Smokers¹ may defy the health warnings by telling themselves their habit makes them look cool. After all, sex symbols James Dean and Humphrey Bogart were rarely seen without a cigarette. However, the latest evidence shows that smoking actually makes you less attractive to the opposite sex. Telltale wrinkles from puffing² on a cigarette may be to blame for people judging non-smokers to be better-looking.

吸烟者往往觉得抽烟很酷，从而无视健康警告，毕竟，性感的化身詹姆斯?迪恩和亨弗莱?鲍嘉几乎每时每刻都离不开烟。然而最新证据表明，吸烟实际上会降低你对异性的吸引力，吸烟所导致的皱纹会让人们觉得不吸烟者更漂亮。

This was the result of a study asking more than 500 people to pick the most attractive of twins where one smoked and the other did not. Men found female non-smokers the most attractive in two-thirds of cases, while women chose non-smoking men as the most attractive 68 percent of the time.

曾有一项研究要求500多人在一个抽烟一个不抽烟的数对双胞胎中选择更有吸引力的那个，三分之二的男性认为不抽烟的女士更具吸引力，而68%的女性选择了不抽烟的男士。

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 genetically⁴ identical so we can control for genetic³ factors involved in ageing. Appearance seems to be important to people, especially young people, so we could use these sorts of findings as a basis for future interventions⁶ to stop people smoking.’

来自布里斯托尔大学的教授伊恩?盆顿-沃克是这项研究的合著者，他说：“我们假设吸烟会损害皮肤和外貌，然后采用了这个很巧妙的方法，因为双胞胎的基因是相同的，所以与衰老相关的遗传因素就会被我们控制。外貌对人们，尤其是对年轻人来说似乎很重要，所以我们可以利用这个发现作为未来干预措施的基础，以此来阻止人们吸烟。”

Smoking can speed up the normal ageing, even after only a decade. Nicotine⁷ causes narrowing of the blood vessels⁸ in the outermost⁹ layers of the skin, while the chemicals in tobacco smoke damage collagen and elastin, fibres which give the skin its elasticity¹⁰.

吸烟会加快人们正常衰老的速度，即使只有十年（效果也会很明显）。尼古丁会导致皮肤最外层的血管收缩，而烟雾中的化学物质会损害那些赋予肌肤弹性的胶原蛋白和弹力蛋白。

The wrinkles this causes are added to by facial expressions made when smoking — such as pursing the lips when inhaling¹¹ or squinting¹² to keep smoke out of your eyes.

吸烟时的面部表情也会使皱纹增加——比如，吸入时会把嘴唇缩拢或者为了防止烟雾进眼睛而把眼睛眯起来。

To test if smokers did look worse, the researchers asked more than 500 people to pick the smoker and non-smoker from 23 sets of twins. After finding smokers were easily identified, they created prototype pictures to make sure the twins’ facial expressions or poses could not alter the results. Using these images, tweaked by a computer to standardise how smokers and non-smokers looked, they asked which people found ‘more attractive’.

为了测试吸烟是否会让人变丑，研究者们要求500多人对23对包括吸烟者和非吸烟者的双胞胎进行选择，在发现吸烟者很容易被辨认出来之后，他们为双胞胎们拍摄了标准照片，以确保双胞胎们的面部表情和姿态不会影响结果。研究者们用电脑对吸烟者和非吸烟者的这些照片进行了标准化微调，然后询问人们哪个“更具有吸引力”。

The results show men and women both found the opposite sex more attractive when they did not smoke. But women also judged other females who did not smoke as more beautiful in 70 percent of cases, while men thought non-smokers of their own sex were better looking 72 percent of the time.

结果显示，男性和女性都认为不吸烟的异性比较有吸引力。而70%的女性们认为不吸烟的女人更漂亮，72%的男性认为不吸烟的男人更好看。

The researchers state: ‘Our results provide evidence that smoking may negatively impact facial appearance, and that facial appearance may provide information about smoking status.’

研究人员称：“研究结果显示，吸烟会对外貌产生负面影响，而从外貌上可以了解你是否吸烟。”

They say the ‘social stigma¹³’ of looking worse from smoking could therefore encourage people to quit, adding: ‘One type of smoking behaviour change intervention⁵ targeted at young people is the use of applications illustrating¹⁴ the changes in facial appearance likely if they age as a smoker and a non-smoker.

他们表示，吸烟给外貌带来的“社会耻辱”可能会促使人们戒烟。他们补充道：“其中一种针对年轻人吸烟行为的干预措施就是用一些应用程序向他们展示吸烟或者不吸烟的情况下，自己变老以后的样子。”

‘These work on the basis that young people are particularly sensitive to the potential negative effects smoking has on their attractiveness as they age.’

“这种干预行为的出发点是，年轻人对吸烟给外貌带来的潜在负面影响特别敏感——即随着年龄的增长，吸烟会让他们变丑。”

A survey of smokers in 2014 found vanity was more important to them than the impact on their health. Asked about their health concerns, most said they were more worried about their looks than whether they might die or be disabled by cancer or heart disease. Their biggest concerns were discoloured teeth, followed by bad breath, wrinkles, fine lines and yellowing nails, according to the poll by an electronic cigarette firm.

2014年一家电子烟公司的调查研究发现，对年轻的吸烟者来说，相比健康，“面子”对他们来说更加重要。该研究显示，当吸烟者被问及他们对健康的担忧时，大多数人说他们更担心的是他们的外表，而不是他们是否会因癌症或心脏病而死亡或残废。调查显示，吸烟者最担心的是牙齿变色，其次是口臭、皱纹、细纹和发黄的指甲。