As a hardened smoker of 42 years, starting when I was at school aged 13, I’d never thought of giving up – until the day I could no longer ignore the havoc it had wreaked on both my health and my looks.
It was at an emergency doctor’s appointment on Christmas Eve 2022 that my GP gave it to me with both barrels.
‘You are dying,’ she informed me coldly, adding: ‘I wouldn’t be surprised if you have cancer either.’
I was a sobbing mess as she handed me a prescription for an inhaler. I had a cough so bad from smoking 20 a day that I was wetting myself, having lost any ability to control my bladder once the hacking started.
Once home, and after I had finally stopped crying, I took a long, hard look at myself in the mirror and saw the most obvious sign of the damage smoking had caused – my face.
It looked like it was melting. The bags under my eyes were dark and puffy, the heavy saggy lines around my nose and mouth were awful, not to mention the lines on my lips from dragging on cigarettes for 42 years.
It was an awful realisation that I had a mouth as wrinkly as a cat’s backside.
Before that day, I hadn’t given more than a cursory thought to my premature ageing. In fact, I had a sort of ageing dysmorphia. I thought I looked good for my age.
So, it was a terrible wake-up call to learn that I looked ten years older than my actual 55 years.
Emma Parsons-Reid aged 55 when she gave up smoking (left). After quitting her 20-a-day habit she adopted a new beauty and exercise regime which has taken years off her face (right)
My husband looked panicked when I asked him for an honest assessment of my face.
He said I looked ‘good for my age’. Sadly for me, he’d always been a terrible liar.
I’d like to say I gave up smoking after that awful Christmas Eve, but it was not until June, six months later, that I finally stopped.
It took time to come to terms with how my life would be without cigarettes after so long.
In preparation, I had the idea of using a vape with no nicotine in it, so eventually the nicotine craving would abate and I would use it less and less.
The plan worked and within six weeks I was free of everything, both cigarettes and the vape.
I did put on two stone as my taste for food had come alive but I accepted that would happen as a consequence of giving up.
There was even some improvement to my skin tone within a week or two. My grey pallor had gone, now replaced with a pinker glow.
However, there would be no quick fix for my sagging cheeks and deep lines and I felt depressed every time I caught my reflection in a mirror.
A friend of mine had recently had some filler in her lips and while I didn’t particularly like her plumped-up pout, it did give me an idea. She’d told me about a salon where a qualified nurse administered Botox and fillers.
I was really nervous but made an appointment for the following week. Immediately, the nurse said she could help me.
Emma In November 2024 before having filler on her marionette lines (left). Emma after having fillers above her cheek bones and around her mouth (right)
Emma in 2023, when she finally gave up smoking
She recommended fillers above my cheek bones to rebuild the scaffolding of my face, so to speak.
This would lift my face and replace the fat that younger people have but which I’d lost. I also got some filler on my marionette lines (the creases running from the sides of my mouth towards my chin) to balance the bottom half of my face.
The following week I went ahead with the procedure. It cost £350 and will last 18 months. It hurt like hell as filler was deposited above my cheeks in a cannula.
I just told myself it would all be worth it. The practitioner took before-and-after pictures so we could compare them. I was blown away and cried at the difference. I still looked liked me but a 55-year-old me, not a 65-year-old one.
This gave me the impetus to treat my face with respect and I started using almond oil, which I bought from eBay at about £10 a litre.
After washing my face in the morning with water, I’d massage the oil into my skin in an upward motion and then downwards on my throat area.
My face would be pink after five minutes and it glowed all day.
In between I’d use Cerave moisturiser every day as a make-up artist told me it was the best for mature skin. Alongside the skincare regime, I took a fish oil capsule and Vitamin C daily. These cost me about £15 a month.
Most importantly, I made sure I was hydrated.
Then I bought myself a silk pillowcase for about £20 as I was waking up with creases on my face from my old cotton one.
In time, with my chest now clear, the inhaler binned and the coughing long gone, I took up more exercise.
I’d gone to the gym before I gave up smoking but I’d been a bit lazy to be honest. It was more of a social meet-up than a fitness thing.
However, all that changed and I was really working out with gusto.
Nobody tells you that the glow you get from exercise is actual blood flow to your face.
This is a game changer as it’s literally feeding your face and making it look younger and healthier each time. I noticed this more after I took up over-50s football.
I’d be bright red after a game, which was actually quite embarrassing until I realised the effect it was having on my skin. For days my skin was amazingly youthful looking.
Three years on, now aged 58, the icing on the cake was recently taking my granddaughter to the doctors.
By coincidence it was with the same GP who had told me I would die if I didn’t give up smoking.
She clearly didn’t recognise me. When she asked my 15-year-old granddaughter if I was her mother, my granddaughter replied ‘no’ and that I was her granny.
The doctor looked surprised and said I didn’t look old enough to be anyone’s granny. I thanked the GP shyly.
I mean, let’s face it, she probably saved my life!
Dr Naheed Ali, a physician and senior contributor at Vera Clinic, agrees that consistent routine can help support skin repair once you quit smoking – and it doesn’t have to be expensive.
‘I’d begin with food because the dermis renews itself from nutrients in the bloodstream,’ he told MailOnline.
‘A plate loaded with berries, leafy greens and carrots floods your cells with carotenoids and flavonoids that neutralise the free radicals made by tobacco smoke and alcohol.
‘When you add protein from fish or legumes plus omega-3 fats, the skin gets the amino acids and lipids it needs to rebuild its support network, and beginners can notice a healthier glow within a month.
‘Drinking about two and a half litres of water throughout the day keeps blood moving smoothly and helps the lymphatic system clear lingering toxins left behind by nicotine and ethanol.’
When it comes to your beauty regime, a gentle at-home routine, without the need for knives and needles in a clinic, can make all the difference as long as it’s consistent.
‘Prescription-strength tretinoin or over-the-counter retinaldehyde used at night convinces fibroblasts to lay down fresh collagen; most people see softer lines by the third month and the effect keeps improving,’ he said.
‘Pair this with a morning serum that contains 10 per cent vitamin C and 5 per cent niacinamide so the barrier stays strong while pigment caused by smoking gradually fades.
‘If you add a home microneedling device that reaches only 0.5mm, you can stimulate growth factors without hurting the skin, and the texture often feels smoother after four weekly sessions.’
In addition, daily supportive habits can help to ‘lock in the gains’ from an improved diet and skincare regime.
‘Seven hours of uninterrupted sleep keeps evening cortisol under control, so the collagen you just rebuilt does not break down again,’ Dr Ali explained.
‘A brisk walk for thirty minutes pumps nitric oxide through tiny facial vessels and brings in more oxygen, reversing the sluggish circulation common after years of smoking. Last, a mineral sunscreen rated at least SPF 30 protects the new collagen from ultraviolet damage and keeps fine lines from deepening.’