Which is worse for your skin ?

Festy

Smoking,drinking or to much sun ? No chance of the last one in this country but I included it anyways :pac

racso1975

all can be cured by a good facial!!!! I 'll gladly help ya on that front

DonkeyStyle \o/

There was a picture of a truck driver's face, where the side that faced the window was much more wrinkled than the other. Pretty crazy, google truck driver tan you'll probably get it.

Festy

racso1975 wrote: »

all can be cured by a good facial!!!! I 'll gladly help ya on that front

Is that you Pat Bateman ?

monflat

Festy wrote: »

Smoking,drinking or to much sun ? No chance of the last one in this country but I included it anyways :pac

Smoking I think
this is based on the smokers I know..... around their mouth they are destroyed with wrinkles and they have that yellow tinge off them !
Like wallpaper in a smokers room all yellow and dirty

Festy

DonkeyStyle \o/ wrote: »

There was a picture of a truck driver's face, where the side that faced the window was much more wrinkled than the other. Pretty crazy, google truck driver tan you'll probably get it.

Is it this guy ? If so,damn :eek:

DEFTLEFTHAND

Sun is much worse, just look at those rednecks in the south of the USA or Aussies. :pac:

Smoking depends on how much you use the product, One third of tobacco smokers develop illness as a result of the habit. These are the statistics so I presume the other two thirds suffer no harm.

Festy

monflat wrote: »

Smoking I think
this is based on the smokers I know..... around their mouth they are destroyed with wrinkles and they have that yellow tinge off them !
Like wallpaper in a smokers room all yellow and dirty

True,but with heavy drinkers they look flushed in the face 24/7.I don't know which looks worse tbh.

monflat

Festy wrote: »

True,but with heavy drinkers they look flushed in the face 24/7.I don't know which looks worse tbh.

Yep u right both drinking and smoking constrict the blood vessel s to the skin
Then again it all depends on the person where they live exposure etc

Pumpkinseeds

The sun I'd say. My Dad used to do a lot of driving and he ended up with a malignant tumour on his face. Fortunately he had a great surgeon that was able to reconstruct the area he'd had the tumour removed from, it had left a huge hole in his cheek.

I saw a programme a few years ago where they used some special camera to show the damage done to skin by UV light. The surface skin looked fine but the damage already caused was horrendous. No matter what time of year I wear a high factor skin cream.

Tom_Cruise

I often wonder this. No matter what i do my skin is always terrible. I often see people with flawless skin, people who eat crap and drink heavily. Ive come to realise that its just down to genetics really. The more you worry about your skin the more you notice the flaws.

JustAThought

Feck -that guys face is ruined. AND he smoked

Schnitzel Muncher

racso1975 wrote: »

all can be cured by a good facial!!!! I 'll gladly help ya on that front

Sounds a bit gay. Try a faeces facial instead, i hear they are all the rage.

Festy

JustAThought wrote: »

Feck -that guys face is ruined. AND he smoked

True,but when your in your mid 60's and you look like he does will you really give a fcuk ? I highly doubt it.

Shenshen

Festy wrote: »

Smoking,drinking or to much sun ? No chance of the last one in this country but I included it anyways :pac

From growing up in more Southern climes (Germany), I would say too much sun is the worst.

You don't really see that here, but back home you get a certain type of middle aged women, usually with fairly affluent husbands, who definintely spent WAY too much time in the sun - on summer holidays, on skiing holidays, and on sun beds in between holidays. And the best way to describe their skin would be "wrinkly roast turkey". They look properly scary.

That said, smoking and drinking aren't great either.

DEFTLEFTHAND

monflat wrote: »

Smoking I think
this is based on the smokers I know..... around their mouth they are destroyed with wrinkles and they have that yellow tinge off them !
Like wallpaper in a smokers room all yellow and dirty

Again it all depends on how much you use the product, a chain smoker might develop yellow teeth over a decade or more. The beige tinge, cigarette smoking is good for two thirds of us :pac:, it calms nerves and soothes the worried mind.

