Vaping - Is It For You?

E-Cigarettes from a selection at Intellicig (*)

I am a smoker. I have smoked since I was fourteen so that's ten years. I started because my friends were. I thought I could quit. I have difficulties in quitting. Yes, I feel guilty. Yes, I quit through both pregnancies and started again. Yes, it makes me smell and leaves me with less money. But I quite like it.

I don't like the tar and chemicals in cigarettes but I like to smoke. When I sip my morning coffee I like the action of bringing that little stick to my lips, breathing in, out, in, out and lowering down. That motion is comforting and natural to me and this is why I have never got on with smoking cessation aids. Lozenges and patches don't allow me to do this. Inhalators don't feel like a cigarette in shape and in weight. It's all off and while I know they help some, I'm not in that category.

When I had the chance to try two Intellicig products - disposable e-cigarettes with over 350 puffs in each - I said yes straight away. Looking like a real cigarette, exhaling real smoke (water vapour, not nasty chemicals) and even the details like the tip glowing red as you breathe in were huge selling points to me so when they arrived I popped them in my handbag to use on a three hour train journey to Nottingham. Honestly? They were a lifesaver. For those of you who smoke and know the cravings after an hour or two? These beat them hands down. No, it's not the same as a real cigarette but it's a pretty good alternative when you're indoors where you usually wouldn't be able to smoke.

The taste is a little off but once I tried the rich flavour I was hooked. I had my friends using them in a bar we were in too to avoid going outside in the rain and they said they'd look into buying one for themselves. You see, I'm old enough to remember smoking in bars. By that I mean I used to smoke in bars. Cocktail in one hand, a cigarette in the other in obnoxiously high heels with whatever boyfriend I was with at the time by my side. It still feels odd to me to have to go outside or to the smoking area and many a time while drunk I've lit up inside a club only to run through hiding it to the designated area. This makes that a little easier but obviously never really gives the feeling you're actually smoking.

So all in all this is a brilliant little product that I will repurchase more of mainly for ease of use. Will I quit exclusively using one? Maybe but for now I'm taking it as it comes by using these exclusively but if I feel like a real cigarette while out, I'll have one. I think for someone hell bent on quitting right here and right now these will be amazing for that nicotine hit and general feel of smoking and I'd recommend them wholeheartedly to those people.

Do you vape?