Part 8: Conclusion
The documented material available on this subject can leave little doubt that long-term smoking damages the skin. Whether the consequence is that it makes the smoker look older than they are, makes them more susceptible to certain types of skin cancer, or that it interferes with the skin's ability to repair itself, the fact remains that smoking offers nothing beneficial to a person's skin. As with most other smoking related maladies, the best way to prevent developing "smoker's face" is to stop smoking before it becomes established. The longer someone smokes, the worse the damage to your skin will be, and the more pronounced the telltale symptoms of "smoker's face" become.
Some younger smokers who ignore the more deadly consequences of smoking may be more likely to listen to the warning that smoking will make them less attractive. This is certainly not the face being portrayed in the tobacco industry adverts that feature the young and the beautiful. It is sad that young people sometimes start smoking in order to look more mature, without realising that in later life it can have the unwanted consequence of making look 10 or 20 years older than they actually are.