Princess Consuela Bananahammock

Depends on the skin - I have psoriasis and excess sun is vey good for it. It would also depend on whether or not you weargin wearing good sun bloc. If not, sun. If so, smoking.

Wibbs

While all are bad, I'd say sun exposure is the worst. Look at people with very dark skin, they have built in sunblock and as a result they get far fewer wrinkles than pale skinned people. The old "black don't crack" notion has a lot of truth in it. Genetics and gender play a part too. Men have thicker skin so damage takes longer to show.

cypressg

I never wear sunscreen,I mean what did they do a hundred years ago when they were out in the sun working all day?One of the biggest cons going today,there are people who put sunscreen on everyday before they go out lol!.

Slutmonkey57b

What did they do 100 years ago? Get ill, get wrinkly, get joint and musculoskeletal problems and die young, for the most part....

Festy

Wibbs wrote: »

While all are bad, I'd say sun exposure is the worst. Look at people with very dark skin, they have built in sunblock and as a result they get far fewer wrinkles than pale skinned people. The old "black don't crack" notion has a lot of truth in it. Genetics and gender play a part too. Men have thicker skin so damage takes longer to show.

The joys of being a man

IM0

sun obviously, the others effect you internally more, your organs, you know the bits that actually matter

Victor

DEFTLEFTHAND wrote: »

Smoking depends on how much you use the product, One third of tobacco smokers develop illness as a result of the habit.

Do you mean "One third of tobacco smokers develop illness as a result of the habit." or "One third of tobacco smokers develop a skin illness as a result of the habit. " becuase most smokers have some illness and it seems half of all smokers die from a smoking-related issue.

Victor

cypressg wrote: »

I mean what did they do a hundred years ago when they were out in the sun working all day?

And they're all dead now. In fact, many were dead by 60.

starling

No matter whether you actually develop a more serious condition like lung cancer etc, smoking damages your skin, affecting blood flow and how much oxygen gets to the tissues etc. And the body concentrates on trying to cope with damage to the internal organs first, it's like a triage system in an A&E department, the skin is way down the priority list.

Actual doctors and dermatologists will all tell you that smoking is the no.1 worst thing for your skin, closely followed by too much sun.

Personally I wear sunscreen every day but then I've seen how much UV damage I already had by the age of 30 and it put the fear of god into me.

pirelli

Wibbs wrote: »

While all are bad, I'd say sun exposure is the worst. Look at people with very dark skin, they have built in sunblock and as a result they get far fewer wrinkles than pale skinned people. The old "black don't crack" notion has a lot of truth in it. Genetics and gender play a part too. Men have thicker skin so damage takes longer to show.

Genetics you say

The sun may be unpleasant for our skin if not dangerous but think of the legacy we pass on to our children.We are making their skin genetically better by staying in the sun.

Burn blister, and peel for the future.

--Kaiser--

Wibbs wrote: »

While all are bad, I'd say sun exposure is the worst. Look at people with very dark skin, they have built in sunblock and as a result they get far fewer wrinkles than pale skinned people. The old "black don't crack" notion has a lot of truth in it. Genetics and gender play a part too. Men have thicker skin so damage takes longer to show.

Black people naturally have thicker skin, which I think would be a more important factor (as an analogy, which gets wrinkly first, a shirt or a jumper?). I know people who are out in the sun all day long and yet could pass for someone 10 or 20 years younger. They don't smoke, however.....

Reindeer

Dunno bout you guys, but I can't remember ever having drank or smoked so much that my skin burned red and fell off.

starling

Reindeer wrote: »

Dunno bout you guys, but I can't remember ever having drank or smoked so much that my skin burned red and fell off.

