NEW YEAR, new skin

With New Year’s resolutions prompting many clients to ditch vices like smoking, vaping and drinking alcohol, Kezia Parkins asks the experts how these habits can affect the skin

The festive season brings celebration, cheer and often a lax attitude to health in favour of indulgence. We all have our vices, but many of these can take their toll on our health and affect the appearance and function of our skin. Chief among these bad habits are smoking, vaping and drinking alcohol, which many clients will have given up in January a bid to be healthier in 2025. We asked the experts how these habits affect the skin and the benefits of quitting or cutting down for the New Year.

How smoking harms the skin

Smoking has pronounced and welldocumented effects on the skin. “Tobacco smoke contains over 7,000 chemicals, many of which cause oxidative stress in skin fibroblasts, impairing collagen formation and increasing the expression of an enzyme which degrades collagen,” says Dr Hayley Elsmore, owner of The Courtyard Clinic on the Isle of Wight, which won Professional Beauty Awards Skin Clinic of the Year 2024. “This leads to sagging skin, wrinkles and ‘smoker’s lines’ around the mouth.”

“Smoking also constricts blood vessels, depriving the skin of oxygen and nutrients which results in a pale or uneven complexion, and accelerates the breakdown of collagen, causing skin to lose firmness and elasticity,” she adds. “Increased transepidermal water loss causes further sagging due to dehydration.”

Tar and other toxins in cigarette smoke can also make the skin look dull. “Smoking promotes melanocyte formation leading to an increase in age spots and uneven skin pigmentation,” adds Elsemore

Elsmore says that one of the more concerning side effects of smoking is delayed wound healing, increasing the risk of infections and scars. This is why patients are advised to stop smoking before surgery.

“Smoking inhibits the body’s adaptive and innate immunity, causing dysregulation, tissue damage and excessive inflammation. Thus there is also an increased risk of skin cancers, psoriasis, eczema, vasculitis and so on,” she explains.

How vaping affects the skin

Vaping involves inhaling vaporised nicotine, often infused with flavourings, and it has become increasingly popular over the last decade, especially among teenagers and young adults. Vaping is commonly thought to be better for your health than smoking cigarettes, but there’s demand for more research since concerns have been raised that vaping could have negative effects on the lungs as well as general health.

Vapes still contain the addictive substance nicotine and there is now increasing concern that this and other chemicals, which come in direct contact with the face and hands, can have a detrimental effect on skin health and appearance.

“Vaping can have negative effects on the skin in several ways,” explains Emma Wedgwood, a nurse and founder of Emma Wedgwood Aesthetics in London. “The chemicals in e-cigarettes can lead to a decrease in collagen production, which can result in premature ageing such as wrinkles, fine lines and sagging skin. Vaping may cause inflammation too, which can lead to skin irritation, redness and sensitivity.”

People who have sensitive skin or conditions such as rosacea could see negative side effects more quickly or noticeably as a result, especially around the lips, eyes and hands, which have the most contact with the vapours.

Is vaping better for skin than smoking?

There are signs that vaping’s effect on skin could be very similar to smoking, especially in terms of discolouration.

“Nicotine in e-cigarettes can cause vasoconstriction, which can disrupt blood flow, causing a range of skin-related problems, such as dryness and discolouration,” says Wedgwood. “In addition, vaping can dehydrate the skin, leading to dryness and dullness.”

As with smoking, the level of harm is likely to depend on how often and how long a client has been vaping. However, Wedgwood adds that “it’s important to note that research into the effects of vaping on the skin is still relatively new, and further studies are needed to fully understand the potential side effects.”

For that reason, she advises that beauty and aesthetics professionals should keep up to date with studies into vaping so that they can help educate their clients.

Likewise, it makes sense to include a question about use of e-cigarettes and vaping on pre-treatment consultation forms to help maximise treatment results.

How alcohol impacts the skin

We all know that alcohol dehydrates the body, but its effect on the skin goes much deeper.

“Think of your skin cells as tiny little balloons. Alcohol acts like a slow leak in the balloon, letting water out until it’s deflated and dry,” says Aggie Singh, owner of Silesiana Clinic and a Professional Beauty Awards 2025 finalist.

“This dehydration compromises the skin barrier and once that shield is down, it’s like leaving the gate open during a storm: irritants flood in, causing redness, dryness and sensitivity.

Alcohol is also known to exacerbate inflammation and damage blood vessels.

“It’s like throwing a matchstick into the body’s inflammation fire pit – it raises flames. It triggers the release of proinflammatory cytokines, chemical messengers that create redness, puffiness, and irritation,” says Singh.

“For those with rosacea, it’s like stepping on a landmine. Alcohol dilates blood vessels, causing flushing and redness that can linger long after the party ends. Chronic drinking damages those vessels over time, leaving behind a roadmap of visible capillaries mostly on the nose and cheeks.”

If this wasn’t enough to make you rethink your next drink, alcohol also causes oxidative stress, depletes antioxidants and slows down the lymphatic system.

“Alcohol also floods the body with reactive oxygen species (ROS) which attack the lipids in your cell membranes, breaking them down. This can then damage the mitochondria – the powerhouse of the cell – leaving your cell running on fumes and unable to repair itself properly,” continues Singh.

“Meanwhile, the lymphatic system, which clears out waste, becomes sluggish thanks to alcohol allowing toxins to built up. The result? Puffiness, dullness and congestion. It’s just as if your skin has a hangover of its own.”