How To Make Your Neck Become One Of Your Best Assets | Clozette



Believe it or not, our necks have the power to capture the attention of those around us — drawing eyes and even noses when we decide to dab perfume on the sensitive area just above our pulse. Necks are also one of the most delicate parts of our body so it’s a mystery how we can easily dismiss this region. But not anymore. It’s time to give our necks a little TLC by using these products and following these simple beauty tips.

Get extra



Go beyond your jawline when putting on moisturising cream on the face. Check out Estée Lauder Resilience Multi-Effect Tri-Peptide Face and Neck Crème whose special formulation ensures collagen and elastin production that makes both your face and neck looking young.

Sunscreen is a must



Just like the rest of our body, the skin on our neck needs protection from UV rays to make sure that it doesn’t get damaged over time. And it’s actually kind of a must since our neck area, most of the time, is exposed to all kinds of elements including sunlight. Perricone MD Cold Plasma+ Neck & Chest Broad Spectrum SPF 25 has enough UV protection to make sure our necks don’t get any ugly sun spots and keep them looking even-toned and smooth. 

It’s best to exfoliate



Photo from: garnierusa.com


Exfoliating your neck at least once a week will ensure that you get to remove dead skin cells. This is best done, of course, while you’re in the shower so it’s advisable to extend face exfoliation further down to your neck.  There’s no need for a separate neck scrub; what you use for your face is ok. Try Garnier SkinActive’s Clean + Invigorating Daily Scrub, a gel scrub formulated with Jojoba beads that deeply cleanse and polish to refine pores.


Sculpt your neck



Fancy a beautiful neck like a ballerina’s? We’re not promising that you'll get exactly a swan neck-like silhouette, but there are products that can help you achieve a slimmer looking collar area. For one, the Dr. Brandt Neck Sculpting Cream with Gua Sha Technique is considered to be a special neck cream that comes with its own sculpting tool. The cream itself is formulated with skin-tightening ingredients like hyaluronic acid and pea extract that promotes elasticity.


Meanwhile, a gua sha tool made of rose quartz is said to be effective in sculpting the face and neck so the product can penetrate more deeply into the skin. 


Next, complement your sexy neck with these outerwear options. 

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It's no surprise that after the rise of unisex or gender-neutral pieces in fashion comes a version of it in the beauty industry. Brands are riding the tide toward a more gender-neutral approach, some even deeming the traditional bilateral take on 'for men' and 'for women' products as just another pillar or consumerism that must be abolished.

But while it may be a clear-cut move to cater towards a more diverse audience, some can't help but ask if unisex beauty really is necessary. After all, why can't men just reach for women's products on the shelves and vice-versa? Is there really a difference between picks targeted for men versus women? Or is skincare truly unisex and is the label its only distinctive feature? Let's find out together, shall we?

A brief history of gender in beauty 


If we look back as far as 4000 B.C. during the time of the Egyptians, makeup and skincare truly started off as gender-neutral, being a tool for both males and females to show status and please the gods. This extended to the Persians and Romans, with even their soldiers using cosmetics, adapted from Egyptian techniques, simply as a show of vanity. Early records of the use of some type of moisturisers can also be traced back through the course of history, with both men and women using eggs, honey, milk and more household items to maintain smooth and supple skin. 



It wasn't until the Middle Ages that beauty became gendered (at least on a mainstream level) when Church leaders called the use of makeup and skincare as sinful and immoral. This limited its use to the extremes of either at the disposal of the upper class or those marginalised and working in the sex trade. Since then, it has been heavily associated with women, even up to its resurgence for the commonfolk's consumption in the 1900s.

What the shelves offer


It's safe to say that almost every brand nowadays include a slim range for the opposite sex often tucked at their outlets' smallest corners. But it wasn't until K-beauty started to gain traction in 2016 and more 'feminine-looking' male icons in the East rose to fame that metrosexuality — or at least awareness in men on the importance of skincare and beauty in general — became heavily accepted and embraced globally once more.



Then in late 2017 to early 2018, gender-neutral or unisex skincare (sans branding themselves as so) became the newest track in beauty, with brands like The Ordinary, Aesop, Herbivore, and the like being more ingredient-based than gender-centric. And with their success, many others followed, attaching 'unisex' at a product line's branding as if a unique selling point (USP). The latest one to join this train is Tom Ford, announcing their sleek new unisex skincare lineup just the other day. 



His and hers... or theirs?


Now that we've discovered that unisex skincare isn't exactly new or innovative, it's time to answer the longstanding question of whether or not skincare must truly be categorised by sex in the first place. Studies suggest that male and female skin varies on different levels due to hormones and general cellular composition, with males having approximately 20 per cent thicker skin than females. Collagen levels, oiliness, and susceptibility to acne are also higher for men than women. So to some extent, yes, there's a certain need to have varying skincare products for the sexes.





However, given the limitations of male-targeted skincare products, using a product labelled for the other sex shouldn't be an issue. More so, it's been proven over the years through many trends and products that emerged, whether in the field of makeup or skincare, that beauty is a bespoke experience. Some women swear by skincare and body care products targeted to men due to their increased effectivity and some men also claim to prefer women's products due to their gentleness. Either way, it's all up to preference.  So in conclusion, gendered or not, it's up to you to test products out to see what works to your advantage. After all, as they say in today's socio-political sphere, why be so attached to labels? 


On the topic of skincare, find out if this serum is the anti-ageing concoction for you!

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Is the Monday hustle getting to you? Relax with us and browse through some of today's headlines to spice up your downtime. From Instagram adding an anti-fake news feature to Urban Decay launching their 'sweetest' palette yet, we have them all right here in today's Insider Roundup. 


Instagram is adding an anti-fake news feature



Insider Roundup: Instagram Fake News

(Source)


Following the initiatives to crack down misinformation on Facebook and their very own recent meme purge, Instagram is now rolling out a feature to filter out fake news in your feed. According to the tweet posted by IG's current head Adam Mosseri, Instagram will soon allow users to report posts containing false or misleading content. This is just one of the many methods they're looking into to "stop the spread of misinformation." The function is said to launch to all regions by the end of August.



Burberry released monogram hoodies for your dogs




Now for something that's not fake news: Burberry announced over the weekend that they're releasing #TheBSeries, a monogram hoodie capsule collection that can be personalised for your puppers, for just 24 hours. The dog hoodie features the Thomas Burberry monogram. The news spread like wildfire that the collection was reportedly sold out in a snap, with people demanding for a restock (and secretly, we are, too!). 


To All The Boys I've Loved Before 2 has a release date




Missing Lara Jean and Peter Kavinsky already? Well, here's some good news. Jenny Han's bestselling-novel-turned-Netflix-hit is coming just in time for Valentine's Day 2020. Get ready for To All The Boys: P.S. I Still Love You on 12 February 12. The third part of the franchise was already announced earlier this year and is said to currently be in production. 


Urban Decay NAKED Honey is coming




Urban Decay's NAKED has a new addition. Meet its sweetest palette yet: NAKED Honey. The palette will feature a lot of browns, ambers, and golds that will surely be the latest beauty community crowd-pleasers. Keep your eyes peeled for more deets come 3 September.


Missed last week's news? We have them all right here. 

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