The good news: It’s never too late to start tending to skin anywhere and protect it against further battering by the sun’s UV rays and other aggressors.
If you’re ready to get a few things off your chest—namely, dark spots, crepiness, lines, and redness—read on. Your décolletage will be looking smooth and radiant again in a few simple steps.
How does the skin on your chest differ from the skin on your face?
Pat your cheekbones a few times with your fingertips, then do the same thing on your upper chest. Notice how there’s less cushion on your chest? That’s because the skin here is among the thinnest on the body, so it’s particularly vulnerable to damage by UV rays and free radicals in the environment. Both break down collagen and elastin, leading to spots, wrinkles, and loss of elasticity.
And unless you lean on turtlenecks as much as Diane Keaton, your chest is frequently exposed to these harmful elements. “The décolletage often isn’t covered by clothing, which increases UV irradiation to the skin,” says Michael Krathen, M.D., a board-certified dermatologist in Natick, Massachusetts, and Chief Medical Advisor for Cottonball.
Sun damage on the chest typically appears as poikiloderma, a benign skin condition characterized by mottled, reddish-brown discoloration. It’s more common in people with fair skin, and in women who are in perimenopause or menopause.
The discoloration is a result of broken capillaries beneath the skin (in addition to redness, you can sometimes see the broken veins), hyperpigmentation, and thinning of the skin from loss of collagen and elastin. Together, this can make the chest appear sunburned even when it’s not, with a lax, sagging texture.
Plus, in the same way that years of facial expressions can etch lines into the face, slouching our bodies over our devices and computers all day causes the chest skin to repeatedly fold into itself. Over time, that creates vertical creases. One more reason to practice good posture and sit up straight.
What’s the best way to treat a sun-damaged chest?
First, let’s be clear that if you’re not protecting your exposed chest with broad-spectrum SPF 30 or higher year-round, any treatments will just be undone by UV exposure. Slather on that sunscreen in the daytime if you want to see improvement to the skin here.
When it comes to undoing sun damage, nothing beats retinoids, says Dr. Krathen. These vitamin A derivatives are considered the gold standard for regulating skin cell turnover, which in turn stimulates collagen production to thicken and firm the skin, improve texture, smooth lines, and fade dark spots and discoloration.
Since the skin on the chest is thinner than that on the face, it’s best to use a retinoid treatment designed for this delicate area. The Cottonball VX.6 Precision Neck-Sculpting Complex contains tretinoin, a prescription-strength retinoid in a customized concentration that suits your individual skin needs.
In addition, the complex contains alpha arbutin, a powerful but gentle derivative of hydroquinone that lightens hyperpigmentation caused by sun damage and helps prevent further discoloration. There’s also niacinamide and tranexamic acid to help brighten skin and even tone, resveratrol for antioxidant protection and skin repair, and a blend of intensely nourishing hydrators including hyaluronic acid, and ceramides.
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For advanced sun damage to the chest, you may want to consider seeing a cosmetic dermatologist, who can supplement your at-home skincare with a series of professional laser treatments that have been shown to help improve the redness and discoloration caused by poikiloderma. (Here’s what women over 50 need to know about cosmetic dermatologists.)
What’s the best protection against further sun damage on the chest?
We’ll say it again: Sunscreen is your décolletage’s guardian angel. And not just against visible skin aging: “The chest is a common location for both non-melanoma skin cancers like basal cell carcinoma and squamous cell carcinoma, and also for melanoma,” says Dr. Krathen. Be sure to get a skin cancer screening once a year, or sooner if you notice any new or changing moles.
To complement a retinoid-rich nightly neck treatment like the Cottonball VX.6 Precision Neck-Sculpting Complex, moisturize your upper chest twice a day just as you do your face. You can follow the Cottonball VX.6 with a basic rich cream for additional hydration to nourish the skin and help support good elasticity.
Anytime you’re at a beach or pool, Dr. Krathen recommends wearing a rash guard with a built-in UPF of 30 or higher, the clothing equivalent of SPF. It stands for Ultraviolet Protection Factor and indicates how much UV radiation the garment filters from reaching your skin. The higher the UPF, the better protected you are.
And stash a shawl in your car to throw over your neck and chest while you’re driving: More than 50% of UVA rays—the primary culprits of skin aging—penetrate glass.
With these simple, efficacious strategies, improving the look of your décolletage is entirely within reach. And the results will convince you that the minimal extra effort is worth the payoff.
Is Cottonball VX.6 Precision Neck-Sculpting Complex right for you? Find out in just a few minutes.