The damage from smoking & drinking takes longer to be noticeable, but that doesn't mean it's not happening...once it's noticeable, it's too late to do anything about it without some serious cosmetic procedures

yore

racso1975 wrote: »

all can be cured by a good facial!!!! I 'll gladly help ya on that front

Ah jaysus. Ya poor oul' eejit. Did you really fall for that one? And did he also tell you that it was as good as three Hail Marys for penance?

--Kaiser--

Festy wrote: »

Is it this guy ? If so,damn :eek:

Something dubious about this photo. There are thousands upon thousands of truck drivers driving around in the sun, do they all look like this? I doubt it

Legs.Eleven

starling wrote: »

No matter whether you actually develop a more serious condition like lung cancer etc, smoking damages your skin, affecting blood flow and how much oxygen gets to the tissues etc. And the body concentrates on trying to cope with damage to the internal organs first, it's like a triage system in an A&E department, the skin is way down the priority list.

Actual doctors and dermatologists will all tell you that smoking is the no.1 worst thing for your skin, closely followed by too much sun.

Personally I wear sunscreen every day but then I've seen how much UV damage I already had by the age of 30 and it put the fear of god into me.

Is sunscreen enough to prevent skin damage? I live in a hot country and am nervous now...

starling

Legs.Eleven wrote: »

Is sunscreen enough to prevent skin damage? I live in a hot country and am nervous now...

Sunscreen and avoiding too much exposure on sunny days and/or the times of day when the sun's rays are strongest (11am-3pm) will see you right, provided you're a) using a high enough SPF and UV protection rating and b) applying enough of it - don't be trying to cover a whole arm with a 10c sized dollop.
The Irish Cancer Society has a guide to this, I think. I'm on an iPod touch so it's a bit tricky to insert a link here, sorry. But the things you should know are widely available on the intertubes

The protection factor you need will depend on what skin type/ethnicity you have. I think the ICS recommends factor 30 or higher for Irish people. Personally because I am very very pale and burn within five minutes of leaving the house, I use factor 50. But then my mum and all my aunties have had skin cancer, so I might be a bit overcautious.

If you do have to be out of doors between 11 and 3 you might want to wear a hat. At the very least wear good quality polarised sunglasses because the skin around your eyes is much thinner and more delicate than elsewhere.

I personally don't think that moisturisers or foundations with built in sun protection are enough because you're unlikely to be putting enough on to give you proper protection. It's better to use a seperate sunscreen IMO.

If you are a person who wears makeup and you want your sunscreen to play nice with your foundation, I have always found that the Chanel sunscreen (I can't remember the proper name) works as an excellent base for liquid foundations. it's factor 50, good quality protection.

There was another one I used to use before I heard recommendations for the Chanel one, and it was also good and possibly a wee bit cheaper. I can't remember the brand because I'm a spa. Sorry. But what I'm getting at is, there are a few different options on the market nowadays.

Finally, if you wear mineral makeup it acts as a physical sunblock, which is good. It also has the advantage of not melting off your face in the sun. It tends to suit people with oily/combination skin best. If you want to try it don't get Bare Minerals, it's crap. I use LilyLolo, it's much better.

Sorry for the novel. I need a lie down after typing all that WITH MY THUMBS I HOPE IT DOES SOMEBODY SOME GOOD;)

kowloon

DonkeyStyle \o/ wrote: »

There was a picture of a truck driver's face, where the side that faced the window was much more wrinkled than the other. Pretty crazy, google truck driver tan you'll probably get it.

First thing that came to mind when I read the thread title. Never realised before seeing it that the sun could do quite so much damage over time.

Legs.Eleven

starling wrote: »

Sunscreen and avoiding too much exposure on sunny days and/or the times of day when the sun's rays are strongest (11am-3pm) will see you right, provided you're a) using a high enough SPF and UV protection rating and b) applying enough of it - don't be trying to cover a whole arm with a 10c sized dollop.
The Irish Cancer Society has a guide to this, I think. I'm on an iPod touch so it's a bit tricky to insert a link here, sorry. But the things you should know are widely available on the intertubes

The protection factor you need will depend on what skin type/ethnicity you have. I think the ICS recommends factor 30 or higher for Irish people. Personally because I am very very pale and burn within five minutes of leaving the house, I use factor 50. But then my mum and all my aunties have had skin cancer, so I might be a bit overcautious.

