Marie Claire Marie Claire
  • Celebrity
  • Fashion
  • Beauty
  • Culture
  • Power
  • Nice Talk
  • Fashion Month
  • More
    • Politics
    • Career Money
    • Health Fitness
    • Power Play
    • Travel
    • Promo Codes
    • Food Cocktails
    • About Us
    • Subscribe
    • Sex Love
  • Newsletter SIGN UP TO OUR NEWSLETTER
  • Marie Claire
    Marie Claire Newsletter

    Celebrity news, beauty, fashion advice, and fascinating features, delivered straight to your inbox!


    By submitting your information you agree to the Terms Conditions and Privacy Policy and are aged 16 or over.

    You are now subscribed

    Your newsletter sign-up was successful


    Want to add more newsletters?

    Marie Claire Daily

    Delivered daily

    Marie Claire Daily

    Get exclusive access to fashion and beauty trends, hot-off-the-press celebrity news, and more.

    Marie Claire Self Checkout

    Sent weekly on Saturday

    Marie Claire Self Checkout

    Exclusive access to expert shopping and styling advice from Nikki Ogunnaike, Marie Claire's editor-in-chief.

    Maire Claire Face Forward

    Once a week

    Maire Claire Face Forward

    Insider tips and recommendations for skin, hair, makeup, nails and more from Hannah Baxter, Marie Claire's beauty director.

    Livingetc

    Once a week

    Livingetc

    Your shortcut to the now and the next in contemporary home decoration, from designing a fashion-forward kitchen to decoding color schemes, and the latest interiors trends.

    Homes amp; Gardens

    Delivered Daily

    Homes Gardens

    The ultimate interior design resource from the world's leading experts - discover inspiring decorating ideas, color scheming know-how, garden inspiration and shopping expertise.


    An account already exists for this email address, please log in.
    Trending
    • NYFW
    • Life In Plastic
    • Cari Champion
    • New Books
    • Postpartum Psychosis
    1. Beauty
    2. Skincare

    Here's What Drinking Is Really Doing to Your Skin (And How Long It Takes to Heal)

    But🍕🍸?!

    By Lauren Valenti
    Published 7 July 2016 In News

    When you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission. Here’s how it works.

    • Facebook
    • X
    • Pinterest
    Share this article
    Join the conversation
    Follow us
    Add us as a preferred source on Google
    Subscribe to our newsletter

    We've logged enough hours at the bar to know that having a few drinks too many never bodes well for our skin (or willingness to be productive) the next day. Dryness, breakouts, irritation, and a sallow-looking complexion are par for the course. Nothing a little concealer and highlighter can't fix in the interim, right?

    But according to Kim Kardashian's dermatologist Dr. Harold Lancer, your skin will be in recovery for much longer than that—whether it's obvious or not.

    A post shared by Kim Kardashian West (@kimkardashian)

    A photo posted by on

    "It takes about two to four weeks to regulate," Lancer told the Telegraph. "Think about it, someone who has been on birth control pills is not usually totally hormonally static for three to six months after coming off them."

    Latest Videos FromMarie Claire
    Watch full video here:

    (And as if that point alone wasn't depressing enough, he sold our favorite drunk food down the river...)

    "So when you have a hormonal jolt caused by a sugar festlet's say at a pizza partythere's salt, dairy, carbohydrates, and alcohol. It will take about 30 days for that to naturally calm down."

    You may like
    • sunny background with a cutout of women in summer I Accidentally Got a Sunburn This Weekend—Here’s How I Healed My Skin by Monday
    • three mature woman with glowing skin on a peach background You're Not the Only One Struggling With Adult Acne
    • a woman with long blonde standing outside in front of a white house; a stone structural pergola; a woman with clear skin and a white t-shirt with sun shining I Had to Go to Seoul to Learn How to Fix My Irritated Skin Barrier

    30 DAYS... As in, like, a month? But what happens when you drink again? Do things just reset? Is our skin in a perpetual state of recovery? 😱

    Text, Line, Slope, Font, Rectangle, Colorfulness, Parallel, Coquelicot, Square,

    (Image credit: Design by Dana Tepper)

    And it gets worse, as Dr. Lancer is back at it again when the inconvenient-for-your-social-life-and-general-happiness truth. Post-hangover brunch is also the enemy.

    Marie Claire Newsletter

    Celebrity news, beauty, fashion advice, and fascinating features, delivered straight to your inbox!

    By submitting your information you agree to the Terms Conditions and Privacy Policy and are aged 16 or over.

    "Ham, sausage, bacon, bread, hash browns...you may as well just shoot yourself," he says. "That is like being on a prison diet. And white bread is a total loss. You might as well paint blemishes on your face."

    No, but really, is anything sacred anymore? Maybe our precious red wine—but you guessed it, only in moderation.

