What do smoking and alcohol do to the ageing of your skin?
Smoking demonstrably accelerates skin ageing through oxidative stress and inflammation. There are indications for alcohol, but the evidence is too thin for firm conclusions.
Smoking is one of the best-established external causes of skin ageing. A large systematic review identified it as one of seven risk factors, alongside age, sun exposure and air pollution1. Its effect on wrinkles and loss of elasticity is independent of all those other factors.
How does it work? Tobacco smoke generates aggressive molecules that damage cells and proteins. This triggers inflammatory responses that gradually break down skin tissue2,3,4. Wound healing also deteriorates, which undermines the skin's long-term recovery5. Together with UV radiation, smoking is considered one of the most potent external accelerators of skin ageing.
The damage does not stop at wrinkles. Smoking also has broader negative effects on skin diseases and on how well the skin responds to treatments6. Studies describe the effect as clinically meaningful. The pattern is so consistent across multiple reviews that causality is considered likely.
Alcohol is a different matter. It is briefly mentioned in one review as a lifestyle factor in extrinsic skin ageing3, but no mechanism or concrete estimate of the harm is provided. There is therefore a signal, but the evidence is still in its infancy compared with that for smoking.
In practical terms: quitting smoking is the most direct step to slow further skin ageing. Based on the current data, no comparably concrete advice can yet be given about alcohol.
Based on multiple systematic and narrative reviews (PMID 34764376, 28705280, 39604792, 27720464, 33921444, 32681870). For smoking, there is consistent evidence from multiple studies. For alcohol, the supporting evidence is limited to a single mention as a lifestyle factor, with no mechanistic elaboration.