Effects of alcohol on your skin :

e spend ridiculous amounts of money and
time in pursuit of the perfect skin. We’re like
pedantic drill sergeants when it comes to
removing makeup before we go to bed and
applying day and night creams, toners, serums
and eye creams. But somehow we’re just not
there yet. The answer to our problem might be
staring us in the face. Or rather – in our
throats.
Alcohol.
While there are tonnes of nasty effects alcohol
could have on your skin, it’s not all doom and
gloom. It might be about cutting back or just
switching to a less harmful alternative.
What alcohol does to your skin
There’s a reason you’re so thirsty for water
after a night of heavy drinking. Alcohol
dehydrates you. And this dehydration wreaks
havoc on your skin, making appear dry and less
fresh the next morning. Dry skin is much more
likely to wrinkle. That’s why heavy drinkers
often seem older than they are.
Not only that – alcohol is also a hepatotoxin,
which specifically damages the liver. And this
effect on skin? “One way to look at it, is to ask
what does someone look like who is dying of
liver failure? They’re sallow, they’re pasty,
they’re cold, their pores are huge,” Dr David
Colbert, founder of New York Dermatology
Group told the Huffington Post .
Alcohol also steals Vitamin A, which aids cell
renewal and turnover, meaning your skin can
start looking grey and dull. “If you look at a
woman who has been drinking for 20 or 30
years, and a woman the same age who hasn’t
at all, we see a massive difference in the skin
—more wrinkles from that dehydration damage,
which can make you look 10 years older,”

The best and worst drinks for your skin
• Clear shots (gin, tequila, vodka) vs dark shots
(rum, whiskey tequila)
“Different alcohols have different effects on
the skin, but as a general rule, the clearer, the
better: Vodka, gin, and tequila gets out of your
system quicker,” Rodriguez says.
These shots are the best way of avoiding
sugar, salt, caffeine and other harmful
ingredients (more on that later).
Nursing one or two shots of clear shots all
evening is fine but be warned: some people
who drink shots might end up drinking more
alcohol than intended and more alcohol is
always the worst option for your skin.
Dark shots, in contrast to clear shots, generally
contain a thing called congeners (aka
impurities) which are used in the fermentation
process and which may worsen your hangover.
Even though the connection hasn’t been
formally proven, the excess impurities of the
congeners may age skin, the Huffington Post
says.
• Mojitos, margaritas, white wine and other
sweet drinks
Sugar has a bad reputation in many industries
and when it comes to alcohol it’s no different.
“Sugar anywhere in the diet, along with other
excessive carbs, leads to systemic
inflammation, which contributes ultimately to
cell damage and increased skin aging,” Dr
Jessica Krant Assistant Clinical Professor of
Dermatology at SUNY Downstate Medical
Center says. “The less sugar you take in with
your alcohol, the better for your long-term
wrinkle risk.”
Unfortunately, this goes for white wine too,
which contains a lot of sugar.
Margaritas and other tequila-based drinks have
the extra problem of containing salt as well as
sugar. “The intake of any salt, no matter the
source, does contribute to bloating,” Dr. Krant
explains. “This is temporary, but no one likes
to feel and look puffy on top of a hangover.”
Alcohol also steals Vitamin A, which aids cell
renewal and turnover, meaning your skin can
start looking grey and dull.
• Beer
Beer also contains salt, but isn’t dangerously
high in sodium levels like other drinks. It also
has some other redeeming qualities: it has less
alcohol than straight liquor if you look at it
from a millilitre to millilitre basis. It also
contains some anti-aging benefits and
antioxidants. Look out for calories in beer,
though. No point in avoiding the skin problem,
but replacing it with a weight gain problem.
• Red wine
Once again red wine comes out as the
unexpected winner in a health test. “Red wine
contains more antioxidants than white, which
may help counteract some aging processes,”
Dr. Krant says . “I would say the best single
drink to have to support skin health and
minimize aging risks is a glass of red wine.”
It’s not all good news, though. Red wine is
toxic when you have skin issues like rosacea (a
facial skin condition characterised by redness
and spots).
Experts are also quick to add that any alcohol
in excess is bad for your skin.
Other side effects
Not only is excess alcohol in itself not good for
your skin, what you do after drinking copious
amounts could be just as bad. Think of those
times when you go to bed with makeup on or
start with your ‘social smoking’ habit. Both big
no-no’s when it comes to beautiful skin.