What’s the best way to revive an ageing neck?
As a new Boots cream promises miracle results for crepey skin...
EVERY woman of a certain age knows that no matter how carefully you make up your face, there’s still one body part that betrays your age like nothing else: your neck.
As the skin here is so delicate and we often forget to look after it with the same care as our faces, it wrinkles easily. Indeed, when it comes to appearance, after wrinkles and facial firmness, women said the neck was their greatest concern.
But now Boots claims it has the answer. In 2007, the company made the news when a BBC Horizon documentary followed scientists at Manchester University showing its Protect & Perfect serum could repair wrinkles and sun-damaged skin. The result? A year’s supply sold out in two weeks.
The company has tried to recreate this skincare stampede. Ten years on, it hopes this week’s launch of its £28 Restore & Renew serum is the answer. Boots touts it as its ‘first clinically proven serum targeting the neck’.
It contains so-called wonder ingredient Matrixyl 3000, a lab-made protein found in Protect & Perfect. This has been shown to boost levels of collagen and elastin, which keep skin firm and youthful. Boots says calcium amino acids and ceramides in the serum also target skin fragility and crepiness, an issue for post-menopausal women.
‘The hormone oestrogen helps collagen production (which makes skin firm) and helps skin cells maintain a youthful vitality,’ explains Dr Mike Bell, Boots skincare scientific adviser.
‘As oestrogen levels fall in menopause, the decline in collagen exacerbates loss of firmness in neck and face skin. Skin is drier and more fragile. This is most noticeable on the neck.’
Boots says by adding calcium amino acids to their existing formula it has been able to boost calcium levels in the upper skin layers, to improve the skin’s renewal process and get rid of crepiness.
SO DOES IT WORK?
BOOTS says its clinical trial results were ‘astounding’, with most women finding their face and neck felt firmer and their neck looked smoother and less crepey, with visibly reduced wrinkles and a more even skin tone.
This sounds impressive, but only 100 women took part in this trial and Boots has refused to allow the data to be assessed by an independent dermatologist.
However, one woman who is convinced is Roberta Jones, 72, from South Benfleet in Essex, who tested the product for Boots for a few months last year.
‘I’ve always been diligent about skincare so don’t have any age spots, or many wrinkles. But the few lines I had around my mouth and chin seemed to disappear when I was using the cream.
‘ My neck and decolletage, which were crepey before, were smoother afterwards. People said my skin looked amazing.’
But why is the neck such a trouble spot? Part of the issue is that skin on the neck can be half as thin as skin on the cheeks. Although it is subject to the same external assaults — UV light, pollution, wind — we tend not to protect it as much as we should.
While skincare experts advise applying facial skincare from the forehead to decollete, many women don’t. And the rise of ‘tech neck’ — lines and wrinkles caused by bending over phone screens — means we see these signs of ageing at a younger age. As Dr Susan Mayou of London’s Cadogan Clinic points out, no one can afford to take chances with their neck: ‘It can look scraggy; the skin may be loose, crepey and discoloured.
‘Some people may have a tendency for fat deposits under the chin, which can give a jowly appearance. In extreme cases, you can end up with no definition, where the skin falls in a line from the chin to the collarbone.’
And it’s not just skin that lets us down. ‘The sheet of muscle you see when you clench your jaw is the platysma muscle,’ says Mr Ash Mosahebi, consultant plastic surgeon at the 25 Harley Street Clinic. ‘With age, this smooth muscle starts to split into rope-like bands, and you can get a sort of hernia where fat and glands that were held in place by it fall forward, creating bulges, or “turkey neck”.’
It may sound like we’re fighting a losing battle, but from skincare to surgery, there are treatments that will work…
FAT UNDER THE CHIN THAT FORMS JOWLS
HERE the fat blurs the jawline and creates a jowly effect. ‘ You have to consider the chin, jawline and neck together,’ says aesthetic expert Dr Tracy Mountford. ‘When it comes to concerns about excess fat, research shows this area is the second biggest concern after the abdomen.’ THE SOLUTION: CoolSculpting, the fat freezing treatment used to remove unwanted fat, was improved last year with a CoolMini applicator to treat this area. It chills fat cells under the chin, causing them to die and be later eliminated by the body. FRoM around £750, coolsculpting.co.uk
NEGLECTED DRY, CREPEY SKIN
‘THINNER, neglected neck skin can look bad in contrast to thicker skin on the face that has been properly protected,’ says Dr Mayou. THE SOLUTION: Prevention is better than cure, so whatever your age you should use facial skincare on the neck, too.
Famously swan-necked actress Helen Mirren, 71, is part of the campaign for L’Oreal’s new Age Perfect Face, Neck & Décolleté.
A daily SPF is essential, says Dr Suchitra Badvey of Harley Street Dermatology Clinic. Sun damage destroys lower level collagen.
But if you’re trying to repair damage, look for hyaluronic acidbased creams and masks to add hydration, and active ingredients such as niacinamide, vitamin A, glycolic acid and vitamin C. Noninvasive treatments including micro needling, radio frequency and laser can also help.
OBVIOUS MUSCLE OR LACK OF DEFINITION
‘THIS can be due to the muscle separating as we age,’ says Mr Mosahebi, ‘ but it’s something you might also see in younger patients who exercise a lot.’ THE SOLUTION: A Nefertiti lift, named after the elegant-necked Egyptian queen, uses strategically placed amounts of a toxin, such as Botox, to paralyse parts of the platysma muscle.
By relaxing the bands of muscle that pull the lower parts of the jaw down and exaggerate the jowls, you can create a firmer jawline and smoother neck. FRoM around £500, find a practitioner at bcam.ac.uk
SAGGING SKIN OR TURKEY NECK
‘THE neck is a very hard area to rejuvenate from a surgical perspective, due to the difficulty in hiding scars,’ says Mr Mosahebi. THE SOLUTION: A platysmaplasty, where the surgeon stitches the underlying muscle back together and removes excess skin, gives the most dramatic result, but leaves a scar on the neck.
An alternative is cutting at the back, in the hairline, and tightening the skin over the muscle, but not the muscle itself.
For necks that just need a modest amount of firming and lifting, Dr Mountford recommends Ultherapy, which uses ultrasound to stimulate collagen growth.
LINES AND WRINKLES DUE TO TECH NECK
‘THIS is something that can be hereditary,’ says Dr Mountford. ‘You see it in women in their late 20s and early 30s too, and it’s possible that looking down at smartphones is exacerbating it.’ THE SOLUTION: Nothing yet, but Juvederm Volite, a new filler designed to boost smoothness, may be the answer.
‘While I may use small amounts of filler towards the back of the jaw to help lift the neck, I don’t use filler in the neck as, even with the best practitioners using the finest fillers, I’ve seen bumpiness. It’s possible this new filler might be a solution, but we have to wait and see,’ says Dr Mountford.