What happened to Before Elixir?

A few years ago, everyone was talking about Before Elixir, a drink that claimed to reduce alcohol flush reaction and hangovers. By simply drinking the product before having any alcohol, the user could stop Asian Glow and not turn red as usual.

What is Before Elixir?

Before Elixir was created by Jen Du and was organized on Indiegogo, a website for start-up companies and products. Before the fundraiser closed in 2015, Before Elixir raised over $14,000 USD by 319 people.

Jen says, “I’ve never been able to enjoy a single alcoholic beverage without turning red or feeling sick my entire life. I knew many people shared this problem so I wanted to solve it.” Then, her product was created! 

The drink was bright red and aimed to reduce Asian Flush symptoms along with minimizing hangovers the following day. The instructions say to drink a full 8 oz bottle about 30 minutes before you drink alcohol and mix it with every third drink if you’re having a longer night out. 

Unfortunately, it didn’t taste all that pleasant and didn’t seem to be very effective.

The main ingredients in Before Elixir were:

B-Vitamins and Amino Acids which work to restore nutrients that alcohol depletes
Mangosteen and Lipoic Acid which are antioxidants that naturally detoxify the body
Milk Thistle which supports healthy liver function and helps reduce hangovers

So what happened to Before Elixir?

In 2018, creator Jen Du posted an update on her Indiegogo page. After listening to feedback from customers, she decided to scrap Before Elixir entirely. Instead, she created new products that are more focused on specific issues. Three 3 drinks were created:

Lighten Up – Flush Prevention
Night Cap – After Alcohol Aid
Morning After – After Alcohol Aid

The new company behind these anti-Asian Glow and reduced hangover products is Bibi Beverages. It looks like the second Indiegogo campaign was pretty successful, too, raising over $17,000 USD. Bibi Beverages were also sold on Amazon US at one point, but have since been taken down.

So how are these different from Before Elixir?

Instead of one product trying to solve three different problems, Bibi Beverages now has three products for one specific problem each.

Lighten Up – Flush Prevention ingredients:

DHM (oriental raisin tree), Milk Thistle, Acetyl L Carnitine (amino acid), N Acetyl Cystein (amino acid), Vitamin B6 and B12, Magnesium, Calcium, Purified Water, Organic Cane Sugar, Tapioca Maltodextrin, Citric Acid, Natural Flavor, Potassium Sorbate, (preservative), Monkfruit Extract.

Night Cap – After Alcohol Aid ingredients:

DHM (oriental raisin tree), Milk Thistle, Acetyl L Carnitine (amino acid), N Acetyl Cystein (amino acid), Vitamin B6 and B12, Magnesium, Calcium, Purified Water, Organic Cane Sugar, Tapioca Maltodextrin, Citric Acid, Natural Flavor, Potassium Sorbate, (preservative), Monkfruit Extract

Morning After – After Alcohol Aid ingredients:

Activated Charcoal, 5-HTP, Ginger Extract, Vitamin C, Vitamin B6 and B12, Purified Water, Organic Cane Sugar, Tapioca Maltodextrin, Citric Acid, Natural Flavor, Potassium Sorbate, (preservative), Monkfruit Extract.

We spoke about the ingredients list in our Lighten Up review for Asian Flush. The biggest issue we have is the ingredients for the anti-hangover drink is the exact same as the Lighten Up Anti Asian Flush drink. There is no difference between buying the drink for Asian Flush versus buying the drink for hangovers.

While this isn’t the end of the world, it does feel misleading. 

However, the formula for the hangover drinks looks very solid. DHM is a great ingredient for helping reducing hangovers and feeling well after a night of drinking. You’ll find DHM in many anti-hangover products (at least all the good ones).

Best Asian Flush relief?

If you were looking for Before Elixir because you want Asian Flush relief, you’ll need to keep searching. While Bibi Beverages does provide an anti-Asian Flush product, we’ve found there’s better choices on the market for this particular issue. You can check out all of our Asian Flush product reviews to see what works best for you.

If you’re looking for a hangover drink, definitely look into Bibi Beverages. While an anti-hangover drinks or alcohol patches can help reduce Asian Flush symptoms, it’s more effective for hangovers.