New Year’s Eve parties are all fun and games—until you wake up and your skin looks as tired as you feel. Alcohol, while great for celebrations, isn’t so great for your skin and body. It dehydrates, dulls, and leaves you with puffiness and redness. But don’t worry! We've got some tips to help your skin bounce back.
What Alcohol Does to Your Skin
- Dehydration – Alcohol is a diuretic, causing your body to expel more fluid than it takes in, leaving your skin parched.
- Toxin Overload – As your body works overtime to process and flush out alcohol, it further depletes hydration levels, intensifying dry, dull skin.
- Inflammation – Alcohol triggers your body’s natural repair response by increasing blood flow to address toxins. This leads to redness and swelling, while dehydration worsens the effect by causing fluid retention around vital areas like the eyes.
Fix Your Hangover Skin
- Fuel Your Body – This is a no-brainer. Drink plenty of water or coconut water to rehydrate—snack on protein-rich and antioxidant-rich foods. Avoid bread, sugars, and greasy/fried foods.
- Depuff – Use a cold compress on your puffy eyes and/or massage your face with a cooled jade roller to help with circulation.
- Double Cleanse, Finish Cool
- Start with an oil cleanser or something similar. ZO Skin Health Balancing Cleansing Emulsion hydrates your delicate skin and removes remnants of last night’s makeup.
- Follow up with a gentle cleanser. We like ZO Skin Health Gentle Cleanser and iS Clinical Cleansing Complex.
- Finish with a splash of cool water to refresh your skin and tighten your pores.
- Blank Slate – Use a light chemical exfoliator to remove dead skin cells instead of a scrub. Our favorite is iS Clinical's Active Peel System. It's gentle enough for daily use!
- Prime for Perfection – Toner is to skincare what primer is to makeup—it lays the groundwork for the main act. The ZO Skin Health Calming Toner is a staff favorite for its cooling sensation and rose water scent.
- Soothe and Protect – Alcohol can leave your skin stressed. Apply an antioxidant serum to settle irritation and protect your skin. The iS Clinical Pro-Heal Serum Advanced+ is a regimen staple and loved by all. For sensitive skin - try the iS Clinical Hydra-Cool Serum to double down on inflammation without irritation. It also gives a cooling sensation and extra hydration.
- Bright Eyes – Revive tired eyes with products designed for delicate skin. The skinbetter science Instant Effect Eye Gel contains caffeine to help combat dark circles and features a metal applicator to help soothe swollen eyes.
- Hydrate Like It’s Your Job – Lock in all your hard work and hydrate with a moisturizer. Not a lotion. Moisturizer.
- SPF Always – Sunscreen is the #1 anti-aging product. Protect your skin with a 30+ broad-spectrum SPF.
- Light Work – Avoid heavy foundations and keep makeup minimal. Use a tinted SPF or moisturizer to let your skin breathe and recover.
Bonus Tip
- Quick Fix – Don’t have a million products? Results from a shortcut are never better than the original, but if you don't have the full arsenal, you can skip somewhere between steps 3 and 7 and use a quality sheet mask to get the job done. Just enough to hydrate, soothe irritation, and protect with ingredients like vitamin C, hyaluronic acid, aloe vera, niacinamide, and more.
Note: Because you skipped some products, keep your mask nice and chilly before applying. Ensure your mask is packed with antioxidants, and skip exfoliants if you’ve exfoliated earlier!
Reading This Before Your Night Out?
Here’s How to Prep Before the Party
- Do your daily regimen; it should look similar to the post-care steps with less emphasis on inflammation and recovery and more on "anti-aging" and peptides. Top it off with a light eye serum and facial lotion to keep it light before applying makeup.
- Drink water between cocktails to stay hydrated.
- Remove your makeup before bed—no matter how tired you are.
Hangovers don’t have to ruin your skin. With a little care and the right products, you can look radiant and ready for the very first day of 2025. Cheers to the new year, and stay safe!