    "Does this mean you can't periodically have a glass of red wine?' Lancer poses. "No, it means you can't have three glasses of wine."

    What to read next
    • pre-vacation beauty Want to Look Hot On Vacation Without Trying? Here’s How I Prep My Skin and Hair
    • A woman with glowing skin looking over her shoulder and looking into the camera. She is next to a bottle of skincare serum. Your Tiny Skin Bumps Have a Name—and They’re Treatable
    • a blonde woman in a white shirt with glowing skin on a pale green background with a purple bottle and an off white bottle of hydrating toner to her right My Secret to Ridiculously Glowy Skin Is the One Step Most People Skip

    If you want someone to blame, don't blame Dr. Lancer, as it's really all of his A-list patients with their flawless, glowing skin that exist to guilt out thirsty ways.

    "Entertainment people don't have chefs to control their weight," he explains. "They have them to control their skin. They're controlled in terms of caffeine, dairy, and alcohol. When they're on tour or active filming, there is zero alcohol. People we treat in that world are crystal clear in high definition screens because they're meticulously maintained by my recommendations through their cooks and nutritionists."

    The silver lining for us normies is that we don't live our life under an HD magnifying glass, so while everything has been duly noted and will definitely be on our brains next time...well, until then:

    YouTube YouTube
    Watch On

    Follow Marie Claire on Facebook for the latest celeb news, beauty tips, fascinating reads, livestream video, and more.

    Explore More
    nutrition
    Lauren Valenti
    Social Links Navigation
    Beauty Editor

    Lauren Valenti is Vogue’s former senior beauty editor. Her work has also appeared on ELLE.com, MarieClaire.com, and in In Style. She graduated with a liberal arts degree from Eugene Lang College, The New School for Liberal Arts, with a concentration on Culture and Media Studies and a minor in Journalism.

    Read more
    A woman with glowing skin looking over her shoulder and looking into the camera. She is next to a bottle of skincare serum.
    Skincare Your Tiny Skin Bumps Have a Name—and They’re Treatable Bye-bye, closed comedones!
    By Ariel Wilson
    life in plastic next to a barbie face
    Skincare I Spent My Life Savings on a Facelift—It Was the Best Investment In Myself I Ever Made “The removal of excess skin feels like it was the removal of trauma.”
    By Samantha Holender
     
     
    a person with curly hair and perfect skin framed next to three retinol alternative skincare products
    Skincare I Don't Use Retinol—But These Alternatives Still Deliver Impressive Results Pregnant? Sensitive skin? We gotcha.
    By Stephanie (Griffin) Napolitano
    orange foam background with two girls with clear skin next to face washes
    Skincare The Right Face Wash Can Change Everything—Here Are the 9 Worth Using Acne? Oil? Dryness? We got you covered.
    By Nykia Spradley
     
     
    Latest in Skincare
    a person with curly hair and perfect skin framed next to three retinol alternative skincare products
    Skincare I Don't Use Retinol—But These Alternatives Still Deliver Impressive Results
    a woman outside with long blonde wavy hair next to yellow sunflowers and a bunch of skincare products
    Skincare I Won’t Gatekeep—5 Incredible Skincare Brands You’ve Never Heard Of
     
     
    a mature woman framed out next to products to firm loose or sagging skin
    Skincare I Polled Derms to See if This Viral Serum Will Actually Firm Sagging Skin
    Rodan + Fields
    Skincare This New Serum Will Trump All the Other Serums in Your Lineup, According to Derms and Editors
     
     
    Latest in News
    Princess Kate and Princess Charlotte with their heads together at the Commonwealth Games
    Royals Princess Charlotte Had a Special Backstage Experience Orchestrated by Mom Kate
    collage of New York Fashion Week guests and celebrities wearing the statement skirt trend
    Fall fashion New York Fashion Week's Easiest Outfit Formula Starts With a Statement Skirt
     
     
    Prince Harry looks at Prince William on the Buckingham Palace balcony as both wear military uniforms
    Royals Prince William's Stance on Prince Harry Has Changed to a "Cold War"
    collage of the best celebrity looks at the 2026 Toronto Film Festival
    Celebrity Style TIFF 2026's Best-Dressed Stars Are Bringing Their Fashion A-Game to Toronto
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
    Marie Claire
    RSS
    • About us
    • Contact Future's experts
    • Contact us
    • Advertise Online
    • Newsletter
    • Terms and conditions
    • Privacy policy
    • Cookies policy
    • Careers
    Add as a preferred source on Google Add as a preferred source on Google

    Marie Claire is part of Future US Inc, an international media group and leading digital publisher. Visit our corporate site.

    © Future US, Inc. Full 7th Floor, 130 West 42nd Street, New York, NY 10036.