When you consider that the skin on the neck down to the chest is a simple extension of what’s on your face, it’s hard to reconcile that this area, which deserves the same kind of attention, is much neglected.
Many of us adopt an ‘out of sight, out of mind’ approach that means the skin below the jaw line isn’t lavished with the same anti-ageing care we give our complexions. It’s a disparity that can make such a striking difference that it famously compelled writer Nora Ephorn to note, “our faces are lies and our necks are the truth,” in her memoir, I Feel Bad About My Neck.
Consider that the neck has its own unique set of needs. “The skin on the neck is hugely different to that of the face, which is what most of us forget,” explains Dr Uliana Gout, award-winning cosmetic doctor and founder of the London Aesthetic Medicine clinic in Harley Street. “It’s thinner and has less hot follicles, meaning it has a slower healing capacity. So we have to be more gentle and use tailored treatments to best help with rejuvenation, de-pigmentation and exfoliation. The neck is also more prone to wrinkles, especially horizontal ones, because the muscles are often contracting as we flex it. Plus we now live in the age of ‘tech neck,’ so we are seeing more wrinkling in the neck due to constant neck flexion.”
Extending your routine as far down as the chest has long been advocated by beauty experts and editors, who often affectionately refer to the approach as ‘tits up skincare.’ You can of course simply use your own regular products and apply them from hairline to nipples. But for those who want to invest in some specialised anti-ageing care for the area – or who find having a dedicated pot a great way of reminding yourself to show your neck and décolletage some love too – the answer is a targeted treatment.
“The neck does require a more targeted, combination and gentler approach,” adds Dr Gout. “Retinoids, gentle exfoliants and heavier moisturisers, coupled with antioxidants and sun protectors are an excellent start to neck rejuvenation.” Simply slotting in daily serums, lotions or creams that expertly bring together super-hydrators such as hyaluronic acid, protective antioxidants and smoothing retinol-like ingredients will put you on that fast track to a neck that’s as fresh-looking as your face.
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Sarah Chapman Skinesis Neck and Chest Rejuvenating Complex
This rich gel-cream may take a few seconds to sink in, but the results are worth the wait. It forms what Sarah Chapman, the A-lister facialist calls an, ‘invisible micro-lift network’ over the skin to have a lifting effect. Think of it as a sheer, transparent pair of Spanx for your neck and décolletage the redefines the contours in all the right places.
Volumising and firming ingredients make the skin look less creased and more plump, while vitamin C and niacinamide tackle any dullness and discolouration. The treatment leaves the skin of the neck and décolletage feeling satin-soft to touch and the delicate scent from jasmine and neroli essential oils is prettily uplifting too.
Buy now £69.00, Harvey Nichols
Emma Hardie Lift & Sculpt Firming Neck Treatment
If apply-and-go is your preference (especially handy for fans of high collars and necklines), this serum is featherlight and absorbs instantly. The silky fluid is packed with a wealth of rich ingredients including two patented components, both of which stimulate skin-smoothing and strengthening collagen to give a firmer, denser appearance. Meanwhile a moisturising omega complex from oils including raspberry keep the skin on the neck and chest soft and plumped up.
Not content with a fantastic neck treatment formula, the applicator adds an extra layer of benefits too. The wide roller lets you massage the serum into the neck in long, upward strokes that not only helps it penetrate better, but massages and stimulates the neck muscles to boost the firming effect, while draining away puffiness as well.
Buy now £65.00, lookfantastic
Prai Beauty Ageless Throat and Decolletage Crème
A favourite with beauty industry experts and shoppers alike (one sells every minute worldwide), this light creamy neck treatment glides on and dries quickly to leave skin with a comfortable matte finish. The key active ingredient - Sepilift DPHP – was created by Prai to improve the skin’s collagen production and boost elasticity to give a plumper, more toned look, while hyaluronic acid and shea butter ramp up hydration and lock it in.
The cream boasts brightening and anti-pigmentation properties too, with mulberry and grapeseed extracts tackling the dullness and age spots that can make the neck and chest look older. With so many benefits at a brilliant price, it’s a multi-award winner with good reason.
Buy now £27.00, M&S
NEOSTRATA Skin Active Triple Firming Neck Cream
One or two pumps of this satisfyingly rich cream, smoothed on twice a day, works wonders on skin that’s particularly sagging and suffering from uneven tone. It contains a trio of powerful actives including an amino sugar and apple stem cell extract that target wrinkles to plump and smooth them out. At the same time, they help break down discolouration so that the skin on the neck and décolletage looks brighter and fresher as well as more lifted.
Fittingly for a professional-born brand that you’ll find in plenty of spas and salons, the luxurious texture will make you want to massage it in, but the cream won’t leave your skin with any greasy residue.
