Giving up alcohol for vanity?

[VanityWitch]

So, I'm thinking of going teetotal, yes, for my health, but mainly because I am terribly vain and my skin is crap at the moment and my sleep quality is also crap. I don't drink much, as in, I tend to only drink at weekends plus one week night, so Friday, Saturday and Sunday or Wednesday, Saturday and Sunday, for example. Usually one or two glasses of wine. Not bucketfuls, but not thimbles either! So I guess that is a bottle of wine a week?

I'm sure by MN standards this makes me either a raging alcoholic or a puritanical stick in the mud, but you know.

Anyway, I'm planning to quit as an experiment, to see if I glow!

Is anyone thinking of doing similar? Would anyone like to join me on here to document our journey to glowage?

I’m interested in giving up for a bit too and seeing how I feel. I don’t drink much at all but would miss my occasional glass of champagne after a long week!! What donpeople drink at Christmas/ New Year to be a bit fancy?

No idea what to drink instead of wine or champagne at Christmas...probably Shloer or juice or something. I've tried a few of the non alcoholic gins before and rather liked the one by Pentire. But equally, I quite like fancy tonic on its own or with a teeny bit of cordial. Belvoir rose and elderflower is nice. They also do a ginger one; not the one with honey, the other one. It's nice. They are very sweet though, so a little goes a long way.

@Amerimoon

There are some ‘Noseccos’ on the market now. No idea how they taste but with a good Google search you could find out the best brand.

I’m not enthusiastic at all about running but I’ve got back into doing Pilates and I’m bloody loving it.
I’m hating early 30s me who was a proper party girl but still looked fresh as a daisy. I blame parenthood for my inability to have a drink and look anything other than shit the next day

It’s not everyone’s taste @VanityWitch but cawston press rhubarb and apple fizz is nice

Yes, I'm 37 now. I love yoga. They are running classes again, but I don't think I'll go back before Christmas. Lovely as it is, they keep the windows open, due to covid, and it's bloody freezing at the moment!

And I think I've had that Cawston Press stuff! When I was pregnant.

Meant to say I like it, sorry !

I look haggard the day after drinking (and I only ever drink 2 glasses of wine). I think it's the dehydration.

I’m in tier 3 so I’m working my way through online exercise until we are liberated from the Covid rules.
I’m still having a glass of champagne on Christmas Day but after that I’m going low/no alcohol again. Dammit, I really like high quality booze. I’ll have to find a new vice! Maybe high quality skin care?

I get cawston press Apple and ginger and dilute it with sparkling water. The ginger hit makes it feel like I'm drinking a cocktail, for some reason.

Clothes are probably my 'vice' tbh! Not sure if it's a good switch or not..! I'd rather it was exercise for sure. "Yoga and running are my biggest vices" .

None of what you’ve said sounds like vanity to me.

FWIW I don’t drink because it just isn’t something I’m bothered about. I used to binge drink a lot when younger - it wasn’t good or sustainable. My skin is good for my age and I do look young. Im 30 and pass for much younger, and interestingly when I was younger and drinking/partying I looked older. I remember being 20 and somebody thought I was 30 when filling in paper-work they ‘corrected’ my year of birth to ten years older! I’m now actually 30 and have been asked a few times this year if my mum or dad are home when answering the door. I am obviously completely thrilled each time this happens and attribute it entirely to my youthful glow and not the fact I’m in Disney pyjamas or similar.

It’s self-fulfilling in a way I think. I’m never hungover so I move more and have more energy so I look, feel and am healthier. I don’t think it’s just the not drinking, more everything else that can mean.

Giving up alcohol definitely does make your skin look amazing. Once I'd started to do regular bouts of giving up booze for a couple of weeks my skin started to look clear, dewy, and actually radiant (never ever thought I'd use the word radiant about my blotchy, spotty, grey-ish and very flaky skin!) Something that amazed me was that my face started to have a colour palette again. My skin was golden, with a pink flush to my cheeks. My eyes were blue and the whites clear white. My lips pink. In contrast to the smudged look of grey/red/pallid white I'd always had before. I drank an awful lot though before I stopped. Just putting it out there for the girls like me that can put away litres of wine - you can and do look so much better even with short periods of abstinence! And vanity is not a bad reason to cut down. It sounds like a horrible word but all it means is that you want to look better to the outside world and like yourself more at the same time. And what's wrong with that.

