How to Care for Your Neck and Decolletage

Have you ever seen a giraffe with a saggy neck? No, because they love their neck, and you should too. In human selfcare, the winner takes it all. Regarding skincare, our winner is located from the chin up, so it gets all of our time and energy. While we're focused on the face and exercises to tone the body parts shaped by muscle mass, the decolletage and neck lines are free to get insulted and rudely sneak up on us as revenge for getting ignored and overlooked in the early stages.

How thin is the skin on the neck and decolletage area?

Touch the skin on your forearm or thigh, then the neck and decollete area. These latter regions have delicate, thin skin, constantly bombarded by external factors. For comparison, the skin on the cheeks is about 3 mm thick, while your neck and chest are about 0.75mm; almost as thin as the humble eyelid, going from 0.5 to 0.66 mm.
 

It is not hard to imagine how little exposure to UV radiation, dry air, dehydrating harsh soaps, or pollution can pack a powerful punch to this fragile skin and cause decolletage and neck wrinkles, making you a laughing stock of all the giraffes out there, as they stare at you under their ridiculously flamboyant eyelashes, chewing the sun-soaked buds from the top branches. But since they don’t have opposable thumbs, we get the last laugh as we can put on a neck cream, conduct research, and produce new technologies to help us combat the aging neck and decolletage (and ladders to get to the tallest branches too, so don’t mess with us giraffes).

What Factors Affect the Decolletage and Neck Aging?

Natural Aging: The process is natural, unavoidable, and final, albeit cruel and unresponsive to reasoning, but we can still slow it down. Over the years, collagen levels naturally decline in everyone, no matter what genetic lottery they’ve won, leading to a loss of firmness and elasticity. Finding sustainable ways to replenish collagen that you’re willing to stick to is essential for maintaining healthy, youthful-looking skin of the neck and decollete for as long as possible.

Sun Exposure: Women in Mediterranean or sunnier countries often experience more damage in these exposed areas. Prolonged sun exposure can cause and accelerate photoaging - the deterioration and premature aging of the skin’s structure due to UV radiation - leading to visible sagging, pigmentation, and wrinkles. The best neck creams will not do as much for your decolletage and neck care as prevention and sun protection will.

 

Blue Light: The modern villain that has transformed our faces in the digital era. Unlike UV rays, blue light emanating from all screens surrounding us penetrates deeper into the skin, generating more free radicals and leaving the skin less capable of defending itself and more vulnerable to aging.

Exposure to Elements: This is not the title of a new superhero franchise but an acknowledgment of what extremely cold, windy, hot, or dry weather can do to the skin. You might be best off in the heat as the pores will release sweat to the surface, providing some natural softening protection to the delicate areas. But if you’ve ever stood outside in the cold and wind or spent 10 hours indoors with central heating, you’ve seen what it does to your face and hands. The same thing happens to the neck and décolleté area.

Harsh products: Loose neck skin at 40 is nothing strange, but it is as much a result of natural loss of elasticity as it is a lifetime of product misuse. Due to the fragility of these areas, we simply cannot use the same product as we would for the rest of our bodies. The same bar of soap for your feet or a coarse body scrub will not be good news for the face, neck, and decolletage long-term.

How to Prevent Sagging and Lines on Neck and Decolletage?

Wear Sunscreen: Baz Luhrmann was right. Wear sunscreen. There is no more guilty party for premature aging skin than chronic Sun overexposure, which is the primary cause of pigmentation and wrinkles on the face, neck, and decolletage. UV rays still bombard your skin in winter, although they don’t feel as warm. You can get tanned skiing, so use that high-SPF sunscreen daily, covering all of the areas of the skin that will not be covered and protected by clothing.
 

Avoid Sleeping on Your Side: Attention, attention side sleepers. We know it’s comfy, but side-sleeping will, thanks to our good friend gravity, stack your lady lumps on top of each other, creating wrinkles in the décolletage area, and you will stay in this position for hours worsening the problem. A night of side sleeping here and there will not do much damage, but regular side sleepers will see worsening lines on the decolletage, getting more visible in their late thirties. Consider using a specialized night bra to support your chest while you rest, such as Pillow Bra, a special bra with an ergonomic foam cushion. it fits perfectly between the breasts, filling the natural space within the cleavage area when you sleep to prevent creasing. If you believe that home is where you take off your bra, and a sleeping bra seems like blasphemy, consider finding a comfortable position on your back.
 

Toning Exercises: An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of neck lines treatment. Just as facial yoga, neck exercises help strengthen and tone the muscles below the skin, creating a lifting effect. Isometric neck flexion might be a good choice. So, how to make your neck look younger? With your chin slightly tilted down and your hands on your forehead, gently push your head forward while resisting the movement with your hands.
 
 

Choose Gentler Products: The skin on your neck and décolletage has unique needs. It is thinner and has less muscle support, which makes it more fragile and prone to deterioration. Use products specifically formulated to hydrate, prevent hyperpigmentation, and reduce wrinkles. Look for mild cleansers with a high percentage of natural ingredients and explicit skin barrier protection functions. A good rule of thumb is that if the product is suitable for sensitive facial skin, it will be suitable for the neck and decolletage.

