How to Do Vape Tricks: Beginner to Advanced Guide

Vape tricks are controlled exhale techniques that shape vapour into rings, ghosts, waterfalls, and other patterns. They are the vapour-based equivalent of traditional smoke tricks, using e-cigarette vapour instead of cigarette smoke. Every trick is learnable with the right vape setup, the right technique, and regular practice. Learning how to do vape tricks starts with producing dense, steady vapour, which is why a high-VG e-liquid, a sub-ohm vape kit, and a still room provide the best conditions. Most people begin with the Ghost Inhale before moving on to Blowing O's, the French Inhale, the Bane, the Dragon, the Waterfall, and the Tornado as breath control and timing improve. More advanced vape tricks, such as the Jellyfish, combine several movements into one smooth sequence and require accurate timing, consistent practice, and reliable vapour production. Most beginners notice an immediate difference when they switch from a basic pod to a cloud-focused setup. Even experienced vapers rarely land every trick perfectly on the first attempt, so don't be discouraged if early attempts fall apart. Thicker vapour stays together for longer, making the first few tricks much easier to control.

This guide covers beginner, intermediate, and advanced vape tricks, including the Ghost Inhale, O-rings, French Inhale, Dragon, Waterfall, Tornado, Jellyfish, Triangle, Shotgun, and Liquid Mist. The final sections also explain how long vape tricks take to learn, every trick's name and common alias, whether disposable vapes work, whether vape tricks are safe, and the four common mistakes that stop vape tricks from working.

What Do You Need to Do Vape Tricks?

To do vape tricks, you need a high-VG e-liquid, a sub-ohm device, and still air. Vape tricks require dense, shapeable vapour, and each requirement helps thicken or stabilise that exhaled vapour.

Before trying any trick, make sure these three basics are covered.

• High-VG e-liquid with 70% VG or more produces a dense, slow-moving cloud. Thicker vapour stays together for longer, making shapes easier to form and control.
• Sub-ohm devices produce larger volumes of vapour, while adjustable airflow lets you control draw resistance and maintain smoother, more consistent exhaled vapour.
• Still air in a draft-free room keeps vapour shapes stable after every exhale. Even a light breeze disperses vapour quickly and makes vape tricks harder to perform.

In the UK, 70/30 shortfill e-liquids are the standard high-VG option for producing dense vapour. Most TPD-compliant 50/50 10ml e-liquids create thinner vapour, so they are generally less suitable for vape tricks.

The dense vapour this setup produces is the vapour you shape in the first trick, the Ghost Inhale.

How to Do the Ghost Inhale Vape Trick

To do the ghost inhale, the easiest of the vape tricks, take a mouth-hit of vapour, let it settle briefly, push it out in a dense ball with your tongue, and snap it back in. The Ghost Inhale is one of the few vape tricks that lets you release and immediately pull the same vapour back into your mouth, making it one of the easiest ways to learn how to ghost vape.

Once the vapour is sitting comfortably in your mouth, complete the movement in five smooth steps.

1. Draw a gentle mouth hit of dense vapour for 2-3 seconds. Keep the vapour in your mouth and do not inhale into your lungs.
2. Hold the vapour briefly before pushing it forward. Let the dense vapour settle before you begin the ghost vape trick.
3. Push the vapour forward with a light tongue push. Let the vapour drift a few centimetres in front of your mouth.
4. Watch the vapour ball form in front of your mouth. Keep your head still and avoid blowing the vapour away.
5. Snap the vapour back in almost immediately. A quick recapture completes the ghost inhale and creates the floating effect.

Vape tricks work best when you use a mouth hit because the vapour stays denser than vapour mixed with lung air. Mouth-to-lung guidance from vape manufacturers also recommends keeping vapour in the mouth before inhaling, which helps maintain vapour density for controlled movements.

Many people confuse this trick with ghost or stealth vaping, but they are completely different. The ghost inhale is a vapour-shaping technique, while ghost or stealth vaping describes methods that reduce visible vapour. This trick is also known as the Mushroom Cloud. The most common beginner mistake is using a lung exhale instead of a gentle tongue push, which causes the vapour ball to break apart before you can recapture it.

