Emer O'Callaghan: Don’t put your neck on the line

As many readers know, I grew up in Bishopstown and I am a girl who doesn’t forget where she came from.

Bishopstown is still ‘home’, and I go there a lot because I love it. It’s changed a lot over the years, but I have nothing but love for ther place and all my old neighbours, teachers, and friends.

I went to Bishopstown Community School, a mixed secondary school, and my mum used to threaten to send me to the all girls secondary school, Mount Mercy, but I was having none of it! I was a tomboy and the thought of an all girls school was hell.

I wanted to go where my four older brothers were, and all our neighbours and friends, and I enjoyed my school days. I was always referred to as the O’Callaghan girl, and I loved that our school did such a variety of subjects.

It’s funny when I bump into old school friends now, and a few will say how their necks are showing signs of age. This is due to the fact that the skin there is thinner.

So this week, I want to give my best beauty doctor tips for anyone, male or female, who is concerned about their ageing neck.

NECK CARE

You would be surprised how many people do not know the importance of including their neck in their skin regime. So many people only ever cleanse, tone, and moisturise from their jawline to their forehead, with no clue that they are in fact meant to be including their neck and chest.

Our necks need daily cleansing, toning, serums and moisturiser, every morning and evening. I truly believe this is one of the main causes of the rapidly ageing skin on so many necks. It is so lined, dry and ageing, it’s gasping for some moisturiser and hydration and attention from you.

TARGETED NECK CREAM

Our Guinot Neck Cream, €101, flies out of Emerald Beauty Clinic, such is its popularity. I use it myself twice a day and, as opposed to moisturiser, it has key anti-ageing ingredients in it that are designed to target, firm, lift, and hydrate the delicate skin of the ageing neck.

If you are serious about improving the skin around your neck, you need to target it with specific neck creams which will improve it and keep it improved.

For best results, anyone aged over 40 should be using a targeted professional neck cream like this.

Please get it prescribed for you by a Guimot expert like myself so we can test it on you first and see if it suits your skin.

PERFUME / AFTERSHAVE

Every day I see people in my clinic with noticeable brown pigmentation marks on both sides of their necks from years of spraying perfume or aftershave there daily.

Now, to be fair, two decades ago there was very little education about skin so people did what they were told do, which was to spray your scents on your neck, your wrists, and your pulse.

Research has since told us that this is not good for the skin of the neck and also draws the sun more to this area, leading to the noticeable pigmentation damage so many have today. Now we are told to spray your scents and walk into them.

I must be honest here, I actually laughed when a girl in a perfume shop first told me that, and demoed it for me, and I watched on in horror as I saw my €150 perfume sprayed like air freshener into the air and fall to the ground.

So I don’t do that myself, but I do spray my perfume in my hair and onto my clothes, I do put it on my wrists but I don’t put it on my neck.

Many perfumes and aftershaves have essential oils, and oil and the sun is never a good combination, so avoid the neck with the scents.

PROTECT YOUR NECK

Back in the 1950s and ’60s, some people wore a scarf to disguise their ageing neck. Fast forward to today, and lots of cosmetic places will tell you they have an advanced cosmetic treatment for the neck that will transform it and have you with a soft, swan-like neck in no time.

I don’t like invasive beauty treatments, and your body, your hands even your voice, is still going to age whatever you do.

I believe in positive ageing and looking well for your age, this idea of ‘make me look 20 at 60’ is just silly.

MASK IT

As a skin specialist, I know that masking is ten times more hydrating than moisturiser. Therefore, those who apply a face mask to their face and neck a few times a week, even if it’s only for 20 minutes, pump so much hydration into their skin to stop fine line forming.

Dry skin leads to fine lines, fine lines lead to wrinkles, and it’s the neglected dry skin you have in March that will be the wrinkle you see next Christmas.

I cant stress enough the importance of lashing on your moisturiser two or three times a day to keep your skin hydrated. We have a huge variety of anti- ageing masks at Emerald Beauty Clinic, all of which can be applied to the neck.

REGULAR FACIALS

People who get regular facials look a good decade if not more younger than those who do not.

When you get a professional facial, the reason we therapists sit behind you is because we are lifting the skin and collagen from the neck and face. A full correct facial involves you removing your clothes and putting on the treatment gown where all your decolletage, neck and face can be treated.

Those who are just treated for their face, stopping at the jawline, are not getting the full benefit.

SPF

I will be like a worn out parrot by September taking about SPF, but the facts are there to prove that those who apply it daily to their face and neck have far less premature ageing than those who do not.

I don’t care if you’re a man or a women, daily application of SPF all over your face and neck, hands, anywhere that is exposed, is vital to protect your skin health and prevent early signs of ageing.

I meet people all the time who are literally weather-beaten by the sun and look 30 years older than they should. Our neck is prone to sun damage so I always advise people to shield their face in the sun, as I do myself with a baseball cap or wide brim hat, to prevent the rays getting to your face and neck.

There no point crying about the horse when it’s bolted out the gate you left wide open, so protect your beautiful skin now and I guarantee you will be so glad you did in the years to come.

If you would like some help with your skin, I’d be more than happy to help you get the flawless, hydrated youthful skin you so deserve. You are never too old to start, only last week I had an 82-year-old lady book her first facial ever. and my oldest client is 91 years young but looks 71.

Emer O’Callaghan is a beauty doctor and skin specialist who won Irish Beauty Therapist of the Year and works at Emerald Organic Beauty Products Ltd, trading as Emerald Beauty Clinic, 021 4365949. A multi award winning Gold Standard Centre of Excellence, 2008-2026, www.emeraldbeautyclinic.ie - follow us on Facebook/Instagram/TikTok.

SPECIAL OFFER: All next week, our Guinot Detoxegene Facial is Reduced from €125 to €95, 90 minutes, includes full skin analysis, eyebrow shape, samples, and treats. Appointments necessary, to book, call Emerald Beauty Clinic, 021 4365949. Free parking for clients.