A recent study in the UK has proven that drinkers find people more attractive after booze consumption. From FOX News:

Scientists in England gave 84 heterosexual college students chilled lime-flavored drinks that were either non-alcoholic or given a dose of vodka equivalent in alcohol to a large glass of wine or a pint-and-a-half of beer.

After 15 minutes, the volunteers were shown photos of 40 other college students from both sexes.

Both men and women who drank booze found these faces more attractive, "a roughly 10 percent increase in ratings of attractiveness," said researcher Marcus Munafo, an experimental psychologist at the University of Bristol in England.

But what is the take-home message here? I suppose that this is good news for those who are, say, 10% less attractive than your average person—I consider myself part of that group. But unfortunately, this is a double edged study. If you're a single drinker looking for a hook-up, you need to keep in mind that your standards are decreased by 10% after a couple of cocktails. Add that 10% on top of the 30% you've already lowered your standards, due to desperation, and you're looking at the strong possibility of a 40% increase in morning-after regret. That's a whole bunch of regret.

Here's more:

By repeating the experiment with video clips shot at bars, the scientists hope to recreate those social cues and see what happens.

"The main question is whether these effects are specific to faces, or whether we would rate anything as more attractive after a drink," Munafo said.

Hmm. Anything? I can see it now:

"I don't know what happened... One minute is was cleaning the house and... Okay, yeah, so I had a couple drink in me, but the Hoover was just looking so fine, you know? Those curves. That plastic sheen." *shiver* "I couldn't help myself."

More:

"It's also surprising to see this effect is happening at lower doses than you might think," Munafo said. "We're trying to build up a more complete picture of what happens when people go out for a drink, and we're interested in certain behaviors that are more common after drinking, such as unsafe sex, or violence.

"If this effect is happening at lower doses than expected, it might be helpful for people who are predisposed to such behaviors to anticipate those situations and prevent them."

Let this be a lesson to you, Blogtownies. When you wake up next to the vacuum, don't say I didn't warn you.