Skin Care For Neck & Décolleté Areas

There are a plethora of skin care regimen options for your face, be it anti-aging or just treating acne. However, in their pursuit for facial beauty and skin care, women often end up ignoring skin care for their neck and décolleté areas.

Your neck, décolleté and hands are subjected to greater damage by natural and environmental factors. This is because the skin on these areas is thinner and much more sensitive than the skin on your rest of your body. Moreover, these areas are often neglected in a daily skin care routine. Regular neglect and continuous unprotected exposure to sun and other environmental stressors may wreck havoc on the skin of your neck, hands and décolleté and make them prone to development of wrinkles and fine lines prematurely.

Therefore, it is very important to take care of your neck and décolleté in addition to your facial skin care. Here are some tips for the same.

Exfoliate Regularly

Exfoliation scrapes off the dead skin cells from the surface and reveals the fresh new cells from underneath. It is important that you exfoliate your neck and décolleté areas on a regular basis in order to keep the skin healthy and radiant. Use a gently exfoliating skin care product that contains alpha hydroxy acids and enzymes that gently strip off the dead cells without removing the natural moisture of the skin. However, avoid using cleansers and scrubs that contain harsh particles. This is because the skin on these areas extremely thin and fragile and can be easily damaged by harsh ingredients. You can also use cleansers that contain glycolic acid or lactic acid.

Product Suggestions:

Obagi Nu Derm Exfoderm Forte
It is an amazing exfoliating lotion that contains alpha-hydroxy acids in a special base that tones damaged skin and leaves it smooth and supple. It is suitable for normal and oily skin.

Obagi Nu-Derm Exfoderm
This exfoliating lotion contains phytic acid to make the skin smooth and supple and caters to normal and dry skin types.

Moisturize with a Creamy Moisturizer

Another important step that is often overlooked is moisturization. Often women use moisturizers on their face but forget to extend it to the neck and décolleté areas. Body moisturization is an essential step towards healthy skin care. Therefore use a hydrating body lotion or moisturizing cream and slather it liberally over your neck and décolleté. The best time to moisturize your skin is immediately after you get out of the shower. This is because the moisturizing ingredients are able to penetrate better and the water locks the moisture within the skin surface.

You can afford to apply a heavy moisturizer on your neck and décolleté areas because you don't have to apply any make-up on top. Moreover, your hands are regularly subjected to toxins, irritants and regular hand washing. Therefore, a moisturizer needs to be reapplied again and again.

Product Suggestions:

Kinerase Cream
It is an amazing anti-aging moisturizing cream that improves the appearance of fine lines and wrinkles and increases the skin's capacity to retain moisture. It contains a plant based agent called Kinetin that helps the skin retain moisture.

La Roche-Posay Anthelios SX
It is a superb moisturizer that protects the skin against sunburns and provides intensive moisture. It contains Mexoryl SX which is photostable against UVA rays so it does not breakdown and lasts longer than most sunscreens.

Use a Broad Spectrum Sunscreen

Your neck and décolleté areas are exposed to significant sun exposure throughout the day. In fact, these areas show the signs of sun damage very prominently. Therefore, it is extremely important to apply a broad spectrum sunscreen that offers protection against the UVA as well as the UVB radiations of the sun. Slather sunscreen on all the exposed parts of your body about 15-20 minutes before you venture out in the sun so that it gets absorbed effectively. Usually an SPF 30 sunscreen is enough but if you plan to spend more time out in the sun, you would need a higher SPF containing sunscreen.

Product Suggestions:

iS Clinical SPF 20 Powder Sunscreen
It is a unique powder sunscreen containing physical UV blockers comprising of 25% titanium dioxide and 20% zinc oxide. It protects the skin against a vast spectrum of sun rays.

Dr. Marilynn Syrett is a graduate from Western University of Health Sciences. She has authored several articles about antiaging skin care products including many from Obagi and iS Clinical range of skin care products.