose petals…then freeze and use as needed.
2. Lay off the actives
Hayley explains, “If our skin is reflecting blotchiness or even appears to have gained more pigmentation overnight, it is a natural instinct to run to harsh exfoliation. However, we have to remember that your skin state changed as a result of your body communicating that it needs more support internally. Instead of doing an acid scrub or mini extraction session, give it a few days to balance out on its own. There is no way of erasing a night out from our skin, but patience can help even things out over time.”
3. Layer on the hydration
Lastly, Hayley says, “Both internally and externally, your need for hydration goes up during a hangover. Focus on moisture magnet ingredients, like hyaluronic acid, as well as nourishing omega rich oils like prickly pear seed oil or argan oil.”
TNK recs for über skin hydration
Here are our top picks for mists that are rich in hydration boosting ingredients, as well as moisturizers that feature prickly pear seed oil and argan oil.
100% Pure Bright Eye Masks | $7
These hydrating masks are made with 95% aloe juice, plus cooling cucumber and caffeine. They LITERALLY depuff and reduce dark circles. We can’t stop using these—the entire team is obsessed.
BLÜH ALCHEMY’s Toning Elixir | $54
This mist is designed to quench and revive skin. We love it because we can literally feel our skin getting more hydrated with each spritz. Delivers hibiscus and hyaluronic to lock in hydration, aloe to help sooth, vitamin B3 to help reduce inflammation and so much more.
SAVE: Use code TNK15 to save 15% off sitewide at BLÜH ALCHEMY.
Off the top, we love how this mist smells, but even more so that it behaves more like a serum than a mist. Its main goal is to boost hydration, but it also delivers healing adaptogens and probiotics for the ultimate experience in skin harmony.
This face oil has been a long time fave. It’s made with only three ingredients: prickly pear, argan and rose flower essential oil. That’s it. No fillers, just a maximum dose of all the post-indulgence skincare goodies.
SAVE: Code THISORGANICGIRL will save first-timers 15% at MŪN.
Treating hangover skin from the inside out
When we’re talking about how to support our bodies from within, we wanted more than the usual “drink more water” recs. So, we talked to an expert with way more knowledge of how our bodies work than we have as journalists. Dr. Cassie recommends a combination of things like food, supps and teas to help skin bounce back after overindulging.
Eat
She says, “You want to eat a good mix of fats and proteins before and after drinking. More than likely you just got a lot of carbs and sugars from the alcohol.
The purpose of eating more fats and proteins before drinking will be to slow down gastrointestinal (GI) motility, allowing more time for your liver to process what you’re about to consume. If your GI motility is slower, the alcohol won’t immediately be available in your bloodstream, causing more of a trickle of alcohol into your system.
Eating after drinking is to stabilize your blood sugar and provide nutrition for your body to recover. High sugar and carbohydrates from alcohol will make your blood sugar go on a roller coaster, and on top of that, the alcohol takes more energy to process through the liver. You’ll need to eat fats and proteins for both blood sugar stabilization as well as the actual nutrients from the food (think B vitamins, amino acids, etc.) to help the liver process.”
Metabolism hacks
Dr. Cassie explains, “Metabolism is going to probably be done by middle of the night so from a medical perspective doing anything [to boost it] in the morning is a moot point—but I see the allure.”
She continues, “Try activated charcoal internally the night before bedtime to help bind the alcohol up and decrease hangovers. And to aid liver metabolism, try amino acids, milk thistle, NAC and a good B complex.”
Recs for post-drinking supplements
Amino acid complex | Price Varies
These are the two amino acid complexes that Dr. Cassie recommends.
We like this one because it is USA made, food grade and made from coconut shells.
Grab it organic at Mountain Rose Herbs as an herbal supplement, extract or powder. Or pick up this Liver Reset Complex we love by Organifi.
Dr. Cassie says, “NAC is n-acetyl cysteine. It’s the precursor to glutathione, your body’s ultimate antioxidant. Any extra burden you’re putting on your liver is going to require more glutathione to help push things through.”
Dr. Cassie explains, “B2,3,6,12 (or just a good B complex) are all necessary for liver metabolism.”
Reduce puffiness
Alongside that ice mold Hayley recommended, we can also help to reduce puffiness from the inside out. Dr. Cassie says, “Use electrolytes and minerals in your water to pull water from the tissues back into the lymph system. And try a lymphagogue tea like dandelion, corn silk, red clover or cleavers to help promote lymph production and/or lymph flow.”
TNK recs for reducing puffiness from the inside out
We like recommending Traditional Medicinals because it’s USDA certified organic, Fair Trade Certified, B Corp Certified, NON GMO Project Verified and sourced with high standards.
This tea is sustainably harvested from Europe and it’s charged with supporting the body’s natural detoxification process.
Known for protecting the skin, this tea is hand-harvested from Albania.
This natural diuretic is a blend of red clover, cleavers, fennel, cranberry and more to help relieve water retention.
GOODONYA Hydrate Electrolyte and Mineral Powder | $15
This USDA Certified Organic blend is made with only 6 ingredients.
Do you have any hangover remedies to help your skin (and body!) recover after a night of drinking?
TNK Team Note: This article contains affiliate links. TNK uses affiliate links as a source for revenue to fund operations of the business and to be less dependent on branded content. TNK stands behind all product recommendations. Still have questions about these links or our process? Feel free to email us.
Julia
August 30, 2022What’s your opinion on RMS makeup. Just tried new foundation
Thanks
Lisa Fennessy
August 31, 2022I love RMS. They just got acquired last year or the year before so I’ve been meaning to keep an eye on their formulations to see if there have been any changes! xo, Lisa