The same tongue movement also makes learning O-rings much easier.

How to Blow O's with a Vape

To blow O's with a vape, take a mouth hit, shape your lips into a tight O, and push a ring out with a short throat pulse. A short contraction from the throat releases one clean ring at a time. This makes the O one of the most recognisable vape tricks and the foundation for many advanced vape smoke tricks.

The throat pulse is a short, silent cough movement that releases one ring with each contraction. A 70/30 or higher-VG mix produces dense rings that hold their shape for longer.

Use the following five movements to practise O-rings.

1. Take a gentle mouth hit and keep the vapour in your mouth.
2. Let the vapour settle briefly before releasing it.
3. Form a small, relaxed O with your lip shape. Keep your tongue low and your cheeks relaxed.
4. Pulse your throat once using a short throat contraction to release a single smoke ring.
5. Don't worry about making perfect rings immediately. Most people improve after repeating the movement several times.

Cheek-tap variant: Lightly tap your cheek while holding the O-shaped lips to help release a smoke ring if the throat pulse feels difficult.

For big O's, make the lip opening slightly wider and gently push your jaw forward. A slower throat pulse also helps produce larger, slower-moving rings. Many people search for vape smoke tricks or smoke tricks, but the rings are made from vapour rather than smoke. The O-ring is the entry skill for the Jellyfish. The French Inhale family that follows needs no ring at all and focuses on controlled inhale instead.

How to Do the French Inhale and the Bane

To do the French Inhale, draw vapour into your mouth, part your lips, extend your lower jaw, and inhale the rising vapour through your nose. The French Inhale, one of the two most recognisable vape tricks, reverses normal vapour flow into an upside-down waterfall through the nostrils.

The French Inhale, also known as the Irish Waterfall, relies more on natural airflow than force.

Once the vapour is sitting comfortably in your mouth, follow these four steps.

1. Draw a gentle mouth hit and keep the vapour in your mouth.
2. Part your lips slightly and let the rising vapour escape naturally.
3. Extend your lower jaw to guide the rising vapour towards your nostrils.
4. Inhale gently through your nose and let the vapour rise without forcing it.

The extended lower jaw directs the rising vapour upward. No forced push is needed. The same rising-vapour position is the foundation for the Bane.

How to Turn a French Inhale into the Bane

To perform the Bane, grit your teeth as the vapour rises, splitting the cloud into vertical bars before drawing it through your nostrils. The Bane builds directly on the French Inhale, while an O-ring variation is covered with the smoke ring technique.

Once you are comfortable with the French Inhale, try these three movements to create the Bane effect.

1. Grit your teeth lightly as the vapour rises.
2. Release the vapour slowly through the gaps to create narrow vapour bars.
3. Draw the split streams through your nostrils to complete the effect.

The Dragon exhale that follows forces vapour out in four directions at once.

How to Do the Dragon, Waterfall, and Tornado

The dragon, waterfall, and tornado are three vape tricks that use forceful or surface-based control of exhaled vapour instead of mouth shaping. The three tricks step up in showmanship from the mouth tricks, although the Tornado remains beginner-friendly once the vapour pool has settled.

The Dragon needs no props. The Waterfall uses a bottle with ice, while the Tornado needs a flat surface such as a table and a controlled hand chop or flick.

How to Do the Dragon

Unlike most beginner tricks, the Dragon sends vapour out through the nose and both corners of the mouth at the same time. The Dragon vape trick is one of the easiest vape tricks because it only requires a controlled exhale and good breath timing.

Learning the Dragon only takes three actions.

1. Inhale a deep drag and hold the vapour in your mouth.
2. Close the centre of your lips while leaving both mouth corners open.
3. Exhale forcefully through your nostrils and both mouth corners at the same time.

The Dragon needs no props.

How to Do the Waterfall

The Waterfall creates the illusion of vapour flowing like liquid over a surface. The chilled air inside the bottle cools the vapour, making it heavier so it sinks instead of rising. The Waterfall vape trick relies on a bottle, ice, and dense vapour rather than breath control alone.

