# Looking on dating sites it's astounding how much damage smoking does to a woman's face past age 40 **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [December 7, 2013, 8:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/looking-on-dating-sites-its-astounding-how-much-damage-smoking-does-to-a-womans-face-past-age-40/675769 "2013-12-07T20:13:51Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 14\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![PunditLisa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/4af34b/32.png) [@PunditLisa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PunditLisa)\ **Post date:** [December 8, 2013, 1:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/looking-on-dating-sites-its-astounding-how-much-damage-smoking-does-to-a-womans-face-past-age-40/675769/21 "2013-12-08T13:48:52Z")
I agree that this observation applies to men as well as women. I think that it would behoove men to take better care of their skin overall. Moisturizing your face/applying sunscreen does wonders to minimize wrinkles. ---
**Author:** ![Cat\_Whisperer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cat_whisperer/32/4839_2.png) [@Cat\_Whisperer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cat_Whisperer)\ **Post date:** [December 8, 2013, 8:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/looking-on-dating-sites-its-astounding-how-much-damage-smoking-does-to-a-womans-face-past-age-40/675769/22 "2013-12-08T20:35:23Z")
> [@Gatopescado](#): > > Reminds me of a joke: > > Why do women use makeup and wear perfume? > > Because they are ugly and smell bad. Oh, _that’s_ nice! ---
**Author:** ![Dangerosa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/22d042/32.png) [@Dangerosa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dangerosa)\ **Post date:** [December 8, 2013, 11:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/looking-on-dating-sites-its-astounding-how-much-damage-smoking-does-to-a-womans-face-past-age-40/675769/23 "2013-12-08T23:24:29Z")
Some of its genetics - my paternal grandmother sat in the sun, smoked like a chimney and drank like a fish - but the woman looked good at 83 when she died. She just had those good genes - and was a moisturizer nut. My mother smoked for twenty years before giving it up, and looks very good for going on 71. Some people get lucky with the genetics, some people don’t. But smoking has never helped anyone look younger. I suppose that is sort of ironic since so many people take it up when they want to look older and more sophisticated. ---
**Author:** ![j666](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/9de0a6/32.png) [@j666](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/j666)\ **Post date:** [December 8, 2013, 11:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/looking-on-dating-sites-its-astounding-how-much-damage-smoking-does-to-a-womans-face-past-age-40/675769/24 "2013-12-08T23:54:36Z")
So, what kind of moisturizer did Grandmother use? ---
**Author:** ![Slithy\_Tove](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/slithy_tove/32/18248_2.png) [@Slithy\_Tove](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Slithy_Tove)\ **Post date:** [December 9, 2013, 2:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/looking-on-dating-sites-its-astounding-how-much-damage-smoking-does-to-a-womans-face-past-age-40/675769/25 "2013-12-09T02:12:28Z")
[Rx](http://www.bagbalm.com/cows.htm) ---
**Author:** ![Mama\_Zappa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/71e660/32.png) [@Mama\_Zappa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mama_Zappa)\ **Post date:** [December 9, 2013, 8:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/looking-on-dating-sites-its-astounding-how-much-damage-smoking-does-to-a-womans-face-past-age-40/675769/26 "2013-12-09T08:47:40Z")
Wowsers, that pair of twins is highly educational. It’s not a great picture of either - the stunned expression, bad makeup, and bad hairstyle doesn’t flatter either of them - but the smoker definitely looks “rode hard and put away wet”. My mother was a heavy smoker from age 18 until the day she went in to have a lung removed at age 72. She also enjoyed the sun. She looked a LOT wrinklier at any given age than I do (not that I’m in my 70s yet). I’ve actually had doctors be very surprised when I tell them my age (mid-50s). In my favor: never smoked. Not a sun-worshipper (plenty of burns etc. as a kid but very rare since then). And fat, which plumps up the wrinkles. I’m also fortunate that my hair, while graying, is currently limited to one small patch on one side of my head, which I can cover by parting my hair on the other side. ---
**Author:** ![Nava](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/da6949/32.png) [@Nava](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nava)\ **Post date:** [December 9, 2013, 9:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/looking-on-dating-sites-its-astounding-how-much-damage-smoking-does-to-a-womans-face-past-age-40/675769/27 "2013-12-09T09:56:17Z")
> [@Cat\_Whisperer](#): > > But look around the upper lip - those pruney wrinkles are very indicative of smoking to me, rather than weight loss wrinklage. My mother and grandmother don’t smoke, my aunt does: my mother is the one whose got the worst case of “pruney wrinkles”. My paternal aunt smokes: she developed those in her 70s. Paternal grandmother (non-smoker), had wrinkles on her wrinkles by her 40s but not on the upper lip. It’s genetics at least in part: in the case of twins I’ll assume the environmental/behavior factor is what causes any difference, but having wrinkles 'stache isn’t always an indicator of smoking. ---
