How to Blow Smoke Hearts

Blowing Smoke Rings

Choose a dense source of smoke. A hookah may give the best results, followed by a cigar or tobacco pipe. Don't use something too harsh or too hot. You'll need to be able to hold the smoke for at least five seconds without coughing or exhaling. Skip ahead to the next section if you already know how to blow a smoke ring.

Pull a large amount of smoke into your mouth. Inhale for several seconds from the hookah or other smoking device. Open your mouth wide by lowering your jaw, so you gather more smoke in your mouth instead of just your lungs.

Move your mouth into an O shape. Let go of the smoking device and move your mouth into an O shape. Your lips should make a round opening, but lower your jaw as well to make your mouth larger. If you're making a "kiss face" or "fish face," open your mouth wider to make a larger O. You do not need to puff out your cheeks. Don't exhale or inhale during this step. The smoke should remain still as a dense cloud in your mouth.

Make a tiny coughing motion. Close the back of your throat and open it again, making a tiny, inaudible cough or a "reverse hiccup." The small, controlled release of air can push a little smoke through the opening in your mouth. This moves through the narrow opening of your lips and flows into a ring shape. This is the easiest method for most people, but it often takes fifteen minutes of practice or more before you make your first ring, and a lot more practice before you can blow rings consistently.

Try pushing with your tongue instead. This method is usually more difficult, but might give you the ability to make larger, longer-lasting rings. Curl the tip of your tongue to the far back of your mouth. Flick your tongue forward in short bursts, scraping the top of your mouth or just beneath it, to push smoke quickly through the O opening of your lips. Place your hand on your throat as you do this. If you're using the right technique, your Adam's apple will move up as you flick your tongue.

Flick your cheek instead. This method works best if you have a cheek dimple, or if you already know how to make a water drop sound by flicking your cheek. Form the O shape with your mouth as usual, but lower your jaw enough that your cheeks are stretched. Flick your cheek with your finger, experimenting with the amount of force and shape of your mouth until the smoke emerges in strong, symmetrical rings. Your cheeks should be stretched, but still have a little looseness in them.

Turning a Smoke Ring into a Heart

Try the snap method. After blowing a successful smoke ring, snap fingers gently, right above the smoke ring. If you time this correctly, the shock wave from your fingers will gently push the top of the smoke ring down, bending the ring into a heart shape. You can also try poking the smoke downward with your finger, but this can easily break the smoke ring apart.

Blow one smoke ring above the other. This is a very difficult method that is only possible if you are skilled at blowing smoke rings. Blow one large, slow smoke ring first. Immediately follow it by making a small, fast-moving smoke ring, aimed so it passes right through the top of the first ring. This can push the ring down into a heart shape. You can increase the speed of a smoke ring by narrowing your mouth more, and by moving your tongue or throat more quickly while you release it.

Raise the middle of your bottom lip while blowing. Smoke is pushed into a ring shape by the air it travels through, which makes it very difficult to release smoke as any other shape. Still, you can try this by raising the center of your lower lip upward while you make the O shape for blowing rings, creating a bump that the smoke might tumble over to form a heart shape. If you can't hold your lip in this position, push it up with your finger. If you push the middle of your upper lip down instead, you can try to make an upside-down heart.

Troubleshooting

Practice in an area without wind. It's hard enough to blow ordinary smoke rings in an area with a breeze or a fan blowing, let alone more complicated shapes. Practice in a room with all the doors and windows closed, without any people or pets walking through it.

Angle your head downward. Some people find it easier to blow smoke rings (or other shapes) with their head tilted downward, at roughly a 45º angle. This might be because this motion tightens the throat, making it easier to release a small, quick ball of air through.

Don't blow more than necessary. You only need to release a tiny amount of air to form a smoke ring with the "cough" method, and you don't need to breathe at all if you're using your tongue or flicking your cheek. If you're making smoke clouds instead of rings or hearts, you are probably exhaling without realizing it. Concentrate on your breathing first, until you can release a tiny puff of smoke, then focus on your mouth shape.

Practice simple rings first. Before you try blowing hearts, practice blowing smoke rings until you succeed on about half of your attempts or more. You'll probably need quite a bit of practice to go from there to blowing hearts, so having a good grasp of the basics will save time in the long run.