Your décolleté skin and how to look after it
Written by Angela, 13th August 2020
Did you know that the skin on your chest and neck is very different to the skin on your face and other areas of your body?
- To start with, there are far fewer sebaceous (oil-producing) glands than on the face area, particularly across the neck.
- Its much thinner and more fragile than the skin on your face, again, particularly in the neck area. In fact, the skin is more similar to the skin on your eyelids than on your face. Thats how delicate it is!
- Also, it is often neglected more than the skin on the face. How often have you applied sunscreen to your face and missed out your neck and décolleté?
We see a lot of skin damage across the décolleté when we are carrying out facial treatments at Sensoria.
What can I do about premature skin ageing on my decollete?
Our top tip would aways be to apply your sunscreen right down your neck and decollete, overlapping onto the skin where the neckline of your top or dress starts.
Application of sunscreen is definitely one topic where less is not more! Always apply a generous amount and reapply frequently for maximum protection.
We can often see premature skin ageing, including pigmentation, following the outline of the most common neck shapes of tops and dresses where the skin has been exposed.
Frequently, skin at the front of the shoulders looks around ten years younger than the skin in the centre of the chest which has been exposed to light and has UV damage.
Take a look at your own décolleté area. What do you you see? Is the skin even in colour and texture right across your upper chest, or is it more mottled and damaged in the centre?
Discolouration or pigmentation from photo-ageing (the effect of daylight and sunlight on the skin) is often very evident in this area.
As we age this becomes even more noticeable, but even in your 30s this skin change is often present if the skin hasnt been looked after and protected adequately.
What is Poikiloderma of Civatte?
This reddish brown discolouration of the skin is found on the upper chest and is most common among middle-aged (and older) fair-skinned people who are exposed to the sun.
The highest incidence of Poikiloderma of Civatte is among post-menopausal women. Although the exact cause is unknown, contributing factors include the use of perfumed cosmetics, perfumed toiletries and perfume or fragrance is likely.
Remember ….
- Spray your clothes with perfume, not your skin
- Avoid fragranced skin care products
- Some natural fragranced products are the worst! In particular citrus oils (lime, lemon, bergamot) and ginger have a significant content of photo-sensitising ingredients.
What can I do to improve my décolleté?
As always, prevention is better that cure, so always use a sunscreen on any area that will be exposed to daylight, sunlight or blue light from computer screens.
Keep your décolleté covered up. A physical barrier from clothing is always you best protection against UV damage.
Avoid sleeping on your side. Side-lying, with the skin becoming scrunched and wrinkled during the night will not help the situation of prematurely ageing the skin. Choose sleeping on your back instead.
Use a cream or serum which moisturises and hydrates this delicate area. We recommend Dermalogica Super Rich Repair for its intensively moisturising effect and Dermalogica Biolumin C serum for its collagen promoting benefits.
If you have a heavy chest or do a lot of exercise, invest in a good, supportive bra to stop your chest from sagging and the skin from stretching.
I already have lines and wrinkles, what are my options now?
Ok, so you already have lines and wrinkles. There are several options to choose from.
Our Décolleté Treatment is especially designed to smooth, firm and tone the skin of this delicate area, from below the chin to the top of the bust.
Dermalogica Skin care products have been selected to improve the skin condition of the skin on the neck and decollete.
The treatment takes around 45-50 minutes and not only improves skin condition and texture, but is deeply relaxing as it includes a scalp massage and a neck & shoulder massage too.
The combination of effective exfoliation with a skin brightening exfoliant, masque treatment utilising anti-oxidant vitamins and intense moisturisation with ingredients such as French plum seed oil and powerful peptides will give you good skin improvement.
If you want to take your décolleté skin care to the next level, invest in Rejuvapen. This treatment has been clinically shown to have increased benefits for skin by stimulating elastin and collagen production that decline as we age.
Rejuvapen is a type of skin needling or microneedling. It is minimally invasive and creates a controlled minor skin injury to kick-start the cells responsible for producing new collagen and elastin fibres.
It is combined with the use of skin stimulating topical skincare products which have shown significant benefits for the skin to combat both the natural internal and environmental effects of ageing skin.
You can read more about Rejuvapen in one of our previous blogs here:
Which treatment will you choose? Need more help? For more information on our décolleté treatments and award-winning treatments contact us here.
Originally published August 13, 2020 15:38pm, updated March 14, 2021