@Amerimoon I just drink Diet Coke or lemonade if I’m honest because that’s what I like. For a toast or New Year or similar I would have half a glass of champagne quite happily though. However I’m not worried about it making me take up drinking again so the odd thing like that isn’t a big deal. I don’t know if that’s why some people go complete teetotal? (Not including for religious reasons or recovering alcoholism of course). I don’t ever, and have never had that feeling of just fancying a drink of alcohol so I don’t know. I think that long term non-drinkers like myself see the drink as less of An Event if that makes sense, so we don’t try and replace alcohol for a next best thing or whatever because there’s no point as there’s not really a substitute.

God that sounds condescending but I don’t know how else to explain it.

Placemarking

I stopped drinking it about 6 weeks ago and my skin definitely looks better and my jaw line looks firmer. I didn't really drink that much, but I realised it was just making me look rubbish and feel sleepy. My job is fairly mentally demanding and I was really fearing middle aged brain fog - didn't need anything that might add to it.

Haven't missed it and haven't replaced it with anything - I don't really like soft drinks and only drink tea and water at the moment.

[quote chestnutshell]@Amerimoon I just drink Diet Coke or lemonade if I’m honest because that’s what I like. For a toast or New Year or similar I would have half a glass of champagne quite happily though. However I’m not worried about it making me take up drinking again so the odd thing like that isn’t a big deal. I don’t know if that’s why some people go complete teetotal? (Not including for religious reasons or recovering alcoholism of course). I don’t ever, and have never had that feeling of just fancying a drink of alcohol so I don’t know. I think that long term non-drinkers like myself see the drink as less of An Event if that makes sense, so we don’t try and replace alcohol for a next best thing or whatever because there’s no point as there’s not really a substitute.

God that sounds condescending but I don’t know how else to explain it.[/quote]
No, that makes sense.

I suppose I do think of alcohol as a bit of an event in itself.

For example, if I was going out for dinner with friends, if we planned in advance not to drink, I'd obviously be totally fine with it. But if we all went out for dinner and someone had booked a dry restaurant, I'd be a bit deflated as I would be looking forward to a glass of wine with dinner.

Or, if I went to an event, I'd be looking forward to the welcome drink.

I'm not saying this is a bad thing btw. I think it's quite normal and not indicative of a problem or anything. But it is interesting to note the importance I subconsciously place on the glass of wine, while a non drinker wouldn't think twice about it.

I had my last drink in 2012 as I had to start taking anti psychotic medication.

I didn't drink at home but was a binge drinker when out & really missed alcohol on nights out for a long time as it had given me confidence.
Also I loved cocktails, shots & shooters, just the whole ritual of drinking mainly spirits.
But it was good I had to stop as I'd had nights out where I'd actually got so drunk I'd lost my memory.
My actual best friends were not big drinkers so that made it easier.
It was more my work colleagues who didn't understand & I just said it was due to meds I couldn't drink, but didn't specify which ones.

8 years later I'm still a non drinker as I still have to take a high dose of anti psychotics.
I have some thread veins from my drinking years but they're not too bad now & I can disguise them with make up.
I can have a good time without alcohol provided I'm with nice people, there's good music & a decent atmosphere.
I still can dance all night if I like.

I had weight loss surgery six weeks ago and not allowed to drink for a year at least. Haven't had a drink for two months and my skin has never been better. DH is teetotal and I think I'll keep it up.

A friend gave up drinking for a year when she was about 34 and there was such a difference in her facial skin - soft and luminous. She definitely didn’t have bad skin to start with & wasn’t what I’d call a problem drinker.

I’m not a teetotaller but can recommend Remedy kombucha in apple crisp as an alternative - it tastes quite similar to cloudy cider. All non alcoholic wine I’ve tried is vile.

Will join from the 1st Jan.

Elderflower cordial in soda water is a wonderful champagne substitute! Plop in some rose water and/or lime if you wish. Lovely for NYE festive mocktails. My 2020 was giving up sugar. 2021 is alcohol. (I am going to be so bloody virtuous, I will either be transparent or beige by this time next year!)

The Slug n Lettuce's non alcoholic Mojitos are almost like the real thing.

I gave up alcohol a while back and I eat my fair share of sugary crap but I was AMAZED by the difference in my skin. Proper glowing. I wasnt a heavy drinker before either, so it wasnt like I was making a dramatic change. If you want to go a step further I can also reccomend running to make you realy hlow.