As much as we love our skincare around here, we have to admit that we’re far from perfect all the time. We’re diligent about layering, exfoliating, hydrating, and applying daily SPF, and we’re damn near obsessive with our morning and nightly routine. As we’ve started to focus more on youth-preserving skincare, we realized we’d been neglecting a major area of concern: our necks!
Your neck starts showing signs of aging way earlier than a lot of areas on your body, and it’s entirely avoidable. Crepey skin, sun damage, broken capillaries, and splotches are the result of simple neglect, and we’re all guilty of not paying the skin on our necks enough attention — but that stops here. Here’s how to start reversing some of the damage and make your neck as high of a priority as the skin on your face.
Cleanse All the Way
One of the easiest ways to better care for your neck is to start cleansing it properly. Your neck is exposed to environmental pollution, makeup, hair care products, perfume, and oil throughout your day, so be sure that you’re not skipping it when you cleanse your face at night. Massage your oil cleansers into your décolletage and neck in firm circular motions, and always start from the bottom and work your way up to your jawline, then repeat with your water-based cleanser.
Note: always apply products to your neck in an upward motion toward your jawline.
Treat Wisely
Skincare is expensive, and treating your neck along with your face basically doubles the ground that needs to be covered, so decide which products are worth carrying over to treat this area. If you feel comfortable using all your products on your neck too, by all means, go for it! But if you need to be a little more sparing, your retinol and vitamin C serum are both sufficient to ensure your neck skin is being protected and replenished. Start applying them to your neck at the same time you apply them to your face!
A Little More TLC
If you really want to rev up your youth preserving efforts, consider purchasing neck-focused products that make the special needs of this area a main focus. These products typically will include hydrating acids, vitamins, peptides, and firming ingredients, such as collagen or proteins. Layer them on at night after retinol and in the morning before SPF.
SPF Always
UVA/UVB rays are public enemy #1 when it comes to early signs of aging, protect ya neck (sorry, had to) by applying SPF all the way down to your décolletage every day. Keep in mind that SPF 40+ is ideal, and sun exposure throughout the day should be minimal even when wearing SPF.
Log Off
As if millennials didn’t have enough to worry about, we’re the first generation up against the phenomenon of “Tech Neck,” which is early signs of aging, back pain, and bad posture that come as a result of staring down at our phones and computer screens. Deep horizontal lines form across your neck when you are constantly looking down and are hard to reverse once they have settled in.
Try to be more mindful of how you hold your head when working or scrolling through Instagram, and take a break every so often to roll your shoulders back and align your chin to be parallel with the ground. And please, stop taking your phone with you to bed!
