I’ve always loved those elegant movie stars with swan like necks – Audrey Hepburn, Angelina Jolie and Keira Knightley always look so graceful. Though you may not have been born with a long beautiful neck (I wasn’t either), there’s a lot you can do to enhance your neck and make it an asset to be proud of.
Look After the Skin on Your Neck
The skin on your neck is finer than that on your face and it has fewer sebaceous glands to keep the skin moisturized. If you don’t look after your neck it can rapidly show signs of aging and give away the game even if your face has escaped the ravages of time.
Don’t neglect your neck when it comes to skin care. Cleanse your neck at night just as thoroughly as you do your face.
If it is difficult to wash off cleanser then you can use a wash cloth wrung out in warm water over the neck.
Moisturize the neck and chest area morning and evening too. You will not regret it when your neck stays looking good in later years as well as being smoother and softer right way.
You can buy special neck creams if you want to – Dove ProAge Neck and Chest Beauty Serum is a great budget buy if you want to treat your neck – but you can also just apply the normal face cream you use whether at night or during the day over the neck area if you want to simplify your routine.
When applying creams of any kind use an upward motion so that you do not drag the skin down.
Protect Your Neck From the Sun
One of the most important things to do for your neck and décolletage area is to protect them from the aging rays of the sun not just in summer when sunbathing but whenever you are outside on a sunny day in winter and every day in summer.
The crepey look that sun damage causes is one of the first signs of aging to appear because of the amount of exposure to UVA rays these areas get without us really thinking about it.
Avoid A Double Chin
Rolls of fat around your face and neck are not elegant so if you find excess weight is showing in these areas you need to lose the excess and keep it off. Of course, you’ll get all the other benefits of that for your looks too!
Avoid constant yoyo dieting which ultimately stretches the skin over and over so that it loses elasticity. You are encouraging sagging in your neck and encouraging jowls to form by losing the same ten or twenty pounds over and over.
Don’t encourage a double chin by holding your head level when reading. If you have to look down at your book you are encouraging rolls of fat to form around the chin area.
Exercise Your Neck
Yoga and ballet are two great activities for your neck. You rarely see balerinas or yoga teachers without well defined chin and neck muscles. Many of the exercises positively work on stretching and elongating the neck muscles.
Apart from the general yoga movements I do every day, I like to do one movement that is particularly good for the neck called the neck roll. It involves sitting cross legged on the floor with a very straight back and gently and slowly rolling your head in as wide a circle as possible, first twice in a clockwise direction and then twice in an anti clockwise direction. I’m not a yoga teacher so here is a video with more detailed instructions on how to get your posture and breathing just right.
How to Make Your Neck Look Longer
You can help make your neck look longer by wearing open necklines and wide collars. Low v-necks are particularly good if you are OK with showing some cleavage.
If you have a short neck avoid wearing a straight long hair style which will emphasize the small distance between your chin and shoulders. A shorter style with layers cut in towards the neck will slim and therefore elongate it.
Disguise An Aging Neck
Once neck wrinkles have formed, you may be happier covering up the neck area. You can do this with a neat polo or turtle neck or by using beautiful scarves or multiple strands of beads.
As a last resort you can have neck lift surgery to correct a sagging neck if it upsets you but it is much better to look after your neck so that you keep back the signs of aging as long as possible.