Perform it in three simple movements.

1. Place a few pieces of ice inside a bottle.
2. Exhale a thick cloud into the bottle until it fills.
3. Pour the vapour slowly onto a flat surface and let it spill over the edge.

The same flat surface is used for the Tornado.

How to Do the Tornado

The Tornado starts with a pool of vapour resting on a flat surface before lifting it into a spinning column with a quick hand movement. The Tornado uses a flat surface, a controlled hand chop, and a quick flick to lift a vapour pool into a spinning column.

Create the Tornado using these three movements.

1. Exhale a thick vapour pool onto a flat surface or table.
2. Chop your hand into the middle of the vapour pool.
3. Flick your wrist upward while lifting your arm to spin the vapour into a column.

Spinning a stable column trains the dense cloud control that the advanced vape tricks demand.

How to Do Advanced Vape Tricks

To do advanced vape tricks, progress from single-exhale shapes to multi-stage tricks built on the O-ring. These tricks make two vapour bodies interact instead of creating a single shape.

Once the basics become consistent, advanced tricks are mostly about timing rather than learning completely new movements. The Jellyfish is the best-known example and is often used as a benchmark in trick demonstrations and competitions.

Other advanced vape tricks include the Triangle, Shotgun, and Liquid Mist. Every multi-stage trick demands dense vapour, so the dense-cloud setup of the device and e-liquid decides how far practice takes the trick.

How to Do the Jellyfish

The Jellyfish is created by pushing a smaller cloud through a large O-ring so the ring wraps it into a tailed bell. The Jellyfish is an advanced vape trick that builds on the O-ring technique learned earlier.

Once you've mastered O-rings, you can start practising the Jellyfish.

1. Blow a large and slow O-ring using the technique from the O's section.
2. Draw a short and dense cloud into your mouth.
3. Push the smaller cloud through the centre of the ring with an open-palm push through.
4. Time the movement so the ring wraps around the cloud and forms the tail of the Jellyfish.

Getting a clean Jellyfish usually takes patience. Even experienced vapers often need several attempts before the ring wraps neatly around the cloud.

How to Do the Triangle

To do the Triangle vape trick, blow a slow O-ring, place your hands on either side of the ring, and clap them together gently to reshape the ring into a Triangle. The Triangle is an advanced vape trick that builds directly on clean, stable O-rings and precise hand timing.

Follow these four movements to do the Triangle trick.

1. Blow a large, slow-moving O-ring using the technique from the O's section.
2. Hold both hands on either side of the ring without disturbing the vapour.
3. Bring your hands together with a gentle clap to reshape the ring.
4. Repeat the movement until the ring forms a recognisable triangular shape.

A large, slow O-ring is much easier to reshape than a small, fast-moving ring. Most people need consistent O-ring control before the Triangle becomes reliable.

How to Do the Shotgun

To do the Shotgun vape trick, hold dense vapour in your mouth while another person positions their mouth close to the vapour stream and inhales as you release the vapour slowly. The Shotgun creates a concentrated stream of vapour between two people instead of forming a free-floating cloud.

Try the Shotgun using these three movements.

1. Take a mouth hit and keep the vapour in your mouth.
2. Position your mouth close to the vapour stream while avoiding direct contact.
3. Release the vapour slowly while the other person inhales the cloud.

The Shotgun depends on controlled mouth release rather than strong exhalation. Good timing helps keep the vapour stream dense and continuous.

How to Do the Liquid Mist

To do the Liquid Mist vape trick, exhale fuller clouds onto the surface of a glass of cold water so the vapour spreads across the top before flowing over the edge. The Liquid Mist combines thicker clouds with cool air to create the appearance of a floating mist.

Create the Liquid Mist using these three steps.

1. Fill a glass or bowl with cold water.
2. Exhale a dense cloud gently across the surface instead of directly into the water.
3. Allow the vapour to spread before it slowly spills over the edge.

Cold water helps keep the vapour together for longer, creating the flowing mist effect. High-VG e-liquid produces fuller clouds, which helps the vapour spread more evenly across the surface.

