Pimples, puffy eyes, blotchy skin—not exactly how you want to look at your New Year’s Eve party, but the sweets, wine, stress and late nights of the holiday season can take a toll on your skin, making you look like you partied even more than you did. Here’s our holiday skincare hangover cure:

Be Smart About Sweets (and ‘Nog)
Sugar, fat and lots of dairy can not only affect your skin, but your whole system, especially if you don’t usually eat that way. Not only will you notice more breakouts, but you’ll feel sluggish and gross, too.

holiday skin hangover cureTreat yourself but don’t go overboard and balance the bad stuff with the good. Indulge in antioxidant-rich and good-fat foods, like olives, nuts, dark chocolate, cranberries (the sugar-laden sauce doesn’t count), green tea and seafood. And protect your skin with an antioxidant serum.

Get Some Shut Eye
Lack of sleep can lead to redness, dark circles and dull, puffy skin. Your body needs sleep to help regenerate, refresh and keep your skin moisturized. When you don’t get enough Zs, the PH balance of your skin changes, making it look dull and dry.

Don’t stay out late too many nights in a row. Use a moisturizing serum or sleep mask before bed so you wake up looking refreshed.

Drink Water With Your Wine
Alcohol dehydrates your skin and your body. (But if you’ve ever had a hangover, you know that.) That means wrinkles look more severe in the short run and you’ll see signs of premature aging faster, if you drink often. If you’re prone to redness and rashes, drinking a lot will ensure a patchy complexion. That doesn’t mean you have to miss out on festive champagne toasts, just drink one or two glasses of water between alcoholic drinks and try to keep those drinks to a minimum.

Try To Stress Less
The holiday season is full of events, family and obligations and often that can mean stress. Stress affects your whole system, creating inflammation, which can lead to acne, redness and dehydration. It can also affect your sleep, which also affects your skin.

Sticking to your usual routines as much as possible will help you avoid stress. This probably means also avoiding a lot of the risk factors above. Go to only the parties and get-togethers you’re actually looking forward to. Squeeze in an extra yoga class or workout where you can, drink lots of water and tea and treat yourself to some skincare goodness…like, you guessed it, a Freeze Facial!

Oh, and a new year is a great time to start a new skincare resolution. How about investing in one of our packages? Your skin will thank you!