IT’S THAT TIME OF YEAR AGAIN WHEN WE INTERRUPT OUR USUAL FASHION, SKINCARE AND BEAUTY COVERAGE TO WRITE ABOUT THE BENEFITS OF QUITTING SMOKING.

It’s old news that excessive exposure to the sun and smoking are two of the biggest factors in prematurely ageing skin. So forget that miracle ‘anti-ageing’ moisturiser. Frankly, giving up cigarettes and applying sun block will do more to keep you looking youthful than any amount of cosmetic treatments.

Admittedly, it’s very easy to give lifestyle-related advice, and much harder to shake up your habits. However, since quitting smoking and avoiding sunburn are two of the best ways the His & Hers team knows to keep looking younger for longer (not to mention looking after your health) we can never resist mentioning them.

Of course quitting can be (very) hard, but a recent story in the Guardian urged readers not to feel bad about using an alternative to cigarettes, like vaping, to beat their addiction, saying: “Although not harmless, the evidence is unequivocal that vaping is much safer than smoking. But misinformation and scaremongering could still be putting people off switching…

“2017 saw the publication of the first longer term study of vaping, comparing toxicant exposure between people who’d stopped smoking and used the products for an average of 16 months, compared with those who continued to smoke. Funded by Cancer Research UK, the study found large reductions in carcinogens and other toxic compounds in vapers compared with smokers, but only if the user had stopped smoking completely. A further recent study compared toxicants in vapour and smoke that can cause cancer, and estimated excess cancer risk over a lifetime from smoking cigarettes or vaping. Most of the available data on e-cigarettes in this study suggested a cancer risk from vaping around 1% of that from smoking.”

The British Medical Association supports activities, such as vaping, that help people to overcome their addiction to smoking, stating: “The BMA’s ambition is to achieve a tobacco-free society, where there is significantly reduced mortality from tobacco-related diseases.

“Given that e-cigarettes are now the most popular device used in attempts to quit smoking, and that many people have used them to successfully quit tobacco use, they have significant potential to support this ambition, and help reduce tobacco-related harm.”

If you’re in the process of giving up smoking, we’d love to hear from you. Please let us know how you’re getting on in the comments section or via our social media channels listed below and we’ll respond with some well-deserved support and encouragement.

We’re proud to bring you this feature in association with Grey Haze. The facts quoted are from the Guardian Newspaper and the British Medical Association and the obsession with the benefits of quitting smoking is all our own!

Image courtesy of: Clinica London.

For related features, please pay a visit to our lifestyle page.