Humans were getting loaded and making bad decisions and feeling terrible the next day long before they were thinking about the Earth’s atmosphere and zero-gravity and dehydrated ice-cream sandwiches. And yet, abandoned by science, hungover people throughout history have been forced to navigate their way through the headaches and nausea alone, experimenting with various homespun remedies — Gatorade, spells, burgers. For the past few years, my personal cure has consisted of lying in bed all day watching Blacklist or Riverdale (something about the accents, dark scenery, and homicide acts as a soothing balm for my dry, shriveled brain) and eventually, when I can finally summon the energy, scavenging for the nearest combination of cheese and carbs.
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Lately, however, this routine has proven unsustainable. I need to be productive on the weekends, because my weeks are filled with work and rescheduling drinks with friends for the 47th time and staring blankly into the distance, wondering whether I’m actually accomplishing anything or if I’m just going through the motions of being alive.
When I wake up after a morning out, even if I took my makeup off the night before, I always look a little worse for the wear. My eyes are puffy and red-rimmed and my skin is usually pale and sickly looking.
Not so for celebrities who can party with wild abandon and then turn up the next day with nary a zit on their face. According to facialists who handle more than their fair share of ‘hangover skin’, your skin doesn’t have to look as bad as you feel and it’s all down to feeding your jaded skin with the right concoction to reverse the damage, and revive their spirits. Here are three ‘hangover cures’ you need to know.
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Oxygenate
Like plants who need oxygen to thrive, your skin deprived of oxygen will look dull and lackluster. Drowning under copious layers of makeup, suffocating in a room full of cigarette smoke are just some ways to effectively cut off your skin’s vital oxygen supply.
In the light of day, when common sense has returned, A-listers are reaching for oxygen type facials to quickly recharge their skin, and hopefully reverse any damage inflicted upon their poor faces. O2 Blush, from SW1 Spa is one example of an oxygen facial designed to maximally oxygenate the skin with pure oxygen on top of the usual spa essentials such as exfoliation, deep cleansing and hydrating masking.
Understanding that the usual run-of-the-mill facials will fall short of its mark for some, O2 Blush is designed to boost the skin without the use of harsh chemicals or oily ingredients. In fact, the effects of dermal oxygen is almost instantaneous, so much so that loyal clients swear they walk out of the doors a different person altogether.
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Low level lights
This isn’t ambient lighting that we are talking about. It’s NASA inspired photobiomodulation, more specifically in the red spectrum. According to doctor, LED Red photobiomodulation has been shown to promote skin healing and rejuvenation, two essential effects to combat “hungover skin”.
Done alone as a 30 minute therapy in-clinic, or as part of a more comprehensive facial such as Deep Red facial (with all the usual skin pampering works), it does more than its part in reviving poorly treated skin. Clients report a reduction in blotchiness and redness, as well as improved tone and colour immediately after.
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Vitamin Therapy
In case you think that a lychee martini is a fruit salad, think again. Leeching vitamins from your system is one of the ill-effects of alcohol. And you’re probably not doing yourself any favours with a low calorie, vegetable-deprived diet either.
Between downing vitamin supplements and applying topical vitamins, the quicker route to the skin is the latter. That’s why a facial treatment that focuses on saturating the skin with vitamins such as Vitamin Therapy is so vital for “hungover skin”. Using sonophoresis which amplifies penetration by more than a hundred times, vitamin therapy excels in feeding your skin the vital vitamins, antioxidants and peptides that are needed to recharge, heal and rejuvenate itself. Without these vital building blocks, all these skin recovery processes come to a halt. Of course, perks include glowing skin and improved skin tone, making this a popular choice even for stone cold sober ladies.
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