It’s probably no news to you that smoking can speed up the process of aging. Doesn’t matter if you smoke cigarettes, hookah, or vape — tobacco can make the wrinkles on your face appear much more pronounced because the collagen and elastin fibers in your skin cells get damaged.
BUT this can also happen if you don’t smoke — even being around smokers or living in a busy city with a high air pollution rate can cause pre-mature skin aging since the nicotine from their smoking devices can get deep in your skin and even in your bloodstream.
So now you might be wondering — are there any ways you can protect your skin from such harm? Luckily for you, the answer is yes! Further in this blog article, we’ll give you 5 tips on how to do so, but first, let’s talk about how exactly smoke does damage to the skin!
How can smoke impact your skin?
We’ve already briefly mentioned some of the harm smoking does, but, believe it or not, there’s much more to that! Dermatologist Dr. Emily Wise explains that there are five distinct directions in which cigarette smoke damages the skin’s structure:
- it robs a lot of oxygen from the skin;
- smoke can increase the risk of more broken capillaries and dilated blood vessels, which can cause redness and uneven skin tone;
- it breaks down elastin and collagen much faster;
- when you smoke, the motion of pursing your lips creates distinct lines around the mouth and sometimes even brows;
- it dries out your skin because it significantly decreases vitamin A levels in the skin.
5 tips on saving your skin while smoking
Now that we’ve got all the dangers, caused by smoke, out of the way, let’s talk about ways how you can try to protect and rejuvenate your skin!
1. Put on a layer of protecting cream
The two best possible options for protecting your skin from smoke are:
- quit smoking (which is easier said than done);
- get away from smoke (either the room, where someone is smoking next to you or move away from the city).
But if those two options are not realistic solutions for you right now, you have to create at least some sort of barrier between the smoke and your skin. Any facial cream for the day won’t work — you should think of options that are made exactly for the cause.
That’s where Regene Supreme Rejuvenating Skin Protection Set comes into play! It is a concentrated one-month skincare course of 3 specific products for male and female smokers, which restores smoke-affected skin cells and creates a new protective layer, preventing premature skin aging and many different skin imperfections.
It works wonders because:its active ingredient is Ectoin — a 100% natural anti-stress molecule with inflammation-inhibiting properties;it doesn’t have any of the horrible parabens in the formula;it is vegan friendly;AND it works as an invisible shield for your face — and that’s exactly what you need!
If you want this wonderful protection set for yourself, feel free to check it out!
2. Don’t forget about antioxidants
Did you know that the chemicals that cigarettes contain can cause free radicals that destroy protein, DNA, and even cell membranes?! Sounds spooky, doesn’t it? This process is called oxidation.
So to fight it, you have to use antioxidants, which can be found in different foods, as well as skincare products. But let’s talk about the foods that can give you loads of those amazing antioxidants:
Berries, such as:
- Strawberries;
- Blueberries;
- Raspberries;
- Goji Berries.
Greens, such as:
- Artichokes;
- Kale;
- Spinach.
As well as:
- Red Cabbage;
- Beans.
3. Protect your skin from sun damage
You shouldn’t forget about the sun-caused damages to your skin as well. Even more so, if you smoke, you definitely have to put on some sunscreen!
Many dermatologists suggest putting on an SPF of at least 30. There are two types of sunscreens out there — chemical and mineral. You have to do your own research on which one suits your skin the best, as they both have their pros and cons.
Either way, putting on sunscreen can help you with preventing problems like dilated blood vessels and uneven tone from getting worse.
4. Drink lots of water
As mentioned above, smoke sucks out hydration off your skin, so you have to re-hydrate yourself in order to maintain plump and juicy skin. You can probably already guess, where this is going… exactly — drink plenty of water every day!
In fact, water can not only get rid of dry mouth and thirst, which smokers often suffer from, it also helps get the nicotine and other dangerous chemicals out of your system. Furthermore, drinking lots of water can also help to reduce your desire to reach for cigarettes.
5. Wash your face thoroughly
It is advised to wash your face twice a day even if you’re not a smoker. At night you should wash away all the make-up and air pollutants that you get throughout the day, however, you need to wash your face at least in the morning because most of us at night tend to sweat and rub our faces against the pillow, where the dust, sweat and dead skin cells collect.
Though, this is especially important for smokers, as smoke can also clog the pores on your face. You might try some kind of brightening cleanser with glycolic acid — that could help to speed yo the cell turnover process.
Final thoughts
Smoking significantly harms your skin, not to mention the overall health, though we know that it is a habit that can be really hard to get rid of. The least you can do in favor of yourself is try your best to take care of your skin.
We hope this blog article gave you some useful tips that you will keep in mind in order to keep a youthful and glowing look. Take care!