Beauty Clinic: Will a neck treatment work on 'tree trunk lines'?
Q. Please can you help me find a neck cream that will combat - or at least help with - tree trunk lines. I have tried several products with no success. A. This is one of our own concerns as the years go by so we are delighted to share what we know. Firstly, as you get older the thin, fragile skin on necks needs dedicated, daily (preferably twice daily) treatment plus plenty of SPF whenever there is a glimmer of sunlight – the motto is to treat your neck and décolleté as tenderly as you do your face. It is unrealistic to think you can banish existing deep lines totally but devotion will pay off in terms of fading them, as our Beauty Bible testers affirm. We recommend you look for products specifically formulated to hydrate, soften, smooth, firm and plump.
Product wise, our Beauty Bible testers are just mad about Clarins. Little secret: the new (fourth) edition of The Anti-Ageing Beauty Bible is out this autumn and the two top awards go to dedicated Clarins neck products. Top scorer is Clarins Super Restorative Décolleté and Neck Concentrate/£57 for 75 ml.
One tester commented: ‘Absolutely huge improvements: I have tried other expensive brands but I can now see benefits as never before. I had a real neck complex and grew my hair longer to hide it. Today I am considering a shorter bob!’
Another says: ‘my neck really does look tighter and younger, décolleté firmer and a little lifted: I am very impressed. Much better than just using my day or night creams’.
And Clarins has achieved a spectacular double whammy with the second highest scoring product, their Extra Firming Neck Anti-Wrinkle Rejuvenating Cream/£45 for 50 ml. One tester found that ‘crêpiness was reduced significantly after two weeks and continues to improve, neck looks younger and the skin plumper’. Another says ‘seemed to melt into my skin leaving it looking lifted, and feeling silky, soft and smooth. I really saw a difference’.
So nourishment is one thing, another is applying the nourishing products in long upward strokes from bust to jawline, with your fingertips and even palms. You will see the difference immediately as the tissue is ‘lifted’ – and often people say they feel a real zing of energy fizzing upwards too.
Finally, may we recommend yoga and/or dancing? Anything where you lift your face and jaw will help your neck. And do be aware that using a laptop (or reading a book on your chest) will cause your neck to crease – the clue is in the name. So just keep your pecker (that referred to your nose originally just in case you wondered….) up!