I want to get to the bottom of this. I’ve been in Vancouver for the past five days and one thing I’ve noticed is Canadians have GREAT skin. In general, everyone’s skin in Vancouver is significantly better than where I’m from (Brisbane, Australia). I’d say almost one in five people (especially women) under the age of 30 in Brisbane get acne, but here it’s ridiculous, it’s like one in fifty or something.
To be fair, there is a massive hole in the ozone layer right above where I live in Australia, so our skin ages a lot faster, we get wrinkles earlier and we have more freckles and sunspots …but here in Vancouver, there is noticeably less acne.
Even my friend that I’m travelling with has noticed. He comes to Canada every couple of years or so, and he said he always notices that a lot of Canadians have beautiful clear porcelain white skin. Well, I definitely have to get to the bottom of this!!!
Are you from Canada? I’d love to hear from you. I’ve done a Google search and I’ve even found resources on the net that talk about how great Canadians skin is. Why is that!!?? I’ve got a few theories:
- There’s not a lot of sun here. I know the sun aggravates acne rosacea, but I never though sun was a big cause of ‘general’ acne. Maybe I’m wrong.
- Canadian air is very dry. Brisbane (where I’m from) is a tropical city so it’s often humid. This means more sweating and oilier skin. So perhaps the dry air in Canada means less oily skin and therefore less acne. This is the best theory I have so far I think.
- People in Vancouver seem to be SUPER healthy. There are organic stores everywhere and a lot of vegetarians. Exercise and fitness also seems to be a huge thing here. People are also more open to alternative medicine. That’s got to make a difference.
That’s all I’ve got. If you’re Canadian and you know the secret, please pass it on. Honestly though it’s SO noticeable. I’ve seen Proactiv commercials on TV here too. I don’t think they’ll do as well in this country!!!
Fran
5 responses ↓
Ya I would say the environment probably is what plays the biggest part in there complexions just as Australia’s plays such a big part in its citizens.
And of course having such a great health care system must help. As more often than not, other health problems can result in aggravating pre-existing skin problems if not causing them outright.
I have to disagree, I have lived in Vancouver my entire life and have had acne for ten years now. Maybe I’m that one person out of fifty!
I do have to say that I’ve found your blog to be very helpful. I’ve already seen some improvement in my skin in the first few weeks of your mini-course, so many thanks for that!
Yeah Maddie, I have seen many people with acne, but compared to Brisbane …there is a lot less here. Maybe it’s just a huge problem in Brisbane
I love, love, love your city by the way. I could live here forever!!! It’s the prettiest city I have ever seen. The tulips are so nice, and I’m so amazed at how much fresh and organic food there is around. We went up Grouse Mountain today and I was jumping up and down with excitement when I saw snow. It was a bit lame of me to do that but I loved it.
Maybe it is the environment. I think it’s the weather beacuse I live in Phoenix,Arizona in southwest USA in the middle of the desert it’s like over 100 degrees for 6 months out of the year and my skin hates the heat- hates it!! but when its actually cooler my skin looks amazing. And its very very dry heat even worse for me personally. But seriously around christmas and New years my skin is flawless.
As a Canadian (Torontonian) who travels quite a bit, I have to agree. Canadians do have great skin.
Which is wonderful - unless you’re one of the few (such as me) with terrible acne.
I think there were maybe a handful of people in high school even who had acne.
I’ve been following your blog for a while and have found it very helpful. Thanks for all your research and for sharing your experiences.
I hope you enjoy Toronto!
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