Are your drinking habits written all over your face? Alcohol is said to cause untold damage to your appearance. Not only can it trigger skin complaints such as psoriasis, but it’s also believed to deepen wrinkles and cause puffiness and bloating.
Alcohol’s dehydrating effect means your skin loses fluid and nutrients, leaving it looking dull and grey.
Parched skin may also be more prone to eczema and worsen rosacea, causing unsightly redness, dilated blood vessels, small red bumps, pus-filled spots and broken blood vessels.
And it’s not just your skin that suffers: alcohol can make your eyes bloodshot and dry out your hair, making it more likely to break and split. So does this mean someone who regularly exceeds the recommended weekly intake of no more than 14 units will look older than their years? And, by the same token, that those who abstain will look forever young?
We asked five women with very different drinking habits to do a close-up shoot – and then divulge their weekly totals. So, can you tell from their photographs who unashamedly sinks 24 units each week – and who is virtuously teetotal?
Post menopause, I’m making up for lost drinking time!
Interior stylist Alison Gibb, 59, from Berwick-upon-Tweed, Northumberland, is married to Douglas, 61, an interiors photographer, and has a son, 27, and a daughter, 24.
WEEKLY UNITS: 24
Where alcohol is concerned, I’m making up for lost time.
After three decades of going without, I now enjoy a couple of glasses every night. At weekends, my husband and I will go out and I’ll allow myself at least a half bottle of wine, or three or four pints of beer. But I don’t feel guilty.
From the age of 21 to 50, I suffered terrible migraines — triggered by both hormones and hangovers. They lasted up to three days, so I did anything I could to avoid them, including avoiding alcohol. When I went through the menopause, however, all that changed. Suddenly free of migraines, I tentatively tried drinking again. Once I had the green light, I really went for it.
I’d enjoyed partying as a student at Glasgow School of Art in the 1980s. But at 21, halfway through my degree, both my parents died from cancer. Traumatised, I had a bit of a breakdown and my health suffered.
After that, alcohol would give me the dreadful hangovers and migraines. I overhauled my lifestyle, eating healthily and avoiding stress – and alcohol. A friend joked that when I was through the menopause I should have a massive party because the migraines were so clearly linked to my periods. And she wasn’t wrong.
The menopause started at 50 and I knew I was finally out the other side when we had a family reunion in Budapest, Hungary, last year. For the first time in decades, I could enjoy a few glasses of wine with dinner – without suffering a migraine.
And, so far, it hasn’t taken a toll on my health or my appearance. I call my 50s my ‘freedom decade’.
Since I quit, I’ve got the body of a 24-year-old
Author and entrepreneur Maxine Nwaneri, 44, lives in London with her husband, Nnamdi, 50, an energy industry analyst, and children, Chiamaka, nine, and Nnamdi Jr, five.
WEEKLY UNITS: 0
Since I hit my 40s, people often mistake me for someone in her late 20s or early 30s. Friends say I look younger now than I did ten years ago. I put it down to having lost over a stone in weight and the fact that my complexion has improved.
One of my biggest secrets? Giving up alcohol. For the past two years I’ve barely touched a drop. Like many people, I drank quite a bit in my 20s. On an average night, I’d consume two or more large glasses of wine – easily six units in one go.
But then I met my husband on holiday in Norway when I was 31, and he didn’t share my enthusiasm for alcohol. When I moved in with him a year later, the Nordic attitude rubbed off on me. ‘Cheeky’ drinks with friends were traded for hikes.
In 2019, we returned to the UK just before having our youngest child. Unfortunately, I nearly died giving birth – due to various medical blunders – and my health suffered. Soon I was back drinking with friends and, within two years, I had gone up three dress sizes to a 16. Approaching 40, I still looked pregnant, even though my son was nearly one. My skin was prone to breakouts and dullness.
In May 2020, I joined a three-month online diet and exercise programme that banned alcohol. I worked out 15-30 minutes a day, ate healthily, and successfully lost one-and-a-half stone, going down to a size 10.
Around my 40th birthday, I had my fitness stats done – calculated according to muscle mass and fat percentage – and was delighted to discover I had the body of a 24-year-old athlete. In fact, I was fitter than when I was 24, because then I was a heavy drinker.
Now, I am virtually teetotal.
I drink gin most nights. I think it’s a well-earned treat
Kari Roberts, 61, a leadership coach, is married to Kevin, 65. She has three children, 40, 36 and 35, and lives in Botley, Hampshire.
WEEKLY UNITS: 12
Does drinking most nights take its toll on my appearance? During lockdown when I drank more I could see the change in my skin. I wore more foundation to get a smoother finish but luckily drinking hasn’t aged my looks – people always comment I look younger than I actually am.
