It’s been one year since RoC Skincare rolled out its 2015 state-by-state wrinkle rating that pinned New York as the most wrinkle-prone state and Alaska as the most youthful. This year the company takes a peek into the future to predict which U.S. cities will be the most wrinkle-prone by the year 2040. Coming in at number 1 on the 2016 RoC Wrinkle Ranking is Philadelphia; at the opposite end of the spectrum is San Jose, Calif. Lifestyle, they report, is a key factor and their take-home message this year is one we all know well: Preventing today could stave off premature aging tomorrow.
While no one can exactly predict what the future will look like, it’s lifestyle — stress, pollution, commute times, smoking — that the ranking found most greatly affects skin aging. To determine the most (and least) predicted wrinkle-prone cities, Roc Skincare and Sperling’s Best Places performed a meta-analysis of existing research to determine “per capita” figures to conduct accurate comparisons between cities. From this, they were able to create a “Wrinkle Index” score to rank U.S. metro areas.
The 2040 Wrinkle Forecast
Who will be the most wrinkle-prone by the year 2040? These are the top contenders for most and least wrinkle-prone according to the forecast:
Top 5: Most Wrinkle-Prone
1. Philadelphia, PA
2. Denver-Aurora, CO
3. Seattle-Bellevue-Everett, WA
4. Chicago-Naperville-Arlington Heights, IL
5. Minneapolis-St. Paul-Bloomington, MN-WI
Bottom 5: Least Wrinkle-Prone
46. San Francisco-Redwood City-South San Francisco, CA
47. Virginia Beach-Norfolk-Newport News, VA-NC
48. Jacksonville, FL
49. West Palm Beach-Boca Raton-Delray Beach, FL
50. San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara, CA
No matter the predicted wrinkle risk for the future, however, the largest determining factors are lifestyle and skin care choices made over time.
“Our skin is a canvas that reveals a lifetime of environmental influences, behavioral choices and genetics,” says Dr. Cindy Fewen, architect and urban futurist, in RoC's wrinkle ranking press release.
And it's precisely this that creates the bridge between lifestyle and cosmetic enhancement.
According to Dr. Fewen, “While our lifestyle choices are reflected in our faces, there’s no need to necessarily relocate just yet – there are variables studied in the Wrinkle Ranking that are within your control - from smoking and commuting to protecting your skin with sunscreen, serums and moisturizers.”
