Don’t Neglect Your Neck: Why You Shouldn’t Skimp When It Comes To Skincare

In a world where it seems like we’re literally up to our necks in anti-aging skincare products, it’s surprising that so few of them focus on, well, our necks.

Wrinkle-smoothing creams and serums tend to focus on the usual spots—your overall face, forehead, under eyes and even lips—but what about the oft-forgotten space below your jawline?

Like the skin everywhere else on your body, this skin shows the signs of aging too. These signs of aging often appear sooner than other areas thanks to things like “tech neck” (those lovely horizontal wrinkles that creep up thanks to hours spent looking down and scrolling through our phones) and crinkly skin, because the skin here is thinner than it is in other spots. With so much focus on crow’s feet, forehead wrinkles and lip lines, neck aging is easily overlooked. Here, find out why an anti-aging neck treatment should be an essential part of your everyday skincare routine.

“WHY DO I NEED TO THINK ABOUT MY NECK?”

You may have noticed that the skin on your neck is a little bit different than the skin on your face. For starters, it’s thinner and has fewer sebaceous (oil) glands, which means it can be prone to dryness. Dehydrated skin not only looks dull, but also wrinkles and crepiness look more obvious. Plus, we’re constantly moving our necks. Even looking down at your phone or computer all day long involves using your neck muscles. Your skin moves right along with those muscles. As skin naturally loses its collagen and elastin, it just can’t keep up. The result: visible creases get etched into your neck skin and it starts to lose its elasticity (a.k.a. turkey neck). Neck skin is really affected by gravity, so the skin there starts to droop with age.

Then there are environmental factors. Your neck is often exposed to the elements (unless you’re constantly wearing turtle necks or scarves), so its delicate skin is bombarded with environmental aggressors such as ultraviolet (UV) rays. Those UV rays can create trouble-making free radicals, unstable molecules that latch onto healthy skin cells and cause damage such as the breakdown of collagen. Over time, all of this sun damage contributes to wrinkles, brown spots and loss of firmness—especially if you skimp on sunscreen below your jawline or don’t counteract the potential damage with free-radical-fighting antioxidants and firming ingredients.

“OK, BUT DO I REALLY NEED A SEPARATE NECK CREAM?”

In one word: yes. An anti-aging neck treatment is a good investment for the same reason you use a separate eye cream: It’s designed to address the specific needs of that delicate and unique skin.

Anti-aging neck cream formulas tend to feel more lightweight (not greasy) while still delivering hefty doses of hydration (because, remember, neck skin doesn’t have many sebaceous oil glands for natural moisturization).

Thin neck skin can also be more sensitive than thicker-skinned parts, so these treatments fight the signs of aging without being overly harsh and irritating (as we know some anti-aging treatments can be). An ideal anti-aging neck treatment also includes ingredients such as peptides. They combat collagen breakdown, visibly firm skin, even its tone and fight the damaging visible signs of free radical damage.

Lastly, a neck cream is not just for your neck. You can get more bang for your buck by also using a neck cream along your jawline and on your décolleté—another delicate spot that tends to show the signs of aging faster than other areas on your body.

PERRICONE MD’S SOLUTION FOR A YOUNGER-LOOKING NECK

So what makes Perricone MD’s neck cream a cut above the rest? Top notch, science-backed ingredients that are proven to give neck skin exactly what it needs. Cold Plasma Plus+ Sub-D/Neck uses a high-tech liquid crystal delivery system to help hydrators and potent ingredients get where they need to be faster than ever. Here are the top performers in the neck cream:

One of Perricone MD’s signature sciences, DMAE is a dynamo for visibly lifting and firming lax skin. It’s an ingredient that our body produces naturally. When applied topically, it visibly plumps, tightens and firms thinner neck skin. DMAE is also a potent antioxidant, which can help protect skin against free radical damage.

Peptides are long chains of amino acids, the building blocks of healthy skin. When applied to the skin's surface, peptides can counteract the look of collagen-depleted skin by visibly smoothing lines and wrinkles.

Just as a good cup of coffee wakes up your mind in the morning, caffeine gives dull, aging skin a much-needed boost of energy. Skin appears tighter, firmer, smoother and overall revitalized. Caffeine also has powerful antioxidant properties for free radical protection. Perricone MD encapsulates caffeine for a controlled dose, which makes it more effective. It’s the skincare equivalent of spreading out your caffeine intake throughout the day instead of drinking it all in the morning. That way you’re more productive all day versus just in the morning hours, right?

These three proven ingredients deliver measurable results in the battle against aging neck skin. In clinical studies conducted by Perricone MD, 85 percent of participants showed an improvement in skin elasticity and 76 percent showed a reduction in redness, proving how gentle it is on sensitive neck skin. In consumer studies, 97 percent felt their neck skin was more hydrated, 82 percent noticed a smoothing of neck lines and 77 percent reported firmer, tighter skin along their jawlines.

At first glance, neck skincare may seem like another fleeting trend or unnecessary step. But given the delicate nature of neck skin and its specific needs, using an anti-aging neck treatment will give that skin the support it needs. We’ll stick our necks out by saying it’s an everyday essential for aging skin.