Beauty Is In the Eye of the Beer Holder

They actually needed research to confirm the obvious.

It is something that anyone who has woken up regretting the night before has long suspected.

Now researchers have finally proved that beauty is in fact in the eye of the beer holder, rather than the beholder.

According to a new study, people do appear more attractive to both sexes when they've had a drink and have their 'beer goggles' on.

As little as a pint and a half of beer is enough to make everyone seem more desirable, researchers have found.

Men are worst affected, with their vision distorted or their 'goggles' lasting for as long as 24 hours after a heavy drinking session.

The study, conducted at Bristol University, involved male and female volunteers being randomly allocated either a drink of vodka and lime or a similar-tasting soft drink.

Half an hour later, they were asked to rate the attractiveness of 20 male and 20 female faces on a seven-point scale.

Those who had been drinking alcohol scored the faces around 10 per cent higher than those who had not.

The following day both sexes were tested again and men who had drunk alcohol still scored pictures of women more highly than the non-drinkers.

The researchers concluded: 'Alcohol consumption increases ratings of attractiveness of facial stimuli.

'In addition, the effects of alcohol consumption on ratings of attractiveness persist for up to 24 hours after consumption but only in male participants when rating female faces.''

Lead researcher Dr Marcus Munafo, an experimental psychologist, said the findings helped explain the phenomenon of drinkers having sex with someone they would never normally consider while sober.