The Dos and Don'ts of Caring for Your Neck

To celebrate Neck Care Day on April 24, we're talking about the best ways to care for your neck and decolletage (the area from the chin to the bust). We hear a lot about skincare for the face, but not so much about the neck, and it's time to change that! Read on for our dos and don'ts of caring for your neck.

The skin on the neck is thinner than the skin on the face, making it susceptible to premature aging, sun damage, and crepiness. It also has fewer sebaceous glands, hair follicles, and stem cells that would support skin renewal. Common signs of neck aging include jowling, deep horizontal lines, vertical bands, thin or papery skin, and laxity. While you can't completely prevent your neck from aging, there are some things you can do to keep it looking young.

1. Cleanse: The first (and easiest) thing you can do is to extend your skincare from your face down to your neck and chest. Cleanse your neck and underneath your chin daily, as many of us extend our makeup to those areas, which means they need to be washed, too. Swipe the area after you cleanse with a little micellar water on a cotton round or a makeup eraser to make sure you got everything.

2. Extend those serums: Apply an antioxidant serum in the morning to shield your skin from any free radical damage and a moisturizing one at night (learn about antioxidants and skincare here), plus a retinoid serum to help increase collagen production.

3. Apply your SPF: Yep, you need to put sunscreen on your neck and reapply just like you would for your face!

4. Moisturize: Neck creams are specifically formulated for the delicate skin of the neck, and are often thicker than regular creams since the skin of the neck doesn't have as many sebaceous glands. Most neck creams include ingredients to help with collagen and elastin production. Apply your neck cream in upward strokes (you don't want to help gravity by going down!) twice a day.

5. Gently exfoliate: As you exfoliate your face 2-3 times per week, use a gentle chemical exfoliant on your neck (look for lactic or mandelic acid) to remove dead skin cells and improve texture. Try to avoid using scrubs on the delicate skin of the neck.

6. Posture: It's called "tech neck" for a reason. Try to correct your posture when you notice yourself hunching over your phone. Instead, hold your device up higher (prop it up on a lap desk or a couple of pillows) to prevent premature horizontal wrinkles and sagging.

7. Facials: Your neck can benefit from a facial just as much as your face does. (Learn more about how facials help here.) Salon Patrice offers oxygenating, hydrating, and other anti-aging facials for the face and neck, and our micro-skin treatments are specifically designed to minimize the signs of aging on the eyes, neck, decolletage, and back.

Let Salon Patrice help with your skincare goals. Call (815) 223-8643 for more information or find all of our facial services here.