Smoking Ages the Skin
It's a well known fact that smoking has a detrimental effect on the way people look, particularly when it comes to the skin. In fact it's easy to identify a smoker by the wrinkles which line their face, especially around the mouth and eyes – producing a hugely ageing effect. The reason that wrinkles appear in such a marked way in these areas is down the smoker's action of drawing and puffing on cigarettes over the years.
It is also common for a smoker's skin to appear dull and lifeless. This is because less oxygen and fewer nutrients are available - elements which are essential for skin to keep skin looking healthy and youthful. Additionally, in older smokers the arteries may actually become clogged decreasing these levels of beneficial nutrients even further.
Smoking Ages the Voice and Stains the Teeth
Smoking not only causes people to look visually older because of the skin – it can make people sound older. Women who have smoked for a number of years will find that their voices deepen. In fact, it is often quite easy to identify a smoker from their husky voice. In order to avoid this from happening, quitting smoking as early as possible is essential.
The teeth of a smoker are another giveaway to the fact that they have this habit. Nicotine stains the teeth unpleasantly, and increases the incidence of tartar. Gum disease is also more likely in people who smoke, with the risk of losing teeth on the cards. Anyone will agree these are attributes which are incredibly ageing (as well as highly unattractive).
Giving up smoking also means avoiding those cracked yellowing nails, stained from the nicotine in cigarettes, an effect which makes the hands look far older than they are.
Stop Smoking, Stop the Clock
The longer someone smokes then the harder it will be to stop the clock and keep looking young. Anyone who values their looks - and really wants to stop themselves from appearing - not to say feeling - prematurely old, must put quitting smoking as a top priority.
In order to keep young-looking it is imperative to quit smoking as soon as possible. Kicking this habit, along with avoiding too much sun, and using high quality skin care products with a high sunscreen factor, will give you the best chance of delaying the effects of time. The occasional skin peel and dermabrasion won't do any harm too.
But the single (and least expensive) way of keeping on looking young is to give up smoking.
For information on giving up smoking, visit:
Thora Fitzpatrick - Professional and trusted writing published right across the globe
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