Effects of smoking on your skin and body

So we all don't need to be told twice that smoking is bad for you on so many levels. It's bad on the inside and out, effecting parts of your body like your heart, brain, lungs and even your sex life.

Lets be honest, if every time you smoked a cigarette it gave you a black mark on your skin, would you ever touch them again?? But if you really think about it, the long term effects on your body and skin are horrific. I just have to look at the picture of the after effects on the back of smoking packets and I'm put off. It always amazes me how people know of these effects and yet they still trash their body with this poison.

Here are just a few of the effects of smoking has on your skin...

Bags under your eyes:

I know we all hate it waking up in the morning after continuous nights of lack of sleep. What's worse is it shows with horrible bags under our eyes. Did you know that according to a John Hopkins study, if you smoke you're four times more likely then non smokers to feel unrested after a nights sleep. Whatever it is, if its the possible lack of nightly nicotine withdrawal that causes you to toss and turn, let's face it poor sleep doesn't equal pretty.

Say goodbye to that Hollywood smile:

It's one of the most known facts about smoking that it kills your teeth. So if your sitting there hoping for that winner of a smile with gleaming while teeth, but your still smoking like a train, I hate to break it to you but you no matter how many whitening toothpastes you buy, you can kiss that dream goodbye.Nicotine stains your teeth, so if you want lovely yellow teeth, light up another one because you would be heading in the right direction.

Say hello to premature aging and wrinkles:

We can all appreciate a good old wizened look but to be fair wrinkles on a relatively young person that smokes looks anything but wise, let alone not so attractive. Experts say that smoking accelerates the aging process, saying that smokers look 1.4 years older than non smokers, on average. Why the wrinkly face? Smoking hampers the blood supply that keeps skin tissue looking supple and healthy.

Yellow fingers anyone?

As well as staining your teeth, and the walls of your home, nicotine stains your skin and nails as well. I mean if your up for the Simpson look then go for gold, but the amount of effort in home remedies, including lemon juice, bleach solutions, and scrubbing with steel wool (sound appealing?) wouldn't it just be easier to quit??

Hair thinning:

Just as if the wrinkly skin wasn't making you feel old enough, how about we add hair thinning to the pot. Smoke contains toxic chemicals that can damage the DNA in hair follicles and generate cell damaging free radicals as well. So in the end it leaves you with thinner hair that greys faster too compared to non smokers.

Changing of body shape:

As if maintaining a good body shape wasn't hard enough as it is, what people didn't know is that smoking effects your body shape as well. Smoking can create an imbalance in women's hormone levels, which can lead to changes in body shape. You may have heard the saying that smokers tend to be thinner than non-smokers. However, smoking actually affects the endocrinal system - the glands that secrete hormones - and changes body shape, increasing the waist-to-hip ratio.

Therefore, despite possibly weighing less, smokers tend to be pot-bellied with spindly legs, probably due to smoking upsetting the hormone levels, thus causing smokers to store the normal amount of fat in an abnormal way, which gives rise to the 'apple' shape.

Experts don't tell us that smoking is bad for you for no reason. It effects our bodies and general health system so much, as well as your bank account. Ask yourself is it really worth it, or would you rather spend that money on something else and also save your body the harm?

You can help your skin hair and teeth recover from the effects of smoking by applying serums rich in vitamin C, E and other antioxidants. Many natural homemade fruit masks are rich in repairing antioxidant vitamins - as are many oils and serums. These help to reverse the damage free radicals from smoking and sun or environmental damage can do you to your skin.

Try a vitamin C serum, or a rich repairing homemade one made from Rosehip, Carrot Seed and Almond oil with the addition of Calophyllum oil (source; the Natural Homemade Skin Care Recipes book).

There are many powerful healing oils rich in protective and regenerative properties. If you are on a budget - make your own, they are just as beneficial as store bought products and leave your skin feeling beautiful!

Eat strawberries for your teeth and add a pinch of baking soda to your toothpaste, these are both naturally whitening.

There are many things you can do to help reverse the signs of smoking on your skin and teeth...but the best thing to do of course if you are a smoker who wants to become free is of course to work on the habit first - and give yourself the "treat" or distraction of undoing the symptoms and aiding the healing process as you do it with natural remedies.