When my alcohol intake increased during the pandemic – my husband and I subscribed to a monthly gin box – I went from a size 10 to a 14.
In September 2022, I confided in my best friend about my drinking habits. We agreed I had to put a stop to it before it got silly, so I decided to avoid alcohol for a couple of days to see if I could manage without it.
I’d seen social media posts about sobriety and I wondered if alcohol-free was the way to go. But I don’t like to be told I can’t have something, so I opted to limit my intake instead.
As the non-alcohol days continued, I would reach for water, flavoured tonic water or herbal tea rather than a G&T. I appreciated sleeping better and waking up with a clearer head.
Whereas I used to have a drink when I started to cook, now I wait till dinner is served. It’s a simple pleasure that I refuse to deny myself entirely. I think of it as a well-earned treat. It’s all about balance. As long as I have three consecutive nights a week without drinking, it’s fine to have two or three gin and tonics a night for the rest of the week.
In the past year I feel more confident wearing less make-up, only using a little highlighter. Some days I even go make-up free. I have always been conscious of my appearance and enjoy getting dressed up.
I will match my husband drink for drink at weekends
Crime writer Heather Fitt, 43, is married to Stuart, 52, and lives in Gosport, Hampshire.
WEEKLY UNITS: 20
Alcohol is that friend who always leads me astray. That’s why I confine my drinking to weekends these days.
On a Friday night at the local pub, I’ll drink six gin and tonics – and perhaps another one when my husband and I get home. On Saturdays, we often go out and enjoy more G&Ts or prosecco.
As for how much… that’s a good question! Maybe ten drinks in total?
On Sundays, I’ll have a glass or two of wine with a roast lunch.
I’ve always been a drinker. Like many of my generation, I couldn’t wait to look old enough to get served in a pub. That said, most people can’t understand how I can drink as much as I do and stay upright. I know some people think I drink too much, but I have learnt where my limit is and how to moderate my alcohol intake. I rarely get hangovers.
That said, excessive amounts of alcohol can make my skin dehydrated – it’s not a good look! Too much also causes my tummy to bloat, but I’m generally a healthy person. I go to the gym five times a week, walk everywhere and watch what I eat.
As a crime writer, I attend book festivals and launches – that’s when my ‘weekend only drinks’ rule goes out of the window. After a few glasses of prosecco, I’ll talk to anyone. That can only explain why I was happy to chat away to millionaire bestselling Jack Reacher author Lee Child – alcohol does give you a sense of confidence. I do get louder and more excitable, too. I am definitely a drinker who believes life is wonderful when I’ve had a few. Luckily, my husband and I can match one another drink for drink.
We recently went on holiday to Barbados. Whenever we fly we adopt ‘airport rules’, meaning we have a beer before take-off, regardless of the time of day. I absolutely drink more on holiday – every day – but who doesn’t?
I drank more than ever when my marriage ended
Rebecca McGoff, 42, is a philanthropy consultant. She lives in Manchester with her two daughters, aged 17 and 14.
WEEKLY UNITS: 0
Women are often sold the myth that wine is part of self-care: ‘You’ve had an awful day? Let’s open a bottle!’ But actually it’s something which can easily become dangerous. I didn’t think I had a problem because I only ever had champagne or a high-end rosé.
For 20 years I was a big drinker. Working in the corporate world, I’d often attend events where I’d have a glass in hand from 7pm, which was replenished constantly. That could amount to two bottles of champagne.
And my drinking wasn’t confined to work events. As a mum of two, I’d host ‘PJs and Prosecco’ evenings for my mum friends. I’d easily drink two bottles in an evening. I’d pay the price the following day, though, feeling low and unproductive.
I might have looked like a content, confident working mum but behind the mask, I was exhausted and stressed. And, in reality, though I didn’t realise at the time, alcohol had more control of me than I did of it.
When my marriage fell apart in my mid-30s, however, I drank more than ever. I’d sit down with a 250ml glass of wine at 5pm, then pour another one while cooking and eating dinner . . . and a final one before bed. That’s a bottle a day and I drank like that too often. At 38, I was in the grip of such anxiety that I decided to quit drinking altogether – and haven’t craved so much as a sip since.
An old drinking buddy who’d given up booze advised me to download a sober counter on my phone, hide all alcohol at home or, even better, bin it (which I did) and invest in some ‘quit lit’ (memoirs about giving up booze).
Four years on, I sleep better and wake up refreshed. My skin is no longer puffy, my eyes don’t look tired and I’ve got my sparkle back.
