What is Happening to My Neck?

By Gretchen Asher –

The youngest of the Baby Boomer women turned 50 in 2014 with Gen Xers right behind. Even though Boomer women are more confident in their beauty than they were in their 20s, they still don’t want to look like their mums and many are not ready for invasive cosmetic procedures. Sadly, a woman’s neck begins to show age before anything else leaving these vibrant, vivacious, beautiful women asking, “What in the world is happening to my neck?”

So, let’s talk about the Why and the What You Can Do About It…

First, the Why?

1. The skin on the neck is thinner than on the face: As we age, the skin on the neck becomes thinner and loses elasticity, causing the neck to sag. This can begin in our early 40s. Thank you perimenopause. How absolutely cruel! Studies of skin thickness on the face and neck show that the thinnest skin is on the upper eyelid (we knew that). The skin on the cheeks is 2.78 to 3.23 thicker than the upper eyelids. Skin on the neck, however, ranges from 1.50 to 3.14 times thicker than the upper eyelids.
2. The skin on the neck and chest has less sebaceous glands: This means that the skin on our neck and chest secrets less naturally moisturizing oil in these areas causing dry skin, which unfortunately ages at a faster rate.
3. The blood circulation is slower than on facial skin: This contributes to the more rapid drying and sagging of neck skin.
4. Ending your facial regime at your jawline: Many women stop their facial regime at their jawline and don’t think about caring for the neck/décolleté until they wake up one day and see some sort of turkey-neck. Gasp!

What Can You Do?

1. Don’t neglect your neck/décolleté: At a minimum, use your regular facial regime morning and evening on your neck/décolleté area.
2. Use products specifically formulated for the neck/décolleté: Both the neck and décolleté require stronger formulations to reverse aging. Dedicated neck creams are more concentrated and powerful than most face creams. Look for products for treating the neck/décolleté which contains Tripeptides and other active ingredients clinically tested to firm and lift.   Thankfully, there’s plenty of science to show they help make new collagen and elastic tissue, which is what the neck and chest need to look firmer and younger
3. Rule #1 applies except for oily (face) skin: Because the skin on the neck/décolleté is dryer than the face, do NOT use creams for oily skin on your neck. This will only dry your already drier skin faster. Gasp!
4. Exfoliate: Use a gentle facial scrubs/exfoliant on your neck at least once a week to renew skin cells.
5. Use Sunscreen faithfully on face, neck & décolleté: Enough said!
6. Take care of your neck/décolleté and it won’t betray your age.

Written by Gretchen Asher, Owner, BeFab Skin Care, A Baby Boomer herself committed to educating Baby Boomer women about skin care.

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