I started smoking cigarettes when I was about eighteen years old. Of course I knew smoking was slowly going to kill me, but at the time, I'd never considered the fact that it was making me uglier. By the time I was thirty, I could tell those decades of sucking down carcinogens had taken a cosmetic toll I hadn't really anticipated. I quit one year ago, and I'm happy that I've hopefully added a handful of years to my life by doing so, but I still can't help but wonder how much tighter my skin would look right now if I'd never inhaled that first cigarette.
There are lots of stressful situations and personal choices that can instantly age someone, and a bunch of redditors got together to discuss those things. Here's some of our picks.
"You're as old as your back" —DomingoLee
"Yep. Good sleepers look so young and chipper" —u/CreamSteeve
"Nah, I get 8 hours every night and still look like a dying Victorian child" —u/JellybeanMilksteaks
"Surprised this wasn't higher up. People with baby cheeks don't realize how well they will serve them thirty years down the line when their buddies who teased them for it look like Skeletor." —u/Burly_Bara_Bottoms
"My sister smokes a lot and she's 5 yrs younger than me. She looks 15 yrs older and constant health issues." —u/MRJones47