Take a look at this face? Does it look familiar? Perhaps it reminds you of a crazy great aunt or your drunken uncle in his finest fancy dress attire. Take another look.
If the shock campaign from the Drug and Alcohol Service for London has it way, you'll begin to see that the face could be your own, or at least very similar to how you would look if you carry on binge drinking.
Women, it seems, are more concerned about the impact alcohol has on their looks than they are about their health. A study carried out by the UK charity discovered that two out of five women worried about their looks and only a third about more serious wellbeing implications. And when it comes to piling on the pounds, alcohol's affects on looks were a greater worry than heart disease.
The new tactic to prevent alcohol abuse among young women is targeting vanity hard because, as alcohol service campaign spokesman, Harrinder Dhillon, says, "Women are clearly not reacting to health warnings and drinking among females is getting worse year on year."
While the issue of binge drinking in the UK may seem a world away, the problem is as rife here in Australia. Australian women are drinking more than ever before and it's not only adversely affecting their health.
Figures from the Australian Bureau of Crime Statistics show a rise of almost 10 percent in the number of women accused of involvement in assaults during the four years to 2007.
Weight gain: alcohol is packed with calories and will eventually show up on your waist.
Here's some food for thought if you're considering going on a bender this weekend...
Broken capilliaries: It's not only pensioners that suffer from ruddy complexions — drinking too much causes vessels in the face to expand and break, leaving ugly red veins.
Aging skin: drinking leads to dehydration as it stops the release of antidiruretic hormones so the kidneys get rid of too much water. As your skin dries out, it is more prone to wrinkling.
'Red eye': a night out can lead to bloodshot eyes the next morning but over time, these obvious blood vessels can break, leaving an unattractive perma-bleary look.
Bad odor: drinking too much leads to bad breath and body odour. Your liver can only work through one unit of alcohol per hour and the rest must be excreted elsewhere.
The message in the UK's shock campaign may be extreme, but the point is valid. Drinking too much will inevitably lead to health deterioration, which in turn will ruin our looks.
There's no need to cork that bottle of wine for good though — just drink in moderation. No one wants to wake up one day with a face like this, after all.
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