If you do have to be out of doors between 11 and 3 you might want to wear a hat. At the very least wear good quality polarised sunglasses because the skin around your eyes is much thinner and more delicate than elsewhere.

I personally don't think that moisturisers or foundations with built in sun protection are enough because you're unlikely to be putting enough on to give you proper protection. It's better to use a seperate sunscreen IMO.

If you are a person who wears makeup and you want your sunscreen to play nice with your foundation, I have always found that the Chanel sunscreen (I can't remember the proper name) works as an excellent base for liquid foundations. it's factor 50, good quality protection.

There was another one I used to use before I heard recommendations for the Chanel one, and it was also good and possibly a wee bit cheaper. I can't remember the brand because I'm a spa. Sorry. But what I'm getting at is, there are a few different options on the market nowadays.

Finally, if you wear mineral makeup it acts as a physical sunblock, which is good. It also has the advantage of not melting off your face in the sun. It tends to suit people with oily/combination skin best. If you want to try it don't get Bare Minerals, it's crap. I use LilyLolo, it's much better.

Sorry for the novel. I need a lie down after typing all that WITH MY THUMBS I HOPE IT DOES SOMEBODY SOME GOOD;)

Thanks for all that! I wear sunscreen on the rest of my bod but only ever used facial moisturiser with factor 15 in it. Just bought factor 50 sunscreen for my face and put it on immediately.

Latchy

Smoking and drinking will defo make your skin more haggard and aged looking .

--Kaiser--

Latchy wrote: »

Smoking and drinking will defo make your skin more haggard and aged looking .

Drugs too. If you want to see a testament to clean living, see the last Led Zeppelin live performance, Celebration Day. John Paul Jones (who stayed away from the excesses of his colleagues) looks about half the age of either Page or Plant

Latchy

--Kaiser-- wrote: »

Drugs too. If you want to see a testament to clean living, see the last Led Zeppelin live performance, Celebration Day. John Paul Jones (who stayed away from the excesses of his colleagues) looks about half the age of either Page or Plant

For sure ...

I have seen the ravage's of smoking and alcohol abuse on somebody I've known all my life which has aged him by at least 15 years if not more and the list of rock stars who abused drugs and died young ( Jimi Hendrix ,Janis Joplin ,Brian Jones ,Jim Morrison and more ) is testament to that .Keith Richards is probably the exception but his face tells it's own story .

OneArt

monflat wrote: »

Smoking I think
this is based on the smokers I know..... around their mouth they are destroyed with wrinkles and they have that yellow tinge off them !
Like wallpaper in a smokers room all yellow and dirty

Anyone who has wallpaper doesn't deserve happiness.

Big Nasty

Festy wrote: »

Is it this guy ? If so,damn :eek:

Is that Charlie Haughey!?! :eek:

Reindeer

starling wrote: »

The damage from smoking & drinking takes longer to be noticeable, but that doesn't mean it's not happening...once it's noticeable, it's too late to do anything about it without some serious cosmetic procedures

But it won't kill you for your skin ... cancer will.

I've smoked and drank most of my life. I'm middle-aged, and am told I have perfect skin. I am also part Cherokee Indian. So, I imagine I have more resistance to aging caused by the sun than most Irish would... I have not left Tipperary or Waterford counties in the last 2 months, or Ireland the last 7, yet I have a nice sun tan.

If you are fair-skinned, the sun is the worst thing for it.

starling

Reindeer wrote: »

But it won't kill you for your skin ... cancer will.

