There are few habits more disgusting than smoking. Some could argue that picking your nose is up there, or scratching your nether regions intermittently, but even these vices don’t leave your lungs resembling molasses and a face that mirrors the inside of a trouser pocket. So, if rising fag prices aren’t enough to dissuade any ruddy-faced puffers, then it’s time to bring in the heavy mob…
‘Hit 40 and you can sort the smokers from the non-smokers,’ says Katrina Valente, a freelance facial expert working across the UAE, who has seen her fair share of nicotine-addled skin. ‘Smokers reckon they’re invincible,’ she continues, pointing to our 27-year-old chuffing comrade (we’ll call him Fag Ash Phil or FAP for short), who has smoked since he was 18 and considers a KFC bucket ample fodder. ‘Just look at those dark circles under his eyes,’ she continues, tutting at FAP’s grey pallor as he edges into the corner. ‘His lymphatic glands are blocked with tar, which means his body can’t eradicate toxins,’ she continues, explaining that his lungs are likely to resemble a coal mine – post dynamite.
‘His eyelids are already hooded and the lines around his mouth have already formed,’ she tuts, jabbing FAP’s forehead with a hint of disgust – and telling him that an eyelid lift may be on the cards in later years. FAP slinks further into the corner, wondering if the mean woman is ever going to stop. But from where we’re sitting, FAP looks like a young George Clooney in his ER years – but with more hair and less shmarm. So, what’s the deal there?
‘Yes, he’s a looker, but it’s all about to go very wrong,’ warns Katrina, revealing that FAP is not only dehydrated, but losing skin elasticity – rapidly. ‘And that’s just scratching the surface,’ she argues, gesturing to a beaming Time Out, who has been nicotine-free for three years and is ‘positively glowing’ in comparison to our limp, defeated, pasty pallored friend. ‘I can look at your face and the skin is lighter, the pores smaller and you won’t resemble Gordon Ramsay in later years.’
Stub out
• Set up a quit date a few weeks in advance. This will give you enough time to plan for the upcoming changes.
• On your stop smoking day, throw away all your cigarettes. This will not only prevent easy access to cigarettes, but also will have a huge psychological impact.
• Avoid places and situations that would prompt you to light up a cigarette. For example, if you light up your first cigarette with your morning coffee, replace it with lemon and hot water.
• Nicotine patches or gum may help you in the smoking cessation process and relieve the withdrawal symptoms.
• Start saving the money that you used to spend on cigarettes. You will soon discover that you have put aside enough to buy something you want.
• Sport will not only help improve your appearance, but it will help your body detox and reduce both cravings and the symptoms of stopping smoking.
• A healthy diet will a) prevent you from gaining weight and b) reduce the withdrawal symptoms.
• Ask your family and friends to be supportive. The first week after you put away the cigarettes you will be nervous and irritable, so it is vital that they understand.
• Smoking is 70 per cent connected with your mind and only 30 per cent with your body. So be patient.
Time Out: 1 FAP: 0. For more expert skin advice, call Katrina Valente on 050 565 7679.
