What Nicotine Strength Should I Buy? The #1 Guide to Finding Your Perfect Strength

An in-depth explanation of nicotine E-Liquids, including their types & which nicotine strength to buy.

Maybe you’re trying to quit smoking, but your vape doesn’t quite scratch the nicotine itch. Maybe you’ve got a new vape kit, but you don’t know where to start when you need to buy E-Liquids. Maybe you’re looking for someone to tell you that smoking exactly 8 cigarettes a day means you need exactly x amount of nicotine in your vape.

In truth, no chart or conversion tool can tell you how much nicotine you need. However, learning a little about how the nicotine in E-Liquids works (both in your device and in your body) can help you find your perfect strength.

In this article, we’ll delve deeper into nicotine E-Liquids and give you the tools you need to find your perfect strength.

What strength nicotine E-Liquid do I need to start with?

This one comes down to your smoking habits. Here are a few questions to ask yourself when considering which strength to start with:

1. How many cigarettes do/did you smoke per day? Your usual smoking habits should dictate the nicotine strength you use. A pack-a-day smoker who opts for a 3mg nicotine strength will be very unsatisfied, while a social smoker who opts for a 20mg nic salt may find their vape too strong.
2. Do you need to smoke right when you wake up? Do you smoke when you’re unwell? Do you crave a cigarette in places where you can’t smoke? If you answered yes to any of these, this points to a stronger addiction which may require both a high nicotine strength as well as a few lifestyle changes to help break the cycle. Integrating your vape into your usual smoking habits, like vaping in your usual smoke spot (if you aren’t already), may help ease your cravings more.
3. If you’re already a vaper, what strength are you currently using—and does it feel satisfying? If not, you may need to either increase your nicotine strength or change which type of E-Liquid you’re using. If you’re currently using a freebase E-Liquid, nic salts provide a more satisfying nicotine hit overall and are smoother on the throat.
4. If you’re already a vaper, do you find yourself vaping a lot? If so, your nicotine strength may be too low. Of course, the physical act of puffing your vape can become habitual in itself, just as nail-biting is, so it’s important to be mindful when you vape. If you, like me, end up vaping non-stop with little to no satisfaction, the culprit is most likely your nicotine strength.

Best Nicotine Strengths For Smokers

Is Nicotine E-Liquid dangerous?

If you’re living in the UK, you’ve seen the glaring, graphic warnings on every tobacco and tobacco-related product out there (Fun fact: my dad calls the colour of the UK’s cigarette packaging, Pantone 448C, “cancer brown”).

We know that cigarettes are dangerous. We’ve been told by everyone from our parents to the government itself that “Nicotine is an addictive chemical.” What’s interesting, however, is that nicotine isn’t the carcinogen that many, many people wrongly believe it is. 

Nicotine is what keeps people using tobacco products. This much is proven. However, it’s the thousands of chemicals in tobacco smoke that make it so deadly. Over 7,000 chemicals, in fact, that make it harder for smokers to quit.

Those thousands of chemicals—not nicotine—are the cause of serious tobacco-related health issues. 

Because vaping is fairly new, researchers and medical professionals haven’t had a chance to study the long-term effects of vaping. But while the long-term effects of vaping are unknown, the long-term effects of tobacco smoking are undisputed. Coupled with vaping’s proven efficacy as a smoking cessation aid in recent years, the UK has embraced vaping as a harm-reduction strategy for current tobacco smokers.

The question of whether vaping nicotine is harmful in the long term is therefore difficult to answer. However, Cancer Research UK has stated that the side effects of vaping are roughly equivalent to those of NRT (such as nicotine patches or gum). This is to say that, at the present moment, vaping appears to be no more or less dangerous than using NRT to quit smoking.

Can you get E-Liquids without nicotine?

Yes. If you have a box mod or a sub-ohm vape kit, you should be using high-VG E-Liquids like shortfills—which contain no nicotine, unless you choose to add some in the form of a nic shot.

You can also get nicotine-free vape juices for your pod vape or starter kit.

If you’ve never been a smoker, you should not be using E-Liquids with nicotine.

What type of E-Liquid has the best nicotine?

Another form of nicotine, called “freebase” nicotine, is found in 10ml freebase 50/50 juices as well as in the nic shots which are added to shortfills.

Freebase nicotine is slower to enter the bloodstream and provides less of a throat hit, which is good for those looking to wean off of nicotine, or for those who want to continue using nicotine at lower strengths. In the UK, 50/50 E-Liquids are available in a range of strengths, including 0mg, 3mg, 6mg, 12mg, and 18mg.

You can read more about the different types of nicotine in our article comparing salt nic and freebase E-Liquids.

Can you have too much Nicotine E-Liquid?

Of course, you can have too much nicotine, which can lead to a host of truly unpleasant symptoms. It’s colloquially referred to as being “Nic-Sick.” It’s imperative to moderate your nicotine intake to avoid light-headedness, headaches, and nausea.

People looking to quit smoking, however, should be more careful of not getting enough nicotine. Read that again.

To illustrate, if you were to switch to vaping as a pack-a-day smoker, and you chose a 3mg strength E-Liquid (the lowest strength available) to vape, you’d likely find your device glued to your palm for the entirety of your day as you endlessly puff on a device that gives you no fulfilment. Trust me: that was me, for years, stuck as a dual-user (a smoker and a vaper) because my vape just wasn’t enough.

Then, I tried a 20mg nic salt. I quit smoking—after a decade—in five days.

Have you ever just finished a cigarette, thought about lighting another one, and the very thought made you feel ill? Most smokers, whether they realise it or not, already regulate their nicotine intake—or, rather, their bodies do. Everyone has their own nicotine tolerance which changes over time. When you’re addicted to smoking, your body tells you when to have a cigarette. The same happens when you vape nicotine.

When I switched to a high-strength E-Liquid, I found that my vape no longer lived in my grasp during my waking hours. I was able to put it down—something I only did when absolutely necessary before. This is because my body has a limit, and once it’s reached its max amount of nicotine—once my tolerance level is hit—I simply stop vaping.

This is why, when you’re first switching from smoking to vaping, we recommend starting with a higher strength E-Liquid. One benefit of starting at a higher strength is that it’ll allow you more wiggle room to wean yourself off of nicotine when you’re ready, as there will be more “steps” between your current strength and zero if you start at a higher dose.

Essentially, yes, you can have too much nicotine. However, if you’re just starting your transition to vaping, you should be more concerned about satisfying your nicotine cravings.

The bottom line: finding your perfect strength

As mentioned, while there is no perfect calculator to tell you which strength to start with, you can generally follow this rule of thumb:

• Heavy Smokers (+10 cigarettes per day): Start with a 20mg nic salt or a 12mg-18mg strength freebase E-Liquid. We recommend nic salts over freebase for heavy smokers because they’re more satisfying.
• Moderate Smokers (between 5-10 cigarettes per day): Start with a 10mg nic salt, or a freebase E-Liquid strength of 6mg-12mg.
• Light Smokers (less than 5 cigarettes per day): Start with a 5mg or 10mg nic salt or a freebase strength of 3mg-6mg.

This is, of course, just a general guide. If you’re very unsure about what to buy, our recommendation is to purchase two or three different strengths and types of E-Liquid to see which nicotine strength is best for you.

If you need further help, don’t hesitate to contact us. Our expert team of vapers (and ex-smokers) are on hand with sage advice and personalised recommendations to help you find your perfect nicotine strength.