Yeah but the question under discussion wasn't "which one of these will kill you" it was "which is worse for your skin" which we have all been taking to mean the appearance of your skin

Reindeer

starling wrote: »

Yeah but the question under discussion wasn't "which one of these will kill you" it was "which is worse for your skin" which we have all been taking to mean the appearance of your skin

The sun is, by far, the worst. Just ask any doctor.

You live in Ireland, so this question is basically moot.

starling

Legs.Eleven wrote: »

Thanks for all that! I wear sunscreen on the rest of my bod but only ever used facial moisturiser with factor 15 in it. Just bought factor 50 sunscreen for my face and put it on immediately.

You are more than welcome Legs, it's great to hear you've upgraded your protection!:)
Despite my apparent inability to resist giving out all kinds of advice, I actually don't like to be telling people how to run their lives, but so many of us don't realise the importance of sun protection!

There's one more thing I should have mentioned too. Years ago it was quite common for women to neglect the neck when thinking about sun protection and skincare. The result was a lot of women with very well cared for faces and wrinkly necks:(
Nowadays most of us know to include the neck, but a lot of us don't realise that ideally you should be treating the décolleté (from your nipples to your neck basically) the same as your face.

In my last job (which by the way had nothing to do with skincare) I dealt with the public all day and I saw a lot of middle-class women around the 40ish mark who had clearly taken very good care of their faces and necks, but had neglected the décolleté; when they wore v necklines you could see the skin there was beginning to show wrinkles even though none were really visible on their faces. The skin of the décolleté area is more like that of the face than that of the rest of the body, in terms of how delicate it is.
(Just FYI I didn't go around staring down people's tops or anything it was a random consequence of the job:))

starling

Reindeer wrote: »

The sun is, by far, the worst. Just ask any doctor.

That's exactly what I've been saying

Reindeer wrote: »

You live in Ireland, so this question is basically moot.

How so? Does Ireland have some kind of special UV filter in our airspace that we haven't been told about? Is it a conspiracy or something? Cause my tinfoil hat is at the drycleaners, they said it wouldn't be ready until Wednesday, maybe we should discuss it then?

--Kaiser--

Reindeer wrote: »

But it won't kill you for your skin ... cancer will.

I've smoked and drank most of my life. I'm middle-aged, and am told I have perfect skin. I am also part Cherokee Indian. So, I imagine I have more resistance to aging caused by the sun than most Irish would... I have not left Tipperary or Waterford counties in the last 2 months, or Ireland the last 7, yet I have a nice sun tan.

If you are fair-skinned, the sun is the worst thing for it.

Except for, you know, battery acid and....lots of stuff.

I'm not saying everyone should lay out in the sun for hours but this kind of scare-mongering isn't needed for a country that's likely to be full of people with low vitamin D levels (which is an indicator for cancer and lots of other diseases, donchaknow)

starling

--Kaiser-- wrote: »

Except for, you know, battery acid and....lots of stuff.

I'm not saying everyone should lay out in the sun for hours but this kind of scare-mongering isn't needed for a country that's likely to be full of people with low vitamin D levels (which is an indicator for cancer and lots of other diseases, donchaknow)

Well to be fair Kaiser we only need 5-15 minutes of sunlight exposure to the face and hands, 2-3 times a week to get our Vitamin D. We can also get it in our diet.
The country is not full of people who are low on Vitamin D.

What it is full of is people who will get skin cancer in the next year, because skin cancer is actually the most common cancer in Ireland. Most cases are treatable if caught early, but I hardly think you can reasonably call educating people about it "scaremongering".

Far from there being some kind of mass hysteria and panic over skin cancer, most people are very ill-informed about the actual facts.

Boofle

starling wrote: »

Sunscreen and avoiding too much exposure on sunny days and/or the times of day when the sun's rays are strongest (11am-3pm) will see you right, provided you're a) using a high enough SPF and UV protection rating and b) applying enough of it - don't be trying to cover a whole arm with a 10c sized dollop.
The Irish Cancer Society has a guide to this, I think. I'm on an iPod touch so it's a bit tricky to insert a link here, sorry. But the things you should know are widely available on the intertubes

The protection factor you need will depend on what skin type/ethnicity you have. I think the ICS recommends factor 30 or higher for Irish people. Personally because I am very very pale and burn within five minutes of leaving the house, I use factor 50. But then my mum and all my aunties have had skin cancer, so I might be a bit overcautious.

