As always with the skin, genetics plays a big role in aging. Other factors that contribute to an aging neck include improper care, sun exposure, and time.
At what age does the neck generally start to show signs of aging?
The neck starts to show signs of aging roughly around the same time as your face. However, since we do not express emotions with our necks (the way we do with our face), the face leads the way when it comes to aging. Although the neck doesn’t age as quickly as the face, it’s not too far behind. In other words, once you see signs of aging on your face, consider caring for your neck in the same fashion.
Aging on the neck appears in different ways. Examples include sunspots and redness caused by sensitivity.
What is a “crepey” neck?
Magnified image of crepey skin.
A crepey neck is characterized by fine lines of a dry and scaly texture. When you squeeze the skin together, the skin looks dehydrated and finely wrinkled. Crepey skin is one of the first signs of aging because they are not depressed wrinkles just yet. They are often caused by major dehydration and are common in the chest area. This may happen because we generally don’t exfoliate as much as we do on our face. We also don’t cleanse and moisturize to the same degree, nor do we protect it as we do our face.
Can a crepey neck be reversed?
Crepey skin on the neck can be reversed to a certain extent with proper treatment, aftercare, and protection. However, early intervention with advanced skin treatments is key.
What treatments are available for an aging neck?
Chemical peels help exfoliate buildup and resurface fresh skin cells.
Photofacials do the same as the peels. In addition, they help boost our collagen content and therefore yield more dramatic and longer-lasting results. Keep in mind that photofacials can tighten the skin on the neck only to a certain extent. Sometimes sagging of the neck is due to muscular issues or an excess of adipose tissue. Those cases require medical or surgical intervention such as liposuction, belkyra, or a lipo face lift.
Other questions?
Call us or submit your questions to our “Ask Dérmica” feature.
“Can I use the same products for morning and night?” is a common question asked by our clients. If your skin is at its prime, meaning it’s balanced and functioning at it’s best, your cleanser should be fine for morning and night use.
Keep in mind that “prime” doesn’t mean perfect skin for every skin type. If you are happy with your cleanser there is no need to change it. However, you may want to consider adding an oil cleanser for nighttime use. These are excellent at removing makeup and are often used as a first cleanse.
The decision to change moisturizers depend on what you are using. Basic moisturizers are fine for day or night. However, if you are using a moisturizer that contains sunscreen then you can’t use that at night. On the contrary, if you are using a product that contains retinol you can’t use that during the day.
Serums are the product to most likely have specific uses appropriate for certain times of day. For example, hyaluronic acid serums are best to use during the day when trans-epidermal water loss is highest. Vitamin C and E are good serums to use in the day time as they are good for sun protection.
Different beauty regimes
In addition, there are different regimes to consider when deciding whether or not to use the same products for morning and night. There are two types of regimes: maintenance versus treatment. During maintenance regimes you can cleanse and moisturize with the same products.
On the other hand, treatment regimes vary depending on what is happening with your skin. You may be able to use many of the same products if they are effective, but at night you may want to add products with ingredients to correct your skin concerns.
PROFESSIONAL SKINCARE AT HOME
Professional products help maintain results of our treatments. Therefore, we offer 15% OFF all Glo Skin Beauty products in-store with any skincare treatment.
The belief that skin products stop working is a common misconception. Unless you have been storing your products in an inappropriate place, they should be effective until their expiry date. However, there are a few things that may have happened that led your skin type to change thereby explaining why your products don’t seem to work anymore.
For example, daily aging, climate change, and internal/external factors such as medications or changes in your environment, are things that will render your products less effective for the simple fact that they are no longer for you.
Does skin get used to products over time rendering them less effective?
Skin products do not stop working, but there is a plateau once we get accustomed to the skin that we have been able to achieve with products. This is because products can only reach a certain layer of the skin. Once they’ve done all their work on all the layers that they can reach, thats all they can do. Keep in mind that even though they have done their maximum, they will continue to carry those results for you.
“Skin doesn’t become immune to products.”
Skin becomes tolerant and learns how to work with products. For example, retinols. It is not uncommon to see peeling after the first application . However, applications after that may not yield the same extreme results because the product has done its job.
Careful not to overuse.
We recommend certain products such as retinol for short-term use only. Retinol helps your skin look fresh all the time, but it becomes very thinned out over long-term use.
Using strong products all the time leaves no room for improvement. Plus, when you overuse certain products, your skin becomes lazy! When the skin is not allowed to perform its natural functions by itself, it becomes dependent on products to carry out its daily functions. As a result, the moment you remove one of those products from your routine, your skin experiences problems.
Tips for optimal product use
Store your beauty products in a cool, dry place, and avoid direct sunlight.
Try storing eye creams and moisturizers in the butter compartment of your fridge. This will keep products cool, stable, and refreshing when applied!
When possible, choose products that come in pumps or tubes, they hold longer as they are not in contact with open air or skin.
If you’re using a potted product use a small spatula or cotton swab to remove products from the jar. The natural oils and bacteria found on our skin can alter or spoil products.
What treatments does dérmica offer to remove dark spots?
