Dr Lalitha Badul
Smoking causes the vessels in your skin to constrict and leeches nutrients, oxygen and moisture especially in your face and this restriction of blood flow reduces the amount of collagen that your skin produces, which is responsible for keeping your skin plump and youthful.

Skin damage from long term smoking can result in a “smokers face” which can cause facial skin to appear greyish, sallow, dry and cause signs of pre-mature aging later in life.

Smokers get premature facial lines and wrinkles because of the very act of smoking. When drawing smoke into the lungs, the lips are pursed and the eyes are squinted or tightly closed to prevent smoke from irritating the eyes. The lips are puckered when they puff on the cigarettes.

These constant actions and contractions of the muscles around the lips, mouth and eyes cause signs of aging, by causing loss of muscle tone and/or collagen. When the muscle tone in the lips and surrounding area decreases the skin is then able to wrinkle.