drunk faces

Your Tipsy Face Is Hottest After One Drink

Photo: Morsa Images/Getty Images

When is your pretty drunk-face at its most appealing? When will this important question ever be answered?

Oh, right now, in a new study published in the Alcohol and Alcoholism journal that measured how attractiveness changes while drinking. Researchers photographed 40 students making neutral expressions three times: sober, after one glass of wine, and after two glasses of wine.

A separate group of students (all super-sober) chose the most attractive of the photos. The judging parties selected the one-drink face as the hottest, followed by the sober face, followed by the two-glasses-of-wine-you’re-a-beautiful-mess face.

The researchers suggest a few factors could increase attractiveness after one drink: Wine can prompt pupil dilation, encourage muscle relaxation, and pump up cheek rosiness. But the senior researcher and biological psychology professor Marcus Munafò said that this control study is a tricky one, because people usually drink together. In his words:

You consume a drink, so you see other people as more attractive. But you also become more attractive yourself because you’ve consumed a drink. And exactly how that would play out in the real world, we don’t know.

Exactly how anything plays out in the real world, no one knows! Enjoy your wine!


Your Tipsy Face Is Hottest After One Drink