Hold your head up high with these smoothing skincare saviours.
Have more than a passing interest in skincare and you might be familiar with the phrase: “your face ends at your nipples.”
While anatomically dubious, the expansive expression aims to counter the fact that while most beauty consumers are well-versed
We may give our chests a scrub in the shower as part of general body care, and make the effort to slather it in SPF during beach outing — but otherwise adopt a hands-off approach. We may want to reconsider.
“The neck is a dead giveaway.” Nora Ephron wrote in her acutely witty book I Feel Bad About My Neck, And Other Thoughts on Being a Woman. “Our faces are lies and our necks are the truth.”
There’s truth, too, in the premise that while simply extending your already established routine below the chin is the simplest way to show your neck and décolletage some love, investing in some standalone products formulated specifically for these areas is likely a savvier approach.
The neck and chest areas are naturally drier than the face, they have fewer of the sebaceous glands that deliver moisture-retaining sebum to your skin, so they benefit from richer formulations.
They are extremely mobile areas too, are subject to friction from clothing, and are supported by muscles that aren’t as resilient as their facial counterparts.
These cellular and environmental differences combine to mean that our neck and décolletage are particularly vulnerable to visible signs of ageing: crinkled, crepey skin marked by movement lines. There’s nothing wrong with any of these but because these areas have less of the subcutaneous fat that lends a plumping quality to our faces, the signs of ageing often show up sooner than is ideal.
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Advertise with NZME.If this concerns you, below you’ll find eight designated neck and décolletage products that’ll help you feel confident in your skin.
Why we love it: Neck nourishment from nature. New Zealand mānuka blends with choice picks of other beneficial natural ingredients for a cream that delivers effective results with minimal environmental impact and at a relatively wallet-friendly price point.
Key ingredients: Mānuka does the heavy lifting here in honey and oil form, they work to brighten the appearance of skin while paracress (a flowering herb) stimulates collagen production. Added hyaluronic acid and glycerin give a helping, hydrating hand.
Suitable for: All skin types, particularly those who favour plant power.
Best for: Clean beauty fans.
Why we love it: Packed with a trifecta of peptides, ceramides and botanical extracts, this ultra-nourishing cream from Korean skincare brand Pyunkang Yul is revitalising, but works just as hard to protect your skin barrier. Bonus points for the fact that despite the richness it doesn’t sit cloyingly on your skin.
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Advertise with NZME.Key ingredients: The distinctive blue bottle houses healing copper tripeptide, soothing peony bark extract and exfoliating cornus officinalis fruit extract. Shea butter and macadamia seed oil round out the formulation for an extra boost of skin conditioning.
Suitable for: Super dry skin and those seeking a skin barrier boost.
Best for: K-Beauty obsessives.
Why we love it: Skin cells enter a period of restoration while we sleep each night, and this overnight mask delivers a nightly dose of deeply hydrating ingredients with the intention of aiding this renewal and repair.
Key ingredients: Adenosine (a yeast-derived plant extract) powers skin-smoothing and soothing, 12% hyaluronic acid makes light work of surface and underlying dehydration while a trio of peptides signal to your skin cells they should amp up collagen production.
Suitable for: Anyone who needs a little extra beauty sleep.
Best for: Tired souls.
Why we love it: Skin maturation often equates to a thinning of the skin, which can leave our neck area feeling (and looking) more delicate. This vegan serum from Necessaire, the buzzworthy brand that markets itself as: “body care with a skincare mentality.” It aims to target many of the outward signs of this cellular degradation: dullness, pigmentation and textural rigidity. Fair warning, one online review states: “I notice if I don’t use it for even one day.”
Key ingredients: Don’t be fooled by the lightweight texture of this serum, the hypoallergenic and fragrance-free formula boasts a plethora of hardworking, clinic-strength components: niacinamide for skin tone, rosewater to soothe and five individual peptides to stimulate skin elasticity.
Suitable for: Vegans.
Best for: People with sensitive skin wanting to improve softness alongside tautness.
Why we love it: It’s not just loose skin that can have you feeling self-conscious about your neck and chest. This dermatologist-favourite brand has created a heady mix of antioxidants and exfoliators that aims to transform the full spectrum of complexion complaints that occur between your jawline and décolletage.
Key ingredients: Acacia Senegal gum, hyaluronic acid, mixed fruit acids and quinoa soothe, hydrate and tackle textural troubles. Salicylic acid is on the call sheet too — making this a good option for those of us blessed to be struggling concurrently with ageing skin and spots.
Suitable for: Oily skin.
Best for: Blemish and bump-prone skin.
Why we love it: Three generations of cosmetic knowledge and innovation are housed in each pottle of this enriched neck cream from the high-end, family-owned French skincare brand. The result? A broadly appealing skincare saviour that gives skin a little je ne sais quoi.
Key ingredients: While an oat seed extract deposits a film on the surface of the skin for a temporary but immediate lifting sensation, soy fibre and vitamin E work on providing longer-term structural support. Caffeine and red algae extracts help refine skin and there’s plenty of lipid nourishment, too, in the form of shea butter and glycerin.
Suitable for: Dry skin.
Best for: Those who want a one-tub solution to generally improving their under-chin skin.
Why we love it: This tubular topical has a something of a bouquet below the nozzle, listing a host of botanical extracts on the ingredient list suitable for combating skin laxity. The formula is designed to be warmed between the palms of your hands and applied in flowing massage-like strokes that boost circulation, lymphatic drainage and generally help skin firmness. This beauty is easily absorbed, getting to work quickly and allowing you to move on with your day, too.
Key ingredients: A sunflower extract is the hero component that targets skin slackness. Elixirs derived from dates, kangaroo flower and oat sugar further lift the efficacy.
Suitable for: All skin types, people who favour plant-powered potions.
Best for: The time-poor.
Why we love it: Skincare is as much about taking a moment to invest in ourselves as it is about efficacy. La Mer is a brand that truly embodies the luxury of self-care, but its lavish products deliver results that converts insist justify the price tag. This luscious hydrator is truly amped up, texturally and scent-ually richer than the brand’s face-focused products.
Key ingredients: A potent concoction of fermented sea kelp powers the cell-renewing Miracle Broth that is the star in this, and every, La Mer formulation. In this nourishing balm, the proprietary marine blend gets generously rounded out with oils extracted from sunflower, sesame and sweet almond seeds, eucalyptus leaves and an antioxidant-rich lime peel extract.
Suitable for: Skin that needs rich nourishment.
Best for: Luxury lovers.
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