Your 5 step ritual to staying fresh the day after cocktail hour

It’s Wednesday night, and you’ve settled into a barstool, cradling your third martini. You feel vibrant, alive, even free–and then your brain starts shooting reminders about all the things you have to do tomorrow. You stare down into your half-empty glass. “Will tomorrow be a write-off?” you swirl the glass gently in your hands, almost wishing the answer would appear in the clear fluids now moving swiftly around the rim. 

Between disrupted sleep, puffy eyes, hangovers, and just feeling blah–social drinking can really put a damper on meeting the best version of yourself each morning. But, what if we told you that there’s a smarter way to drink? 

We can’t totally eliminate the side effects of booze, but with a little science, we can teach you how to keep cocktail hour from derailing your day.

Step 1: Pre-drink supplements

Before hitting the bar, protect your body from booze by taking an anti-hangover supplement with dihydromyricetin (DHM). DHM helps to protect your gut, liver, and brain from the negative side effects of booze. The suggested dose is 300 – 600 mg, but taking up to 1000mg is perfectly safe. You can also keep some in your purse in case you get sucked into an impromptu cocktail sesh. 

Step 2: Patch up

If you really want to add an extra layer of protection, add a vitamin B12 patch to your pre-drink routine. Drinking depletes your body of B vitamins which can contribute to negative side effects like nausea, brain fog, and fatigue. Starting out with extra B12 helps your body break down booze more effectively and reduces those pesky post-drink problems. Plus, you can stick it anywhere on your skin and forget about it until the next day!

Step 3: Choose Wisely

Drinking lighter-colored alcohol can help reduce some negative side effects of booze. Darker drinks, such as red wines and dark whiskeys, have byproducts in them called congeners. Congeners can lead to hangover symptoms and generally make your morning worse. Stick with lighter drinks, like vodka or gin, to decrease these side effects. 

Step 4: Get your Mask on

Alcohol can do a number on your skin due to the inflammation it causes. Combat the blotchy, puffy booze look by ending your night with an anti-inflammatory facemask. After you get home and get ready for bed, throw on a mask with ingredients like turmeric or hemp to help soothe your skin and keep yourself looking fresh. 

Step 5: Hydrate with style

You’ve had a great night out, you’ve completed your skincare regimen, and now it’s time for one final step to ensure your cocktail hour doesn’t disrupt your productivity. Before going to sleep, end your evening with a nice dose of hydration packed with electrolytes. You can choose coconut water, a pre-mixed electrolyte drink, or a powdered mix. If you’ve overdone it a little with the drinks, now is the time to also throw in another dose of DHM. 

Bottom Line

Learning how to reduce the negative effects of alcohol can help you balance a bustling social life with crushing your career goals. While it’s true that abstaining from alcohol is the only surefire way to avoid hangovers from creeping in, you can do a great job of minimizing the damage from booze with a little science and strategy. Use this 5 step routine to stay fresh after drinking–you deserve it!