Are you a smoker? Are you concerned of how quickly age seems to be creeping up on you? If you were aware of the fact that smoking is the second quickest way of making yourself look older, would you still continue smoking? Do me a favor. Go look at yourself in the mirror and tell me what you see. If you see a "smoker's face" - that is, a pale, grey, wrinkled face - then you need to stop smoking and continue reading. If you're interested in avoiding smoking wrinkles, read on.

In 1965, a study was conducted on the effects smoking has on skin aging. It was then that a phenomenon aptly named "smoker's face" was first identified. Since then it has been widely accepted that smokers look older than non-smokers because of the damage caused on the skin from smoking. In fact, according to the Chief Medical Officer of the United Kingdom, smoking adds anywhere between 10 to 20 years to your natural age.

So what exactly is a smoking wrinkle? Have you noticed how a smoker reacts to a puff of cigarette, to that deep draw of nicotine-laced smoke each time he or she lights up? They would pucker up to draw from the cigarette, and when that nicotine smoke hits their lungs - usually during that first cigarette in the mornings - they squint at the sensation. Do that for years and soon wrinkles will develop around the eyes and lips from the continual repetitions, day in, day out. These very wrinkles are called smoking wrinkles, and make up part of the "smoker's face".

Over time, after years and years of smoking, you can expect several things. First, a loss of skin vitality; your face will lose its natural glow and seem dull, and your skin will become discolored, and even ashen if your complexion was fair and white. Wrinkles will deepen around the eyes and mouth, thanks to the continual puckering-and-squinting-effect from smoking. And lastly, while everyone your own age actually looks their age, you'll seem like their older sibling... or worse, their parent.

Of course, there is no way for you to turn back the clock and reverse the damage that has already been done by years of smoking. However, you can prevent further damage by reducing the number of cigarettes you smoke. Better yet, quit completely and stop any additional and unnecessary damage to your skin. Sure, you might not see any (or enough) signs of damage now, but keep in mind that some damage will not immediately be apparent.

Do not assume that it will never happen to you.

Because chances are, if you smoke long enough, the effects of smoking will creep up on you eventually, and by the time they do, it would already have been too late to start regretting it.

If you're a smoker, the one crucial thing you have to remember is to halt the damage you're doing to your own skin. With a proper diet and anti aging skin care, you will have a better chance of looking much better than if you had carried on being a smoker. So do the sensible thing: Avoid cigarettes, and avoid smoking wrinkles.