Admit it. The first time you heard about a neck cream, you probably thought it was a joke, only to give in to the persuasive labels and aggressive marketing later. After several emptied bottles did you only begin to realize that you haven’t thought about your neck cream before. Do you still need those neck firming creams in your routine?
Here are 7 facts about your neck cream you should have known a long time ago:
You don’t need a neck cream.
Any cleanser, toner or moisturizer that you use for your face are just as good when used on your neck and chest. That is when you were 20-something and younger! Your skin can repair and treat itself without any special help. All you need, while you’re young, is to keep to the very basic skincare routine — cleanse, tone and moisturize — and skin on your face, neck and elsewhere should be okay. This should help prevent fine lines and age spots from showing up too soon.
At some point in your life, a neck cream will be necessary.
For prevention purposes, you should get started on a neck cream as soon as you celebrate your 30th birthday. However, if you’ve been noticing any sign of premature aging before that, you should immediately get one into your routine. That’s because wrinkles appear on your neck as much as these show up on your face. Your face, neck, chest and hands are the parts of your skin often exposed to the sun. Naturally, the first signs of skin aging often appear in these areas.
Your skin needs special care for several reasons. First, the neck on your skin is tougher than the skin on your face, making it necessary to use heavier emollients to penetrate and plump up the skin around these areas. Second, skin on your neck is vertically placed against gravity which causes it to loose optimal firmness and elasticity. Third, skin on your neck is less efficiently able to carry out repair and healing because of less appendages, including oil glands and fatty layers, are present in this area.
An exfoliating ingredient should be infused with your neck cream.
For your anti-aging products, including your neck cream, mild exfoliants, particularly alpha-hydroxy acids such as glycolic acid, have been proven to be helpful in aging prevention and care. These ingredients encourage regular and more efficient skin turnover and renewal.
Retinol works wonders for your neck skin just as well as it does for your face.
Vitamin A derivatives have long been proven to have the capability to deeply penetrate the skin. Through which, collagen production is influenced to be created in higher volumes to be used for repair and rejuvenation. These ingredients are also beneficial for keeping skin complexion brighter as melanin production is inhibited.
SPF protection must be used with your neck cream.
Products such as the Dr. Brandt V-Zone Neck Cream have highly moisturizing ingredients such as squalene, glycerin, shea butter and phenol dimethicone as its primary products but, others also fold in retinol and peptides. Whatever the formulation may contain, your neck cream must always be used with sunscreen to prevent further damage as a result of the sun aging alone or, in a aftermath of the increased hypersensitivity which is often a side effect of using anti-aging products.
Amplify neck skin protection with antioxidants.
Emphasize security in your neck skincare routine. Fold in plenty of antioxidants in both your daytime and nighttime routines. Some neck creams will have this ready in their formulations but some won’t or will have these in very minimal quantities like in V-Zone Neck Cream. Make sure you’re getting sufficient levels of antioxidants. If your neck cream does not already have these, consider adding an antioxidant serum. The most beneficial antioxidants that you can get include Vitamins B3 (Niacinamide), Vitamin C and Vitamin E.
At some point, a neck cream won’t be able to address every neck skin problem you have. People with older skin in the 40s and beyond, that is, should consider getting regular clinic-based treatments for their neck. Some of the procedures to consider are skin tightening and rejuvenation therapy treatments.
Conclusion
The face gets the most attention in anti-aging care for right reasons but, these reasons are not good enough to neglect skin on your neck and elsewhere because skin aging shows up in these areas too.