Be careful with your perfume: We do love our fragrances, and this is a hard one to give up. In reality, most heavily scented items will contain an ingredient called "perfume", and the manufacturers are not obligated to say what this term includes, so there can be a lot of chemicals hiding under this name that are great for making the scent last longer, but are detrimental to your skin. Applying perfume on your neck and decolletage before stepping out into the sun makes the skin more photosensitive and increases the risk of sun-induced dark spots. Opt for natural oils that care for skin while smelling nice, or if you don't part with your favorite fragrance, spray your shirt before you put it on rather than spraying directly on the skin that will be exposed to sunlight.
 

Maintain Good Posture: What would your grandma say if she saw how you’re sitting now? Proper posture used to be a big thing in social interaction and education, but we’ve somehow drifted away from its importance. As a society, we spend more time sitting than ever before in human history, and prolonged phone use or computer work makes our head bend forward and can lead to "tech neck,” a catchy name for lines and wrinkles caused by repetitive motion or positions. Not quite a full-fledged turkey neck, but it's a step towards it. Keep your head upright, and your gaze leveled straight ahead whenever possible.
 

Exfoliate Regularly: In addition to the gentle cleansers mentioned, you’d be wise to introduce regular exfoliation—nothing harsh. Make sure the exfoliative particles are fine and use the exfoliator a few times a week in the shower to remove dead skin cells from the area. You can use physical exfoliators like luffas and scrubbers, but don’t press as hard as you would on your arms and legs. Exfoliation will instantly make your skin look fresher and prepare it for better absorption of serums and creams.
 
 

Cold Showers: We’ve all thought the ice-plunge people insane at one point or another, but the body of evidence on the benefits of calculated and short-term cold exposure is growing. Incorporate cold water showers whenever you feel you can master the courage to turn that nob and try to take it for at least 30 seconds. Breathe calmly (after the first scream and cuss words); this will make it easier. Cooling the skin is a great natural way to improve blood circulation, stimulate elastin and collagen production, and firm and tone the skin.
 

Avoid Fast Weight Changes: Duh, right?! Although we’re mostly concerned about the visible jiggly aspects of weight gain and mourn the clothing that no longer fits us, frequent weight fluctuations really damage the skin. The more delicate the skin, the greater the response. Maintaining a steady weight helps prevent the skin from having to stretch and crunch multiple times, which often leads to a visible loss of elasticity and sagging in the area.
 

Supportive Sportswear: We don’t care if your exercise outfit is an old T-shirt full of holes or top brands’ latest sweatless smart fabric tights. We only care you wear supportive undergarments, especially if you’re doing intense cardio or HIIT. Find a well-fitted sports bra that supports without compressing the chest. All other things, such as trainers, tracksuits, tights, and tops are all negotiable. Women know that good bras are rare, and the second you find a perfect one, you start dreading the day it gives out.

Quick Beauty Tech Solutions for Aging Neck and Decolletage

Most of our tips so far have been nothing new. You realize you already intuitively know all these things and only need to apply what you know with some level of consistency to see results. However, some do not have the patience or discipline to make all these tiny life adjustments and make them take root as a regular part of their routines. The impatient are lucky as some innovative and effective treatments are available now,  specifically designed to restore the neck and décolleté skin. While you may have already dabbled in a non-invasive rejuvenating gem of LED technology to take years off your face, the FAQ™ 211 Anti-Ageing LED Neck & Décolleté Mask is a new silicone LED mask stemming from the iconic FAQ™ 200 collection. The collection also features:  
 

• FAQ™ 201 Silicone LED Face Mask
• FAQ™ 202 Anti-aging Silicone LED Mask
• FAQ™ 221 Anti-aging LED Hand Mask

The FAQ™ 211 device is ergonomically and functionally explicitly tailored for the unique needs of the neck and décolletage. With 761 optimized points of light and 8 LED wavelengths (including NIR), the light therapy evenly penetrates every millimeter of the skin, addressing a wide range of concerns like wrinkles, dull skin, hyperpigmentation, loss of elasticity, and even acne.
 
 

The dual-wear design allows you to treat both the front and back of the neck (for example to eliminate backne on the upper back with blue LED therapy). Thanks to its lightweight and wireless structure, you can use the FAQ™ 211 silicone LED mask anywhere, whether you are at home relaxing or multitasking on the go ad it only takes 15 minutes per day, 3 to 5 times a week. You can also follow the pre-set treatments within the FAQ™ Swiss app to target specific skincare concerns without worrying you’ll choose the wrong technology.
 

Clinically proven results in just 2 weeks confirm that the mask:

• Increases skin elasticity significantly.
• Reduces wrinkles by 32%.
• Minimises acne by 48%.

GET YOUR FAQ™ 211 NOW

Caring for your neck and décolletage isn’t just about aesthetics or vanity (at least not any more than caring for any other part of the self); it’s about feeling confident and enjoying living in your skin at any age, feeling cared for, and taking time to enjoy the solace and recentering power of rituals you love. Whatever you choose to do, just remember to be gentle, because the delicate neck and decollete area require even more care than your face. By adopting simple preventative measures—like sunscreen, gentle cleansers, getting another pump of that moisturizer and serum to coat your neck and decollete, and exploring advanced technological solutions like the FAQ™ 211 LED Neck & Décolleté Mask, you can keep your skin looking radiant and youthful and even turn the dial a bit back on that ever-ticking clock. After all, why let those sassy giraffes have all the glory?