Skincare Saviours For Your New Year’s Eve Sins

New Year’s Eve is around the corner, and there is a pretty good chance you’ll be indulging in some vices - and so you should be. The beginning of a new year is the perfect excuse to celebrate. The only downside of a good old-fashioned night out? The toll it pays on your skin.

To help you ease into 2018 looking fresh, we break down the most common New Year’s Eve culprits, and the post-party skincare essentials that minimise - or better yet, completely erase - the damage.

Party? What party?

You drink (way) too much champagne

“Alcohol creates inflammation throughout the body including the skin, resulting in effects that far outlast dehydration. Dullness, enlarged pores, discolouration, sagging and lack of resilience are some of the short and longer-term effects,” Dr. Nicholas Perricone, leading dermatologist and nutritionist behind Perricone MD, shares with Lane Crawford. First, refrain yourself from feeling guilty - if there is any night of the year to get tipsy, it’s New Year’s Eve - second, help yourself bounce back in no time with a mix of brightening, firming and pore minimizing skincare saviours.

You puff your way through a handful of cigarettes

Indulge in half of a package of cigarettes to yourself for one last hurrah before your 2018 resolution to quit kicks in? “Cigarettes deplete the skin of oxygen and vital nutrients, reducing blood flow to an area while temporarily raising blood pressure. This results in a grey, pallid, lifeless and unhealthy-looking complexions and if it continues, also causes dry, leathery looking skin, premature deep lines, wrinkles and loss of radiance,” explains Dr. Perricone. Return your skin to its former glory with the help of an exfoliator, moisture-packed mask and brightening serums and masks.

You don’t realise what time it is

“When we are sleep-deprived, our skin takes on a pasty, puffy and more wrinkled appearance - formerly svelte figures begin to resemble that famous “Doughboy” of baking fame,” jokes Dr. Perricone. Skins also likely to be looking dull and dehydrated so along with an eye cream to de-puff, opt for a hyaluronic acid packed hydrating and brightening masks. Give your skin a better chance of draining fluid quicker by sleeping elevated on a pillow.

You stop by a fast food joint on the way home

That double cheeseburger and extra-large fries are likely might just affect more than your waistline. “Many refined carbohydrates found in fast food cause an inflammatory response in the body which promotes increased pore size and puffiness, as well as dark under eye circles, loss of tone and firmness and loss of facial contours,” shares Dr. Perricone. Fight back with pore minimising products, a brightening under eye cream and serums to sculpt and tighten skin.