The millennials' go-to trick for appearing cool is smoking; there's no denying that. And while most people have been defying health warnings regarding smoking, like a pro, latest studies have revealed that contrary to popular belief – smoking makes one less attractive to the opposite sex.
Who would have thought, right? After numerous pictures of sex symbols like Bob Dylan and James Dean dangling a cigarette off their lips being stuck to the brain, it's hard to believe that even in an alternate universe, the "image" of smoking would appear as un-cool.
Also read: Beware smokers! Your nipples may fall off if you get a boob job, says top plastic surgeon
But science reveals it is our very own universe where people are not as attracted to one's appearance post a considerable period of smoking, just going on to prove that smoking does, in fact, have an effect on your looks.
The study involved asking more than 500 people to pick the most attractive of twins where one smoked and the other did not. And surprisingly enough, men opted for the non-smoker female twin in two-thirds of cases, while female went for the non-smoking male ones 68 percent of the time.
But what's to be noted is that women also went for the non-smoker female twin 70 percent of the time, while the men preferred the smoker male twin about 72 percent of the time.
Professor Ian Penton-Voak, a co-author of the study from Bristol University, said: "People hypothesise that smoking causes damage to the skin and appearance, but this is a really neat way at looking at it because these twins are genetically identical so we can control for genetic factors involved in ageing."
This was further explained by the fact that smoking does have the ability to speed up the natural ageing process, even after just a decade. While the nicotine narrows blood vessels in the outermost layers of the skin, the chemicals in tobacco damage collagen and elastin.
Even the facial expressions made while smoking, such as pursing of lips and squinting to keep smoke out of the eyes, also contribute to forming wrinkles.
And as Penton-Voak claims, "Appearance seems to be important to people, especially young people, so we could use these sort of findings as a basis for future interventions to stop people smoking."
Also, back in 2014, a survey of smokers had revealed that the risk of becoming less attractive due to smoking was scarier to people than dying due to cancer or heart diseases.
Researchers of this particular study also assert the same, saying: "These work on the basis that young people are particularly sensitive to the potential negative effects smoking has on their attractiveness as they age."
