1 month ago
4 
You’re at a cute bar, a bottle of wine has been shared, and the vibes are good. It’s your first successful date in weeks.
But then, something terrible happens. In between sips of Sauvignon Blanc, they open their mouth and shove a tiny white pouch under their upper lip.
Suddenly, you’re looking for the exit.
Nicotine pouches have become a common sight among young Brits.
Less than 1% of young men and women used them in 2022, but that figure increased to 4% in March 2025, with recent research from University College London revealing that the habit has now been taken up by around 7.5% of 16 to 24-year-old men.
Sold under brand names such as Velo and Zyn, these pouches are marketed as tobacco free alternative to cigarettes, containing nicotine, flavourings, and plant-based fibres.
Essentially, they feed the nicotine addiction, without the same negative impact on your lung health. Plus, unlike vapes they’re non-combustible, so exempt from any public smoking rules.
But despite their popularity — and the concern that yet another nicotine product is being pushed to young people — a new ick has been unlocked, as daters discover that glimpsing a saliva-soaked, chemical-filled pillow on your would-be beau’s gum, isn’t exactly a turn on.
What are nicotine pouches?
Nicotine pouches are small sachets, a little smaller than a strip of chewing gum. A pouch is placed between the lip and gums for anywhere between 15 and 40 minutes.
The nicotine is absorbed through the lining of the mouth and enters the bloodstream, often causing a brief tingling or warming sensation on the gums (sometimes referred to as ‘nicotine burn’).
Unlike traditional cigarettes — or snus, which nicotine pouches are sometimes referred to, despite being different products — these don’t contain tobacco leaf.
Zyn, for example, touts its pouches as a ‘tobacco-free, smoke-free and vapour-free convenient alternative for your nicotine moments’, with billboards outside gig venues or sporting events where smoking or vaping is banned.
Currently, there is little legislation in how nicotine pouches can be marketed and sold, no limits to how strong the nicotine can be, nor any age restrictions on who can purchase it.
That doesn’t mean it’s a completely safe option though.
Dr Suzanne Wylie, GP and medical adviser for IQdoctor, tells Metro: ‘Regular use can lead to dependence, increased heart rate and blood pressure, headaches, nausea, mouth irritation and gum problems.’
That said, when discussing them in the context of a cigarette alternative, she notes: ‘If someone is a long-term smoker and has completely switched from cigarettes to nicotine pouches, then it is very likely they have reduced their exposure to many of the most dangerous toxins associated with tobacco smoke, and from a harm-reduction perspective that is probably a positive step.
‘In that sense, they may well represent the better of two evils.’
When it comes to the cancer risk associated with nicotine pouches, Dr Suzanne says that as ‘we do not have decades of long-term data there remains uncertainty around the consequences of prolonged use over many years.’
However, she adds, users should remember that ‘less harmful’ is not the same as ‘healthy’.
Why are nicotine pouches so icky?
A woman on Reddit asked the r/Womenover30 sub for their thoughts on nicotine pouches recently, after being ‘grossed out’ to see her date using them.
The response was overwhelmingly negative, with commenters describing them as ‘disgusting’, ‘yucky’ and a ‘hard no’.
‘My boyfriend [used them] until a month ago and they’re disgusting, I hated it,’ wrote one. ‘They stick to everything and I’d find them in places you’d never want to find them (his pillow?).’
Another added: ‘I wouldn’t even take a friend who smokes. Nicotine addiction is deeply unattractive.’
When Metro reached out to daters, many shared a similar sentiment.
Podcast host, George Oglethorpe, 29, says: ‘Even thinking about my date unscrew that bloody little cylinder tub is enough to give me the ick.
‘It’s the way they put it in as if it’s something medical and totally crucial to their wellbeing that really kills me.’
How do you feel about nicotine pouches?
Firstly, there’s the saliva of it all. Shoving something into your mouth – and then removing it, even to throw in the bin – feels akin to chewing your food, and then popping it back on your plate.
Londoner Rovie Hernandez, 28, has been talking to a guy online for weeks, only to meet up in person and find he had a pretty intense pouch habit.
Rovie, 28, tells Metro: ‘Over the course of the night he’d put at least five to six in. When he was done, he would take the used one out, take out his little box, and put his discarded pouches back into it.
‘The idea of him carrying around used pouches in his pockets was so icky to me.’
Redditors agreed, with one poster saying: ‘Spitting out slimy little pouch slugs everywhere without putting them in the trash? F***ing gross.’
There’s also the fact that it’s a bit of a blocker to a romantic moment; after all, how do you go in for a spontaneous kiss if their mouth is already preoccupied with a pouch?
In Rovie’s case, his date had to pause, take the pouch out, snog, then immediately replace it. Tres romantic.
So-called ‘cigfluencers’ aren’t helping matters here either.
Charli XCX’s Brat summer of 2024 has long been blamed for the resurgence of ‘smoking as sexy’. Like Brat, lighting up is trashy, bad for you… and, for our sins, kind of hot.
It’s important to note that the risks of smoking have not diminished. It’s the leading cause of preventable death in the UK, responsible for nearly 78,000 death every year.
But still, as vaping went mainstream, brightly coloured cases and sickly-sweet scents became uncool, and ‘cigfluencers’ flourished. Singer Addison Rae even responded to a TikTok commenter saying: ‘Ew, I hate vaping. Smoke a cigarette!’
Now, it seems nicotine pouches are gaining the same, cringey reputation.
‘I’d rather they ask to go outside for a smoke,’ content creator, Jessica Corrigan, 26, tells Metro. ‘There’s nothing about nicotine pouches that are hot to me at all – a cigarette though is fit (sadly).’
Describing his lover rolling over after a morning session for a pouch, Rovie adds: ‘He pulled it out and I immediately lost the horn. I don’t know what to say, it just didn’t have the same effect as post-sex cig.’
In that moment, he recalls, he found himself fantasising about ‘a very sexy man’ who he once shared a cigarette with, which he says was ‘honestly one of the sexiest moments of [his] life.’
Before you get the idea lighting up is a way to make yourself universally attractive though, studies show non-smokers get around 50% more matches than their tobacco-using counterparts, while the smell of cigarette smoke has been voted among the top three dating dealbreakers.
Basically, if you’re looking to wow a date, keep your mouth free for conversation, kissing, and whatever else you might need it for.
Do you have a story to share?
Get in touch by emailing [email protected].
Bengali (Bangladesh) · 
English (United States) ·