Buy now £88.00, FeelUnique
Gatineau Defi Lift 3D Neck & Décolleté Gel
This thick, cooling gel might feel like it’s sticky as you apply it, but the skin drinks it in quickly and gains a soft, satiny texture instead. Part of their intense anti-ageing range, this neck treatment gel utilises the same plant protein technology from wheat, soya and corn that has been developed to make the skin look tighter, firmer and smoother.
Hyaluronic acid adds to the plumping effect while a vitamin complex offers protection against complexion-ageing environmental damage. You can easily apply the gel under moisturiser if skin is on the drier side or use alone if you prefer. And if hot flushes are an issue, it’s provides welcome relief applied straight from the fridge.
Buy now £41.60, FeelUnique
Dermalogica Neck Fit Contour Serum
A serum and applicator tool in one, this is super hydrating if your skin is particularly thirsty. As it works on the muscles in the neck thanks to the metallic, rolling applicator, Dermalogica describe the neck treatment as a personal trainer for the area, while the shape of the roller makes it easy to apply up the neck and across the jaw line to aid the sculpting effect of the ‘workout.’
There’s an immediate feeling of tightening as the formula and the technology that goes into the treatment form a kind of mesh over the skin to make it look and feel tighter. A blend of plant-based, retinol-like ingredients including rye seed extract have firming and smoothing benefits, plus a polysaccharide bolsters the skin’s own protective moisture barrier too.
Buy now £63.20, John Lewis
ESPA Tri-Active Lift & Firm Neck and Décolleté Balm
The beautiful, calming blend of bergamot, lavender and petitgrain is the first thing you’ll notice about this creamy, fresh neck treatment. It feels incredibly nourishing from the first application, giving a kind of cushioning feel so that the skin is plump and bouncy.
Infused with a potent blend of active marine and botanic extracts, wild olive helps energise cells to produce more collagen, while shiitake mushroom and tree fern both have a tightening effect so fine lines are smoother and firmer. Any deeper crepiness looks more lifted too and safflower oil ensures moisture is sealed into the skin’s barrier for a long term hydrating effect.
Buy now £39.00, lookfantastic
StriVectin TL Advanced Tightening Neck Cream PLUS
With a thick texture that makes it feel more like solid whipped butter, a little of this bestselling formula spreads widely enough to cover the neck and décolletage as it melts with the heat from your fingertips. This means skin gets a lovely, soft sheen with a touch of a blurring effect straight from the get-go.
The treatment is packed with plenty of high science ingredients including their own unique lifting complex, which will flatten out fine lines and a crêpey look whilst also giving a tightening effect and improving the skin’s elasticity. There’s a patented form of vitamin B3 as well to hold moisture into the skin and bump up plumpness, alongside a blend of brightening botanicals to make skin more even toned and freshly luminous.
Buy now £79.00, Boots
Elemis Pro-Collagen Neck & Décolleté Balm
Ideal if you prefer a texture that’s featherweight, easy to smooth on and quick to absorb, this neck and chest treatment is exceptionally nourishing for a formula that’s so airily light. That’s thanks to fatty acid-rich seabuckthorn oil combined with padina pavonica, an algae extract renowned for its ability to deeply hydrate the skin, smoothing lines and wrinkles in the process.
For firming and tightening benefits, tree fern extract and another type of algae have been added to help counteract and prevent the skin from sagging and slackening. You’ll find a little goes a long way too.
Buy now £55.00, Elemis
RéVive Fermitif Neck Renewal Cream
Designed for use during the day as it includes an SPF15 sunscreen to help prevent the neck and décolletage falling foul of skin-ageing sun damage, this deliciously rich cream is a hero from the plastic surgeon-created, hi-tech range.
It uses their signature bio-renewal technology and bio-engineered ingredients to use natural extracts in the most efficacious, scientifically-enhanced way possible, improving the turnover of skin cells for a smoother look, less sagging and firmer contours. Any lacklustre appearance is tackled too, as age spots and pigmentation fade so skin looks more even and glowing. Even the soft rose scent is as equally sophisticated as the formula.
Buy now £125.00, Space NK
Verdict
The skilful touch of fêted facialist Sarah Chapman has been finely distilled into her Skinesis Neck and Chest Rejuvenating Complex, making it a skincare treatment that you’ll want to reach for without hesitation.
Expertly formulated with best-in-class ingredients, it’s a pleasure to use from day one and brings big benefits over time. Two small pumps will give the skin on the neck and décolletage a luxuriously satin texture, plus you can immediately see a smoothing, lifting effect from the action of the micro-mesh technology.
Backed up longer term with a brighter, more even tone and plumper skin with fewer between-boob creases (notably in the morning when post-sleep lines can prevail) and this neck treatment will keep it on a par with a fresh, youthful complexion.
