Rescue mission
‘Tis the season to stay out late, enjoy yourself and accept more party invitations than you usually would. But that fun can come with consequences, especially for your skin, writes Lilith Hardie Lupica.
Handling your skin’s reaction to a night out is as much about understanding what’s going on internally as it is about mastering the cover-up. “Alcohol will dehydrate you and deplete the skin of important nutrients that keep it looking vibrant,” says Dr Michelle Hunt, of Inner Sydney Dermatology. Aside from being a diuretic, alcohol can “also rob your skin of important vitamins, particularly vitamin A, which is a powerful antioxidant and essential for cell renewal and turnover”, Hunt warns.
While no-one is suggesting a night out or two isn’t deserved, you can take simple steps to ensure the effects aren’t written across your face the next morning. Hunt recommends steering clear of excessive amounts of carbohydrates and alcoholic drinks with a high sugar content, to lessen any morning-after inflammation.
Hunt also advocates for a strict post-party, pre-sleep regimen, including drinking a glass or two of water to rehydrate, removing all make-up and applying a moisturiser containing antioxidants, such as vitamin A, C and E, to replenish skin.
Of course, if all else fails and there’s no hiding the night before, prepare your kit with a slew of products designed to mask the effects of all that partying.