It’s not just our skincare regime that affects our skin. The experts at LOOKFANTASTIC looked at which Australian cities are most affected by environmental influences, including pollution, average temperatures and smoking prevalence. 

Each city was scored out of 10 for each environmental factor with the worst city scoring 1, and the highest scoring 10, revealing the top 10 Australian cities where your skin is most and least affected by the environment. 

Australia’s Top 10 ‘Worst for Skin’ Hotspots

Out of the 25 Australian cities that made the radiant skin leaderboard, the city that ranked the lowest and therefore the ‘worst’ for your skin was Adelaide, South Australia. The city scored 5.98 out of 10, based on it’s high levels of air pollution, at 5.6µg/m³ of harmful PM2.5 particles and notably high smoking prevalence at 13.5%. 

Following closely behind in second place was Wollongong, New South Wales, achieving a ‘skin score’ of 6.00 out of 10. The city is recognised as having one of the greatest levels of air pollution, at 8µg/m³ of harmful PM2.5 particles, as well as one of the highest recorded average annual temperatures (17.1C). 

Australia’s Top 10 ‘Best for Skin’ Hotspots

The Australian city where skin is least impacted by the environment is Ballarat, situated in the Central Highlands of Victoria, with a score of 8.55 out of 10. Due to its elevation, the city has one of the lowest average temperatures (12.4˚C) in Australia, as well as low annual sunshine hours (2,481). Ballarat also has a very low level of air pollution, at just 2.1µg/m³ of harmful PM2.5 particles.

Located a couple of hours away from Ballarat is Warrnambool in second place. The city scores very similarly to its Victorian neighbour Ballarat, with low levels of air pollution (2.1µg/m³ of harmful PM2.5 particles). However, Warrnambool, known for its sandy beaches, is slightly warmer (14.2˚C).

You can view the research in full here: https://www.lookfantastic.com.au/blog/news/pollution-impact-on-skin/