Men's skincare: good neck gel or cream?

September 10, 2006 1:15 PM

Men's Skincare Filter: the boyfriend is worried that his neck is getting "crepey." (His normal skincare routine - such as it is - consists of washing his face in the shower with soap, then putting on a moisturizer with sunscreen; sometimes he uses my neutrogena anti-wrinkle stuff too.) He asked me for some recommendations for creams or gels to help firm up the skin in that area, but I'm at a loss - googling just turns up lots of very tiny, very expensive jars of fancy sounding stuff by brands I've never heard of. What buzzest thou, Hive Mind?
posted by fizzyliftingdrink to clothing, beauty, & fashion (14 comments total)

I like Burt's Bees Citrus Facial Scrub.
posted by ludwig_van at 1:26 PM on September 10, 2006

I get high-end creams, etc., from my dermatologist, here's another link, and also from a person I know who does facials and who makes her own line of skin care products. One I like that is widely available is Kinerase. Perhaps I am getting ripped off, shrug. My skin is much improved.
posted by ClaudiaCenter at 1:49 PM on September 10, 2006

I really like Philosophy's Hope in a Jar. I'm 22, so I haven't yet started to worry about wrinkles, but I was inspired to try it in the first place by the below salon article in which a woman who'd started to notice wrinkles used it and loved it:

http://archive.salon.com/mwt/feature/2005/06/22/object_lust6/index.html
posted by wuzandfuzz at 2:07 PM on September 10, 2006

Perhaps you could buy him a copy of Nora Ephron's "I Feel Bad About My Neck"?

The answer is somewhere between consulting a dermatologist and ... er, coming to terms with the inevitable process of aging.

How old is he?
posted by bisesi at 2:13 PM on September 10, 2006

Perhaps I should be a little more specific:

- looking for products in the under-$50 range - there's just no way he's going to spend $100 or more for something.
- would like to hear about products that have specifically helped firm the neck after the wrinkles have started to set it (on preview, bisesi: he's in his early 40's).

He's not terribly hung up on aging - I think he's aging quite gracefully, in fact. He'd just like to know if there are any affordable products (whether specifically for men or not) to help firm up the skin in that area. Thanks!
posted by fizzyliftingdrink at 2:24 PM on September 10, 2006

Dr. Perricone is the absolute best, but way out of your price range. Perhaps you can consult his nytimes best-selling book, "The Wrinkle Cure" for help instead.
posted by naxosaxur at 2:49 PM on September 10, 2006

Hope in a Jar is a bunch of marketing hooey as far as I could tell. I hated it.

Lots of good reviews for Neutrogena's new line of "healthy skin" lotions. Beware, they make your skin sting for the first few days but after that, it's very smooth and moisturized.
posted by CunningLinguist at 3:18 PM on September 10, 2006

Together, exercise and limiting fat content work wonders. Also, I've used aloe vera gel for years and think it contributes to having smooth skin.
posted by Xurando at 3:23 PM on September 10, 2006

I like the men's skin care products from Zia Naturals. They've soaps, lotions, & shaving products. In their regular (women's) line, they have a firming lotion that runs about 10-15 bucks a tube. (I haven't used it, but it sells pretty well at the store where I work.)

<rant>These products are great and also usually fragrance-free. I'm tired of men's products that believe I want to smell like a tree when all I want to do is be clean. </rant>
posted by aristan at 6:44 PM on September 10, 2006

Maybe a product containing retinol would be helpful to him--moderate amounts of retinol are proven to be effective in smoothing the texture of the skin. I like this stuff. It's available in stronger concentrations of retinol--I use the 2x version, I've linked to the 1x--but the neck is a fairly sensitive area, so he might want to start off with something less powerful. Good luck!
posted by Powerful Religious Baby at 6:58 PM on September 10, 2006

After my father (age ~60) had cataract surgery on one of his eyes, he experienced a bit of "droopy eyelid" while he recovered. He bought himself a little jar of Neutrogena's skin-firming eyecream with copper peptides, and he swore that it firmed up his eyelid significantly and made the droopiness less bothersome. Worth a try; they have a whole range of firming lotions containing copper.
posted by junkbox at 8:54 PM on September 10, 2006

Together, exercise and limiting fat content work wonders.

If he's specifically worried about wrinkles, then he does not want to limit good fats (fish, avocadoes, etc; Perricone's book covers them). They "plump out" the skin and keep it supple.

(And I love Hope in a Jar -- it's so far the only facial moisturizer that clears up my dry skin but doesn't cause me to break out -- but it doesn't sound like I have the same type of skin as your boyfriend. But it does claim to help with wrinkles.)
posted by occhiblu at 10:05 PM on September 10, 2006

some good suggestions here - my boyfriend and his neck thank you!
posted by fizzyliftingdrink at 2:21 PM on September 11, 2006

What *not* to put on your skin - let me put a word in for shaving sans shaving cream - its done wonders for me to boost the skin quality of my face / neck. Takes some effort to start doing it right, but we've talked about it before on MeFi and its out there on the net (and its for real).
posted by allkindsoftime at 5:21 PM on September 12, 2006