Nora Ephron was right: I feel bad about my neck. As I move through my forties, the creases have turned into chasms. The skin sags like a pair of sweatpants with aging elastic. It’s not great. But it’s just a natural part of getting older.

Over the past year, it feels like I’ve tried every neck product on the market.  Serums, gels, sprays . . . a pulsating device that, when my derm heard I was using it, he made me swear I would stop.  Here are my reviews for two products that made a difference (or at least seemed to).

Strivectin PepTight Neck Tightening Roller // If you follow influencers of a certain age, you have no doubt seen Strivectin’s white and yellow roller in the wild.  Usually, the user is extolling the virtues of the lifting dipeptides designed to rebuild elastin and the Arctic Marine Ferment, which allegedly stops damage from blue light (you know, the light emanating from your phone and computer screen).  Some of these posts are sponsored, some are not, but all of them contain the buzzwords — lifting and tightening.

I used this product for three weeks.  The first week, the only change I saw was that my skin seemed brighter.  The second week, I noticed some light firming under my chin.  The third week, just as I was starting to see a deflating of the creases in my neck, something unfortunate happened.  My neck broke out.  Bad.

While I have acne on my face, and occasionally on my chest, I never have acne on my neck.  To suddenly have painful, deep blemishes on my neck was not ideal.  So I stopped using the product immediately and gave it to a friend who now stockpiles it like good wine bought on discount.  Clearly, this was not the product for me, but it might be for you.

Necessaire The Neck Serum // After the acne incident, I asked on Instagram for a neck cream recommendation.  LT came through with this gem, “I have used them all, it’s the only good advice my Mother in Law has ever given me.”  If that’s not a glowing recommendation, I don’t know what is.

The Neck Serum has 9% peptides — which boost collagen production — Niacinamide to support the skin barrier and rose water to soothe delicate skin.  It also has no fragrance, which is always my preference, but hard to find in today’s skincare products.  And the product falls into the clean beauty category.

I’ve been using the Serum for two months and I really like it.  It’s smoothed the creases and brightened the skin, and has made a difference in how I feel about my neck.  Lifting and tightening?  I haven’t noticed as much difference as with the Strivectin, but some minor tightening seems to have occurred.

The bottom line is that there are very few non-surgical options for feeling better about your neck, but both of these products worked well for something from a bottle.  You just have to adjust expectations.  I thought the Strivectin worked a bit better, but the Necessaire worked well without the pore-clogging side effects.  I would recommend either based on your needs.

Do you have neck treatment, serum, or cream that you’re using?  Leave your thoughts in the comments.

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