Smoking and its Effects on Your Looks

Not to sound like a preaching grandmother, but one of my lecturers told me that the number one reason people quit smoking is not for the health reasons, but because of the ‘visual’ reasons.

The top reason why women stopped smoking was because they wanted to keep their looks. This gave me a great idea for a post…. Hopefully the vanity (whatever helps right?!) in people can help them quit!

Did you know? In 1985, the term “smoker’s face” was added to the medical dictionary. Meaning that there is a definite difference visually in a smokers face compared to a non-smoker.

Looking old – everyone’s worse fear! Unfortunately, a smoker has way more things than a few wrinkles or lines to worry about.

• Your Skin Texture. Smoking reduces the production of collagen and elastin up to 40%, some reports state. Meaning skin starts to thin out, which leads to premature sagging, wrinkles, and fine lines. Deep lines and wrinkles usually form around the eyes and the mouth area, thanks to the constant squinting from smoke irritation, and puckering of the lips when inhaling a cigarette. According to some studies by SkincarePhysicians.com, smokers develops premature signs of aging much sooner than a non-smoker, even as young as 20 years old – “facial wrinkling, while not yet visible, can be seen under a microscope.” Overall, because of it’s thousands of toxins going directly into your body from a single cigarette, your overall complexion can have a yellow, sullen, leathery texture – so attractive!

• Aged Eye Area. Because smoking damages the cells around the eyes, you can not only expect wrinkles and lines, but also sucken eyes with dark eye circles, especially in chain smokers.

• Wrinkled, Shriveled Lips. Again, because smoking zaps all the collagen and elastin from your skin, your lips suffer too. Lips can become wrinkled and look shriveled. The skin around the mouth, again, will eventually lead to deep, dark lines and wrinkles because of the constant puckering of your lips. (A family member has this, and to be honest it’s very unsightly. I’m no expert, but I don’t even think Botox can help!)

• Stained Teeth. Smoking stains the teeth. Smokers are also more likely to loose teeth, have plaque buildup, and lose part of the jawbone that helps keep their teeth in place – scary!

• Lifeless Hair. Smokers are up to four times more likely to have these problems with their hair, thanks to the chemicals in cigarettes. They starve your hair of oxygen and make it dull, lifeless and brittle, and in the long run contributes to hair loss, premature graying, and balding.

• Appearance of an Aged Body. Your fingers will eventually get stained by a beautiful yellowish tinge, and recent studies from the Research in Archives of Dermatology stated that smoking ages skin all across the body, especially sagging in the upper inner arms.

• ‘Aroma’. No one can deny the smell smoking causes. I don’t know how I did it, but I had a boyfriend who smoked and everything – everything! – smelt awful. His hair, clothes, apartment. Not very appealing. He would wear cologne, but what was the point? One cigarette later and his precious cologne was long gone!

• As if that’s not bad enough, if you smoke, you may be a little more dumb than the rest of us!

In conclusion, these are all attractive physical traits! And if that doesn’t make you want to quit ASAP, Amanda Sandford, of Action on Smoking and Health (ASH) says, “No amount of anti-ageing cream will remove the wrinkles caused by cigarettes, so the best way for smokers to avoid the wrinkled prune look is to stop smoking.”

I’m sure the list goes on and on, and I’d be interested to hear if anyone wants to add to this list! From my research, basically you physically age much, much faster?! Any thoughts or more information about this topic?

Image Source: Unknown.