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Let’s set the scene. You wake up to your third alarm, hair strewn about a la bird’s nest after a night of drinking solo. Between nursing a brutal headache and finding the willpower to crawl out of bed, you wonder if you remembered to do your skincare the night before. You manage to make it to the bathroom, and one look at your reflection tells you all you need to know. Whether or not you remembered to slap on your serums before unceremoniously surrendering to the sheets, the drinking had done its damage. Hello again, hangover skin. 

By now, we know that alcohol (both the beverage and the ingredient!) is no friend of the skin. As comforting as a binge-drink sesh might feel after a bad day, your skin will tattletale one way or another. Alcoholic drinks are diuretics, meaning they usher water right out of your system by increasing urine production.

Some drinks are kinder than others (red wine and clear liquor, for instance), but their effects are persistent. Your skin will take a beating. Your fine lines will demand to be seen. Dryness, redness, and puffiness are all in the cards.

Thankfully, the effects of hangover skin aren’t totally irreversible. There are still little steps you can take to nurse your skin back to health the morning after. 

Step 1: Drink Up

Your skin will already be desert-parched by the time you even process your hangover. Give back some of your body’s hydration by drinking down a tall glass of water. Thereafter, keep a bottle close by and keep sipping.

Our pick: The Hydra Bottle takes the hassle out of constant refills. Fitted with an easy-grip handle and a strap, conveniently carry it with you—from bed to bathroom, sleepy to sane. 

Step 2: Replenish

While drinking water helps the body from the inside, you’ll want to double up the damage control. Hydrate from the outside in with skincare products that will do the legwork for you. Bring back some hydration and moisture by choosing ingredients like glycerin, hyaluronic acid, and aloe vera. If your skin is still reeling from the aftershocks of the alcohol, hit reset with brightening vitamin C and invigorating caffeine. 

Our pick: Faace’s Tired Face Mask is a hangover elixir in a tube. Packed with skin-loving ingredients, this multitasking mask helps the skin bounce back from long days, all-nighters, and yes, hangovers. Vegetable glycerin draws water from the air and quenches the skin’s outer layer. Lactic acid gently sloughs off dead skin and debris, while frankincense reinforces elasticity. Vitamin A from pomegranate and rosehip work together to stimulate collagen production and whip the skin back into shape. 

Step 3: Depuff

Facial massages are the best hangover remedy you’ve never heard of. Take your skin from puffy to plump by making strategic sweeps and presses with your hands or a massage tool. Circulation, boosted. Face, contoured. Hangover, cured.

Our pick: The Collective’s Stainless Steel Gua Sha. Unlike jade and rose quartz, stainless steel is self-cooling, making facial massages with this tool extra soothing. Nurse those facial muscles, enhance lymphatic drainage, and kiss that splitting headache goodbye.