5 Ways Smoking Harms Your Looks
When you do facial exercises daily and stick to a consistent skin care program, it makes no sense to smoke. Cigarettes contains a bevy of damaging substances that harm your looks and your overall health. Tobacco smoke can lead to both cardiovascular and lung disease, as well as various forms of cancers, including lung, throat, mouth, esophagus, kidney, liver and pancreas.
Smoking cigarettes wreaks serious havoc on your skin. It causes infections and skin disorders, slows down wound healing and causes premature aging. Read on to learn about five ways that smoking harms your appearance.
1. Fine Lines and Wrinkles
Smokers typically get vertical lip lines, called “Smoker’s Lines,” caused by the repetitious movements associated with smoking—but those aren’t the only wrinkles smoking causes. Cigarette smoke constricts the blood vessels, which ultimately reduces the blood supply to the skin cells. This dries out the skin and depletes collagen, which leads to the increased appearance of fine lines, wrinkles and furrows. Cigarettes also reduce levels of vitamin A, which dries the skin out even more.
2. Dull, Grey Skin Tone
Tobacco smoke is loaded with carbon monoxide and nicotine, which hinders oxygen supply to the skin cells and slows circulation. This replaces that youthful glow with a dull, grey skin tone and causes blood vessels in the face to appear more prominent. Smoking also depletes important nutrients such as vitamin C, which helps repair damage and brightens skin.
3. Undereye Bags
Smokers have more difficulty sleeping than non-smokers. Lack of sleep coupled with the oxidative stress tobacco smoke causes leads to puffy eyes and those unsightly bags that are so difficult to get rid of. Many smokers also suffer from baggy eyelids.
4. Stretch Marks and Sagging Skin
Nicotine attacks the skin’s connective tissue, which depletes its strength and elasticity. This causes the skin to sag and leads to the formation of stretch marks.
5. Yellow Teeth
Smokers can say goodbye to dazzling white teeth—nicotine stains them and gives them an ugly yellow color. Smoking also increases the risk of gum disease and oral cancer and can ultimately contribute to permanent tooth loss. In addition to discoloring teeth, smoking can cause the tongue to turn a darker color.
If you’re a smoker, do whatever you can to quit now and do facial exercises to help undo some of the damage. Click here to learn about Facercise, our system of facial exercises that takes 10 years off your looks.
It’s always shocking when we find out that one of our clients who does facial exercises religiously is a smoker. There is no better way to expedite the signs of aging than with tobacco smoke. From smoker’s lines around the mouth to a dull complexion, the effects of smoking are severely aging. Read on for motivation to quit this nasty, aging habit.