Does Smoking Cause Dark Circles Around the Eyes?

Daniell in 1971 in the Annals of Internal Medicine, first linked smoking and periorbital wrinkling. Later, the term smoker's face was coined by Model and he mentioned dark circles under the eyes. Various other studies have implicated smoking as a cause of facial aging, though not specifically mentioning dark circles. A recent article in the Archives of Dermatology shows a striking picture of twin women. In fact the ladies were the Cover Girls of the December 2007 issue (good thing if you... more

The skin damage that can be promoted by smoking includes a thinning of skin due to interference with blood flow to the skin. This thinning can lead to a increased visibility of the orbicularis oculi muscle under the skin of the lower eyelid which makes the dark circles look more pronounced.

Smoking per se won't create dark circles. However, smoking prematurely ages the skin and can exacerbate wrinkles and thinning of the tissues. The dark circles may be more prevalent because the overlying skin thins out a bit.

Aside from the other well known health risks of smoking, there are cosmetic problems associated with this habit. One is that the irritant effect of the plume of smoke in your eyes causes squinting and accentuates the lines around your eyes. The deeper the lines are, the more shadowing there is in the lower eyelid region causing darker circles.