STICK YOUR NECK OUT!
We’re relying on smartphones more than ever, so it’s time to give our tech necks some TLC!
Whether we’re checking news updates, connecting with family or sneaking one more game of Solitaire, our mobile phones are wreaking havoc on our poor necks! Along with stiffness and pain, overindulging on tech can also speed up skin ageing (more on this later).
In 2018, Australians spent three hours a day on their smartphones – a figure that has surely spiked in the past few months. But there are ways to ease the tension without giving up your tech. Best of all, you can do it while you get a beauty fix!
“It’s super easy to incorporate massage while showering or applying products such as cleanser, serum moisturiser or facial oils,” explains celebrity facialist Melanie Grant. “I like to use massage in the neck area to drain fluid and sculpt the jawline. It also stimulates blood flow, allowing nutrients and oxygen to flow in and promoting collagen production to firm, brighten and refine.”
Here’s how to give your neck some healing hands at home, combining Melanie’s moves with some of our favourite techniques.
FOR THE JAW
Before you begin, wash your hands well and rinse off any makeup or sunscreen. This clears the way for your skin to absorb the products you use for your massage, bringing complexion benefits along with neck relief. “Ensure you use enough oil, serum or cream to maintain enough slip, and be careful not to pull or tug the skin,” says Melanie. For puffiness, keep the pressure light, as the lymph fluid causing it is just below the skin’s surface. With soft fingertips, massage the middle of your chin in tiny circles for 10 seconds. Move outwards to the sides of your chin and repeat, before moving onto the outer jaw. “Use the knuckles of your index and middle finger to slide very lightly outwards along your jaw and then drain to the lymph nodes under the ears,” says Melanie. Repeat five times. With your index finger and thumb, lightly pinch the skin along the jawline, starting at the chin and moving outwards. For deep muscle tension, press firmly into the masseter (chewing) muscles for 10 seconds, then up along the cheekbones.
FOR THE NECK
Open out your hands. “Use gentle, upward sweeping movements and drain towards the lymph nodes underneath your ears,” advises Melanie. If you can reach, try using two hands to do overlapping upward strokes on one side, then the other. This boosts circulation and feels especially good when sluggish. Now switch back to fingertips and gently massage each side of the neck in tiny circles just below the ears. Next, move to the base of the neck and massage each side again, then move to the collarbone.
FOR THE DECOLLETE
Place an open, flat hand on the breastbone and sweep up and over the opposite shoulder. Repeat five times and swap to the other side.
TOP TIP: “At night, sleep on your back with a silk pillowcase to minimise sleep lines,” adds Melanie.
FOR THE SKIN
Our devices aren’t just a pain in the neck, they’re also accelerating ageing. “Blue light releases free radicals in the skin which degrade collagen, causing premature ageing and pigmentation,” explains Dr Andreas Fox from Artisan Aesthetics. To protect your neck, wear sunscreen every day, he says. Those containing iron oxide will significantly reduce the penetration of blue light. Also, try to decrease your device use, turn down the brightness or put up a blue light shield. To fight back, use skincare with antioxidants (such as vitamin C, niacinamide, etc) to neutralise those nasty free radicals, and always add a nourishing moisturiser, because neck skin is drier than the face.
TOP TIP: “Be careful with actives, particularly retinoids, which can be more irritating on the neck,” says Dr Nina Wines of Northern Sydney Dermatology. The solution? Start using any potent serums twice a week and work up to daily.