Yep - My name is Gemma, and I am a smoker.

I’m that girl who stands out the front of the building where you work and blows smoke all over your suit. I’m that girl who gets up in the middle of a meal in a restaurant and huddles outside in the rain with the other reprobates. I’m the idiot that is voluntarily herded into those 3ft squared special pens earmarked for the dirty smokers at the airport. I’m that mother who distracts her child with a teddy and leaves him in his pushchair at the bus stop as she stands 15ft away getting her fix…

Until now, I genuinely enjoyed smoking. It was my little crutch, my little guilty pleasure - but now, after 16 years (on and off) I’ve had enough. Given we’re trying for a baby and (it goes without saying) I won’t be smoking whilst pregnant - now is the right time to pack it in once and for all. Not only that, the price of cigarettes is getting ridiculous. I need a second income just to fund the habit, and when I pop to the shops I rarely come home with just cigarettes.

I don’t want to wait until those two pink lines before throwing my packet away. If I do, I’m associating not smoking with the baby, and I should be doing it for me.

So as I type I’m wearing a Nicotine patch. I’ve experimented with these before with varying degrees of success. The thing is, they ache. Yes a millimetre thick bit of plastic makes my entire arm, leg, spine… bum (or wherever else I place it) ache. They also give me some hugely trippy dreams. So I did a shout-out on Twitter and was contacted by the SMOKO team to trial their electronic cigarette.

I really like it! This little bad boy has definitely made life easier. It’s so nice being able to smoke from the comfort of the sofa and not having to stand outside watching my family through the window. I no longer need to pause a film halfway through to ‘get some air’. SMOKO is just water vapour so it’s perfectly safe and Dexie won’t be exposed to any of the nasties that would ordinarily linger on my clothes.

It looks and feels like a real cigarette and I really like the fact you breathe out the same quantity of water vapour as you would usually omit through a drag. I trialled the Original flavour and the taste is very similar to Benson and Hedges - SMOKO also do menthol, apple, and Virginia rolling tobacco flavours too.

It’s easy to work. You simply screw the battery (the white section) to the cartridges (the butt), and away you go. When the blue light starts to flash you need to recharge the battery (handily you can do this via the USB port on your laptop). The website is sophisticated and easy to navigate too - It’s not lecturing or patronising and a welcome departure from other cartoon-like or stark Quit Smoking sites out there (although I’m not opposed to the idea - scare tactics just haven’t worked on me).

There’s no harmful chemicals or tar but I’m still getting the hit I’m craving. Normal traditional cigarettes contain over 4,000 added chemicals - SMOKO Electronic Cigarettes contain only 4 ingredients that are all pharmaceutical & consumption grade. Between this and the patches I managed to make a pack of ten real ciggies last me 3 days! I’ve also signed up to a Quit Smoking clinic at my local doctors surgery so hopefully I’ll have the conversational support I need too.

Wish me luck guys - I really need to do this. For my pocket, for my health, and for my babies.

I’m not advocating smoking in any way at all. It’s a disgusting habit and I sincerely hope that my children don’t ever fall into its clutches. This is a parenting website and I’m taking on this challenge for the sake of my family. I don’t think any form of smoking is cool - even e-cigarettes. I’m using SMOKO with the goal of becoming totally smoke-free.

DISCLAIMER: I was sent a Standard Starter Pack worth £25 for this review. All words and opinions are my own.