Which Vape Kit and E-Liquid Are Best for Vape Tricks?

A sub-ohm kit with adjustable airflow provides the cloud volume needed for most vape tricks. The best vape for tricks produces fuller clouds, and trick quality scales with cloud density.

The best vape juice for tricks is a 70/30 shortfill with 70% VG or higher. Thick vapour makes O-rings, Jellyfish, and Tornado tricks easier to control.

A low-resistance sub-ohm coil used within its recommended wattage range (typically 60–80W) works well for most vape tricks.

The table below compares three device classes for vape tricks by cloud density.

A sub-ohm kit produces the biggest clouds. A pod kit and disposable vape create smaller clouds, so they suit beginner mouth tricks better. A no-nicotine shortfill is a practical option for longer practice sessions.

For thicker clouds, choose high VG shortfill e-liquids with a 70/30 shortfill blend. With the right kit chosen, vape tricks improve through safe, structured practice.

How Do You Practise Vape Tricks Safely?

To practise vape tricks safely, train in short, controlled sessions away from drafts. Use mouth hits instead of lung inhales to reduce unnecessary vapour intake.

Safe practice helps reduce unnecessary nicotine exposure because vape tricks often involve repeated puffs and longer practice sessions.

How Do You Practise Vape Tricks?

Practise in a room without drafts or fans, take mouth hits, keep sessions short, and keep a glass of water handy. Most people learn faster in a room without fans or open windows because moving air quickly breaks apart the cloud. These simple vape tips help maintain dense vapour, reduce fatigue, and make it easier to learn vape tricks.

• UK law limits nicotine strength in TPD-compliant e-liquids to 20 mg/ml under the Tobacco and Related Products Regulations 2016.
• Most beginners learn the Ghost Inhale and French Inhale in about 3-7 days. O-rings and the Jellyfish usually take 2-6 weeks of regular practice.
• A high-VG e-liquid and consistent sub-ohm vaping produce denser clouds and make repeated practice easier.

What Is the Easiest Vape Trick?

The Ghost Inhale is the easiest vape trick for a beginner.

The three easiest vape tricks are the Ghost Inhale, the French Inhale, and the Tornado.

After mastering these tricks, move on to the full trick list below.

What Are the Names of All Vape Tricks?

The table below lists the 11 recognised vape tricks with their aliases and difficulty.

Difficulty increases as tricks require greater breath control, timing, and cloud manipulation.

Can You Do Vape Tricks with a Disposable Vape?

Yes, disposable vapes handle beginner vape tricks that rely on mouth control and timing.

A disposable vape produces thinner clouds than high-powered devices. The same applies to devices such as Elf Bar, Juul, Puff Bar, and most pod systems.

Can You Do Vape Tricks Without Inhaling?

Yes, the mouth hit (cigar puff) performs vape tricks without lung inhalation and keeps the vapour dense.

A mouth hit holds the vapour in the mouth before release, as explained earlier. That helps keep dense vapour together for shaping.

Even when vapour stays in the mouth, nicotine can still be absorbed.

Are Vape Tricks Bad for You?

Yes. Vape tricks can increase nicotine exposure because they often involve repeated puffs and longer practice sessions.

Large amounts of vapour and longer practice sessions increase nicotine intake, vapour volume, and chemical exposure. This aligns with guidance from NHS Better Health and GOV.UK.

Vape tricks are intended only for adults aged 18+ using TPD-compliant devices. The mistakes below add unnecessary strain and are best avoided.

What Mistakes Stop Vape Tricks from Working?

Four mistakes stop vape tricks from working.

• Choosing the wrong VG ratio reduces cloud density and makes shapes harder to control.
• Inhaling too deeply into the lungs thins the vapour before release. Review the basics in how-to-vape if needed.
• Exhaling with too much force breaks the shape of every trick.
• Shaping the mouth or tongue incorrectly distorts O's and the French Inhale.

Correcting these mistakes gives each trick a cleaner shape and makes steady progress much easier with a TPD-compliant UK kit using 2 ml tanks and 20 mg/ml e-liquid.