**Author:** ![Dangerosa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/22d042/32.png) [@Dangerosa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dangerosa)\ **Post date:** [December 9, 2013, 1:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/looking-on-dating-sites-its-astounding-how-much-damage-smoking-does-to-a-womans-face-past-age-40/675769/28 "2013-12-09T13:36:28Z")
> [@j666](#): > > So, what kind of moisturizer did Grandmother use? Oil of Olay - believe it or not. She was also the one that taught me the trick of smearing vaseline over your face and them steaming in with a hot washcloth for a few minutes before wiping it off with a tissue. I do use a fancy moisturizer once a day (I like Philosophy), I don’t smoke, and don’t even LIKE being outside - but my middle of the day moisterizer is Olay and I do give myself a weekly vaseline facial in the Minnesota winter, and most people think I’m ten or fifteen years younger than I am. ---
**Author:** ![gallows\_fodder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/8c91f0/32.png) [@gallows\_fodder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gallows_fodder)\ **Post date:** [December 9, 2013, 4:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/looking-on-dating-sites-its-astounding-how-much-damage-smoking-does-to-a-womans-face-past-age-40/675769/29 "2013-12-09T16:12:32Z")
Ha, that reminds me… My mom had sisters 6 years younger and 10 years younger, respectively. She had considerably fewer wrinkles than either of them, which she attributed to her years of using Oil of Olay, but was more likely due to the fact that she never sunbathed while they did for most of their lives. When she passed away at age 64, she had pretty smooth skin everywhere except at the corners of her eyes and some light lines on her forehead. Her younger sister just turned 60 and has deep lines all over her face, with grids of wrinkles on her cheeks. She never smoked, just spent years living in Nevada and sunbathing constantly to keep her tan up. ---
**Author:** ![Staggerlee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/staggerlee/32/3134_2.png) [@Staggerlee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Staggerlee)\ **Post date:** [December 11, 2013, 12:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/looking-on-dating-sites-its-astounding-how-much-damage-smoking-does-to-a-womans-face-past-age-40/675769/30 "2013-12-11T12:38:01Z")
On the upside; after a lifetime of smoking and sunbathing you can ‘accessorise’ your face with a vintage leather handbag. I personally stay young-looking by avoiding the sun and making as few facial expressions as possible. ---
**Author:** ![PunditLisa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/4af34b/32.png) [@PunditLisa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PunditLisa)\ **Post date:** [December 11, 2013, 2:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/looking-on-dating-sites-its-astounding-how-much-damage-smoking-does-to-a-womans-face-past-age-40/675769/31 "2013-12-11T14:03:06Z")
I think having good skin is a combination of good genetics, good overall health, skin type, and exposure. My grandmother had beautiful smooth skin until the day she died (at 83), as did her mother, and my aunt. They were blessed with small pores and good elasticity. Plus they took/take care of it. None of them smoked, drank or ate excessively, and all used daily moisturizers. My mother who smokes is a completely different story. She has terribly wrinkled skin, especially around her mouth from sucking on that cigarette. Skin type is also helpful. I have naturally oily skin, which is prone to breakouts. But the benefit is that the oil helps keep it moisturized. People with dry skin really need to slather on the moisturizer. Exposure is a huge deal. It can be sun, but it can also be wind. People who live in very windy places have the worst skin, IME, because in addition to damaging the elasticity of the skin, the wind tends to dry it out. For those who don’t believe in the efficacy of moisturizers, recall 70s cars’ dashboards. You could tell who regularly treated their dashboards because their dashboards wouldn’t be cracked. ---
**Author:** ![peedin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/peedin/32/14095_2.png) [@peedin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/peedin)\ **Post date:** [December 11, 2013, 3:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/looking-on-dating-sites-its-astounding-how-much-damage-smoking-does-to-a-womans-face-past-age-40/675769/32 "2013-12-11T15:03:55Z")
I have lip lines from 30 years of smoking (I have quit). My friend has lip lines for 30 years of using an asthma inhaler. Same actions, same lip lines. ---
**Author:** ![Nawth\_Chucka](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/c57346/32.png) [@Nawth\_Chucka](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nawth_Chucka)\ **Post date:** [December 12, 2013, 12:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/looking-on-dating-sites-its-astounding-how-much-damage-smoking-does-to-a-womans-face-past-age-40/675769/33 "2013-12-12T00:02:44Z")
> [@peedin](#): > > I have lip lines from 30 years of smoking (I have quit). My friend has lip lines for 30 years of using an asthma inhaler. Same actions, same lip lines. This is why I don’t use a straw. ---
**Author:** ![Jesse\_Pinkman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/a183cd/32.png) [@Jesse\_Pinkman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jesse_Pinkman)\ **Post date:** [December 12, 2013, 12:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/looking-on-dating-sites-its-astounding-how-much-damage-smoking-does-to-a-womans-face-past-age-40/675769/34 "2013-12-12T00:37:58Z")
That was my motivation to quit. It’s been three months, hopefully many more. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/looking-on-dating-sites-its-astounding-how-much-damage-smoking-does-to-a-womans-face-past-age-40/675769.md?page=1)