Drinking one glass of wine can make you look more attractive - even if your date is sober.
That's according to a new study, which reverses everything we thought we ever knew about beer beer-goggles.
As well as finding others more attractive than usual after drinking alcohol, the study suggests that mildly intoxicated people look more attractive to others than they would if they were sober.
Researchers at the University of Bristol photographed 40 students three times - once when they were sober, again after one drink, then a third time after a second drink.
Each drink was equivalent to 250ml of wine.
The photos were then shown to a separate group of students, who rated the attractiveness of participants in each image.
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Participants were found to be more attractive after one glass of wine than they were when they were sober.
However, two glasses of wine was found to make participants less attractive than they were when sober.
The study notes that a small amount of alcohol may cause blood to rush to the cheeks, giving a rosy (and perhaps more attractive) complexion.
"In addition to perceiving others as more attractive, an alcohol consumer may also be perceived by others as more attractive, and therefore receive greater sexual interest from potential mates," the study adds.
“An increase in such attention from others may also positively reinforce alcohol consumption, particularly in social contexts.”
The study is published in the Alcohol and Alcoholism journal. It isn't the first to establish a link between alcohol and attractiveness.
A previous study found that people who think they have drank alcohol perceive themselves as more attractive - even if they haven't had any.
Scientists in France asked 94 men to taste a new fruit cocktail. The researchers told the volunteers that half had been given an alcoholic version of the cocktail, and half had been given a non-alcoholic one.
When questioned about their attractiveness, those who believed they had consumed alcohol gave themselves high self-assessments, regardless of whether they had actually ingested any booze. Those who believed they had been drinking non-alcoholic cocktails gave themselves a low assessment.
The researchers said results were due to the fact that "alcohol is linked to social lubrication" and makes us feel more at ease with others.
The moral of the story? Wine may make us look more attractive, but the real key is probably confidence.
