NECK & DÉCOLLETÉ
We tend to ignore the skin on our décolleté (your neck and chest), and yet it’s often on display and ornamented with scarves and jewellery. The delicate skin on these parts of the body is thinner and can therefore be more sensitive than the skin on your face. Furthermore, the décolleté has fewer oil glands, leaving skin vulnerable to sun damage and irritation.
Your décolleté is where your bodycare and skincare regimes meet. To help skin in this area stay youthful, a few preventative steps can help keep your décolleté firm and fit and help to prevent crepey skin and neck wrinkles.
SUN
Protecting this skin from sun isn’t just about skin cancer. Sun damage can result in crepey skin, visible blood vessels, brown sun or age spots and collagen breakdown that leads to sagging.
Limit sun exposure between 10 and 4 whenever possible and always be sure to use sunscreen in this area when skin is exposed. When you apply broad spectrum sunscreen to your face, extend it down through your décolleté.
CLEANSE + EXFOLIATE
As skin on the décolleté is thinner and more delicate, take a gentle approach to cleansing (avoiding scrubbing) and use a lighter touch, applying product with your fingertips rather than palm. Exfoliate gently at least once per week to keep skin looking bright and to help products absorb more deeply.
The Hero Body Scrub offers a gentle, hydrating exfoliation when you massage with fingertips in soft circles.
TREAT + MOISTURISE
Enhance skin hydration with a serum like The Booster Neck and Décolleté Serum, with actives that specifically target the challenges this skin faces. Water shamrock in the Neck and Décolleté serum contains antioxidant vitamin C to help fight free radical damage.
Follow the serum with a moisturiser; one with hyaluronic acid like The Hero 48 Hour Hydrating Body Yoghurt will help optimise hydration which in turn can decrease the appearance of neck and chest wrinkles and improve elasticity.
VITAMIN C + COLLAGEN
Now for the science-y bit! Well known for its antioxidant ability and being able to neutralise skin and cell damaging free radicals, Vitamin C also plays a role synthesising of collagen in the skin.
Simply put, vitamin C is responsible for evolving pro-collagen into collagen and transporting it into the dermis. Without the help of vitamin C, the dermis becomes deficient in collagen fibres that give the skin structure and strength, resulting in a loss of firmness. This can lead to sagging and crepey skin in the neck and décolleté.
When oxidising stress is too high (aka there are a lot of free radicals) vitamin C becomes too busy neutralising free radicals to contribute to collagen production. By the time the free radicals have been dealt with, the vitamin C in the skin is oxidised and not available for collagen production.
As we age, the number of free radicals needing neutralising increases, putting pressure on vitamin C levels in the skin. Water shamrock extract and its potent antioxidant activity acts as a shield, dealing with free radicals so that vitamin C can focus on its critical role in collagen synthesis.
The combination of preventative measures to protect the décolleté, care routines and products that are specifically formulated for this delicate area will help the skin to maintain a firmer, healthier appearance.
