Ditching alcohol for a month left my skin smoother, clearer and less blotchy
ARE you considering being one of the four million who try to give up alcohol for a month for Dry January?
Maybe you are worried about the impact that boozing over the Covid lockdowns then Christmas has had on your physical and mental health.
But have you thought about the effect alcohol could be having on your skin?
Dr Sophie Shotter, a skin specialist and aesthetic doctor at , says: “As well as dehydrating your skin, making it appear dry and sallow, alcohol accelerates collagen breakdown so you look old before your time.
“Alcohol is also a vasodilator, making your blood vessels bigger, which is why people who drink a lot can be prone to dilated capillaries in the face.
“The redness, and flushing effect, comes from a histamine release that is temporary to begin with but with time can become very prominent.
“Alcohol is also a sugar, causing glycation, making the collagen and elastin fibres in your skin brittle and turning skin dull and sallow.”
Mum Jennifer Packer, 38, noticed the impact her nightly glass of red wine and weekend G&Ts were having on her skin after the first lockdown.
The copywriter lives in Clapham, South London with husband Will, 36, who works in finance and kids Diana, ten, Liv, seven, Stella, five, and Ada, three.
Jennifer decided to go tee-total for a month and the results were significant.
Today she tells how she got on with her challenge . . .
Day 1: My skin was constantly red
A couple of weeks into the first lockdown, I was having a glass of wine every evening, either with dinner or on the sofa watching TV once the kids were in bed. It became almost automatic.
I would pour myself a glass out of habit, and at weekends I was drinking gin and tonics too.
I would never drink a lot at once but even smaller amounts regularly were taking a toll on my skin.
I’ve always had some redness on my face but it was getting so much worse, with blotchiness especially around my nose and cheeks, and overall my skin was far more irritable and sensitive.
I became so self-conscious that I would never leave the house without thick foundation and concealer.
The drink made me sleep badly, too, and I’d often wake in the night after a bad dream, and have dark circles under my eyes.
I also hated the way I’d get so flushed after exercise and it would take hours for the heat in my cheeks to go down.
It got to the point where my skin was always red and I felt terrible about myself.
Something had to give and I set myself a challenge to go without booze for a month.
Day 7: Husband said my skin looked better
During the first week, I was excited to go cold turkey because I needed the motivation.
I felt sluggish, wasn’t happy with my skin and knew drinking was to blame. But I had to think hard about not drinking those first few days.
I started drinking fun, non-alcoholic drinks instead, like flavoured fizzy waters and kombucha. After one week without drinking, I felt I had more energy and I was already starting to sleep better.
My moods seemed more balanced, too. I was perkier in the mornings and bounced out of bed, and I noticed I was feeling really creative and energised.
But the best thing was when Will told me my skin was looking much better. He’d never said anything like that before.
My skin started to look more even and — dare I say it — even a little bit luminous.
Day 14: No redness after exercise
After the second week, my skin was still a bit red on my nose but the old blotchiness on my cheeks had subsided.
Because of Covid, there was a staggered bubble system for school drop-off.
So you would often see people you hadn’t seen in a while — and over the second week of no alcohol, so many of them complimented me and said I was looking good.
I noticed I didn’t need foundation or concealer any more and just a moisturiser with a touch of tint did the trick.
I went on an hour’s bike ride, too, and there was no redness afterward, which was miraculous.
I used to feel very flushed each time I worked out, with the heat staying in my cheeks and making me feel really uncomfortable.
Day 21: No red nose
My skin was looking so much better — very even and smooth and a lot less red. As I was sleeping better, the dark circles were also gone.
What was really interesting, though, was that I had a cold and, in the past, this would have really exacerbated my skin and made it very red and super-blotchy, especially around my nose, but this time you couldn’t see the cold on my skin at all.
It was quite impressive. I was missing drinking a bit, though, and felt myself reaching for the chocolates a bit more to compensate.
This week I had chocolate every evening — I do love chocolate.
It didn’t adversely affect my skin as it usually does, maybe because I wasn’t having sugar in alcohol too.
Day 28: I shared unfiltered pics
By the end of the month, I was so much more confident about how my skin looked.
It was smoother and clearer and the blotchiness had all but disappeared.
There was no redness at all in my cheeks and I hadn’t had a spot for a whole week. I felt like I was glowing, both inside and out.
Usually, I hardly post any pictures of my face on Instagram without a filter but I decided to post some unfiltered close-up shots.
I was wearing little more than tinted moisturiser and a lick of lip gloss, which felt amazing.
Overall, I felt so much more energised, thanks to the better sleep. I made better, healthier eating choices, as I felt energised enough to cook each meal and make it balanced.
I wasn’t reaching for snacks and I was drinking a lot more water, which definitely helped my skin tone.
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I’m back to drinking once or twice a week which is perfect for me.
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Even over Christmas it was easy to have a glass of fizz on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day and then stay dry for the rest of the month.
I’m planning on doing dry January as well, and don’t see myself drinking more than once a week after that.
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