If you do have to be out of doors between 11 and 3 you might want to wear a hat. At the very least wear good quality polarised sunglasses because the skin around your eyes is much thinner and more delicate than elsewhere.

I personally don't think that moisturisers or foundations with built in sun protection are enough because you're unlikely to be putting enough on to give you proper protection. It's better to use a seperate sunscreen IMO.

If you are a person who wears makeup and you want your sunscreen to play nice with your foundation, I have always found that the Chanel sunscreen (I can't remember the proper name) works as an excellent base for liquid foundations. it's factor 50, good quality protection.

There was another one I used to use before I heard recommendations for the Chanel one, and it was also good and possibly a wee bit cheaper. I can't remember the brand because I'm a spa. Sorry. But what I'm getting at is, there are a few different options on the market nowadays.

Finally, if you wear mineral makeup it acts as a physical sunblock, which is good. It also has the advantage of not melting off your face in the sun. It tends to suit people with oily/combination skin best. If you want to try it don't get Bare Minerals, it's crap. I use LilyLolo, it's much better.

Sorry for the novel. I need a lie down after typing all that WITH MY THUMBS I HOPE IT DOES SOMEBODY SOME GOOD;)

Thank you for that! Some great advice there!

--Kaiser--

starling wrote: »

Well to be fair Kaiser we only need 5-15 minutes of sunlight exposure to the face and hands, 2-3 times a week to get our Vitamin D. We can also get it in our diet.
The country is not full of people who are low on Vitamin D.

What it is full of is people who will get skin cancer in the next year, because skin cancer is actually the most common cancer in Ireland. Most cases are treatable if caught early, but I hardly think you can reasonably call educating people about it "scaremongering".

Far from there being some kind of mass hysteria and panic over skin cancer, most people are very ill-informed about the actual facts.

Scaremongering is exactly what I'd call telling fair-skinned people that the Sun is the 'worst thing for them' (a preposterous statement). A study of Irish athletes (most who would be outside more than average) showed 70% were low in vitamin D, which is a pretty serious condition seeing as it's one of our most important vitamins (more like a hormone, in fact). You can get it from your diet but you'd have to be eating an awful lot of fish to get the same amounts from 10 minutes of exposure to the sun.

And if we're talking about cancer, the most common type is non-melanoma skin cancer, which is easily treatable and usually appears where the skin has been exposed to the sun. Melanoma skin cancer is a lot more dangerous and usually appears where there has been no sun exposure. Low vitamin D levels are also associated with serious cancers such as the breast, prostate, bowel and lung varieties

starling

--Kaiser-- wrote: »

Scaremongering is exactly what I'd call telling fair-skinned people that the Sun is the 'worst thing for them' (a preposterous statement).

A preposterous statement that no-one's made. OP asked which is worse for your skin, smoking, drinking or the sun.
Answer: Smoking is worst, closely followed by sun.
Since many people are unaware of just what the risks are regarding sun damage, which includes but is not limited to skin cancer, telling them the facts cannot reasonably be considered scaremongering.

--Kaiser--

starling wrote: »

A preposterous statement that no-one's made.

Reindeer wrote: »

If you are fair-skinned, the sun is the worst thing for it.

Pay attention.

OP asked which is worse for your skin, smoking, drinking or the sun.
Answer: Smoking is worst, closely followed by sun.
Since many people are unaware of just what the risks are regarding sun damage, which includes but is not limited to skin cancer, telling them the facts cannot reasonably be considered scaremongering.

What facts? 'Stay out of the sun, you'll get cancer, dur!'