Located in Edmonton, Alberta, Dérmica offers a variety of treatments to remove dark spots on the face. Base level intervention would start with products. Professional products target pigment removal at a superficial level. Our favourite product to remove hyperpigmentation is the Retinol Resurfacing Serum. It helps even out the skin tone. If generalized uneven skin tone is your concern, look out for products containing lactic acid.
Facial coupled with AHA boost
All of our facials have reserved time for pore extraction. The extraction process clears away oil and debris for better absorption of Alpha Hydroxy Acids (AHA). Our AHA boost contains those good brightening acids, for example glycolic and lactic acid. Boosts are mild peels.
Peels
Other treatments to remove dark spots on the face include chemical peels. Glycolic acid is used to remove sun spots, acne scars, and other dark spots on the face. It penetrates the deepest into the skin because it has the smallest molecules.
Picture your skin as a bunch of scales held together by glue. Glycolic acid can reach deep levels to dissolve the glue thereby separating the layers. Over the next few days following your treatment, loose layers will start to crunch up and dry up. You may start to see flaking in some areas. As a result, your body makes new cells thereby pushing pigment up to the surface. Follow up peels are required to push the pigmentation all the way out. All things considered they are a great choice for all skin types.
Photofacials
Lastly, photofacials are our maximum treatment to remove dark spots from the face. They are considered “maximum level” treatments because they target hyperpigmentation with laser precision.
IPL Phototherapy is able to isolate specific ranges of light. Each range of light within the spectrum penetrates to a different level in the skin.
More control
Our ACLARA photofacial targets melanin cells with no effect on the superficial tissues. This results in maximum effect with very little downtime.
Retinol does pretty much everything. Firstly, retinol helps accelerate the cell turnover rate. The cell turnover rate is how quickly your cells are coming up with a new one, bringing it up to the surface, and purging it. Young skin is constantly regenerating; retinol has that affect on skin in general.
Retinol is meant for temporary use. When you are using it, it forces your skin to exfoliate. This exfoliation process will give you textural repair, as well as remove scarring and hyperpigmentation and acne. In addition, due to its regenerating capacity, it is also used in anti-aging products.
Can you use retinol if you have sensitive skin?
The negative side effects outweigh the benefits of retinol for someone that has sensitive skin. Keep in mind there are different types of sensitive skin. Sensitive skin types include rosacea and can range to a dryer, more mature/sensitive skin.
Using retinol when you have sensitive skin may cause irritation. For instance, rosacea can look like an abundance of skin, which leads clients to exfoliate more often than they should.
However, the reality is that inflammation is causing the skin to get thick and the pores to get big. As a result, the type of exfoliation provided by retinol will make the problem worse. Instead, we recommend using salicylic acid. Salicylic acid will exfoliate the damaged skin and also take down inflammation. Additionally, salicylic acid helps to strengthen the fibres of the skin which greatly helps rosacea.
Rosacea pimples
Sometimes rosacea acne gets confused for regular acne, however, rosacea pimples will never burst. Salicylic acid is the only way to get rid of those pimples.
In conclusion, using retinol when you have sensitive skin is not the best option. Try using products with salicylic acid.
In a city like Edmonton in Alberta, the seasons change drastically and we get to experience many diverse climate conditions! Whether the seasons are changing or you’re moving to a different part of the world, your skin will react to its surroundings. This is why it is important to acclimate your skin to the climate conditions of your environment. Adding or exchanging certain products in your routine can help avoid breakouts during seasonal skin changes.
Environmental influences
We all have our skin type to work with, however, seasonal skin changes are due to environmental influences. For instance, the summer tends to be hotter with higher humidity levels resulting in much higher water loss. In addition, the longer days often mean we receive more sun exposure. As a result, your skin is more likely to become damaged and dehydrated. You will collect excess buildup from sweat, makeup, and dirt which can clog your pores.
We recommend using products that cleanse away that build up. Also, exfoliation becomes more important in the summer because it helps to remove the surface layers of the skin.
Can skin types change with the season?
Normal combination skin types that border on dry skin can experience full-on dryness in the wintertime. This is due to changes in the environment, for example, cold exposure. The cold can be harsh on the skin as well as cause wind rash. We recommend physically covering you skin with a scarf during the winter months. Just remember to keep the scarf clean!
In addition, in the winter you get double sun exposure coming directly from the sun, and the reflective exposure that bounces off the snow. For this reason if you find yourself on a mountain, or going skiing or doing anything outdoors, make sure you wear sunscreen! Plus you’re more likely to get a chapped sunburn/windburn so make sure to protect your skin.
On the other hand, normal combination skin types that border on oily skin can become full-on oily in the summertime and are more prone to breaking out due to heat exposure or high humidity. They should switch to a lighter, oil-free moisturizer in the summer.
Treating seasonal damage
In the fall, skin starts to dry up a little. Summer damage should be lifted with skin treatments such as photofacials or chemical peels. Ideally, these treatments should take place at the end of summer or the beginning of fall.
The goal of the treatments is to remove the cap of dead summer skin and rejuvenate your skin. This will help the ingredients in your products actually make it to the cells that need the extra hydration and nutrients.
