Chin Up: Can You Ever Actually Get Rid Of The Dreaded Double Chin?
Can you ever really banish a double chin? [Photo: unsplash.com via Pexels]
Ever grabbed your phone to snap a selfie and recoiled in horror at the double-chinned monster staring back at you? Well, you’re certainly not alone. A recent survey revealed that of the eight out of ten women who edit their holiday snaps, the third biggest photo no no was images portraying the dreaded double chin.
“People develop a double chin for a number of reasons and factors; it is usually due to gaining excess weight and because our skin can droop and sag as we age but genetics can also play a role in this issue,” explains Dr Rita Rakus, from Dr Rita Rakus Clinic, Knightsbridge.
Another contributing factor is that as you age you’ll see a reduction in the skin’s collagen, which helps give it elasticity. Stores starts to diminish when you hit your early 20s, and factors such as smoking and sun exposure can speed up the process.
But while you can hit the treadmill to tackle your muffin top, it’s not quite so easy to erase that pesky padding on your chin. Even a kickass gym routine and a cleaner than clean diet can leave fat lingering in this area. That’s because a double chin tends to be more resistant to exercise than other parts of the body.
“Unfortunately, double chins cannot easily be eliminated simply through improving our diet or increasing our workouts because whilst we can focus on one area of the body to tone muscles, it is hard to target weight loss,” explains Dr Rakus.
All is not lost, however, and before you resign yourself to a lifetime of scarf-wearing and/or beard-growing, there are some things that can be done to reduce the appearance of saggy jowls…
Neck It
A few tweaks to your diet can work wonders for your wobbly bits, including your jowls. “Try reducing the sugar and over consumption of carbohydrates in your diet and you’ll see a difference in your chin area in no-time,” explains Zoe Martin, Nutritionist at Discount Supplements. “For instance: Try a few cups of Green Tea each day in place of your usual Latte. Not only is Green Tea a fantastic anti-oxidant that can help fight wrinkles, sagging skin and delay the appearance of aging. It’s also known for its ability to increase metabolism and help you lose weight!” Dr Rakus also recommends reducing the fat in your diet and drinking plenty of water to eliminate toxins.
Contour like the Kardashians
Not that we’re suggested the Kardashians have double chins, but contouring offers a cheap, pain free and quick fix solution to disguise wobbly jowls. “By contouring and bronzing the jawline and upper neck areas, you can make a double chin appear instantly reduced,” explains Salman Al-Farsi, online buyer at Beauty Base. She recommends the W7 Shape Your Face Contour Kit 2pcs Set - £6.99 from Beauty Base. “An effective trick to enhancing the jaw line and disguising a double chin is to use a bronzer or contour powder in a few shades darker than the skin tone so that it appears to be a natural looking shadow. Use a brush to apply in an upwards motion and blend well.”
Some double chins can’t be treated with diet and exercise alone [Photo: mali maeder via Pexels]
Call in the necks-perts
For those willing to declare out and out war on the wobble, there are some super high-tech new treatments promising seriously impressive results. “Though you can often make some improvements to the neck area with diet and exercise, to see results more instantly and to vastly improve the appearance of your chin, then I would recommend the treatment Ultherapy which is a non-surgical and non-invasive procedure for the face that uses ultrasound and the body’s own natural healing process to lift, tone and tighten loose skin on the face and neck,” explains Dr Rakus.
Coolsculpting is another option. “Coolsculpting works by freezing your fat cells without causing damage to your skin and is perfect for those unwanted, stubborn areas that don’t seem to improve with a good diet and regular exercising.”
Non-invasive injectables like Kybella are also gaining traction. “Injected by a practitioner, the active ingredient in Kybella is synthetic deoxycholic acid which is a naturally occurring molecule in the body that helps with the breakdown and absorption of dietary fat,” explains Dr Daniel Sister, Anti-ageing and Hormone Specialist. “When injected into the fat beneath the chin, it destroys fat cells to reduce fullness under the chin, and is the only FDA-approved injectable treatment for this.”
And if you’re really determined to fight the flabby neck there’s Reaction Double Chin Treatment which is a clinically proven, FDA approved, non-invasive treatment for skin tightening and contouring which promises to give double chins the heave ho. “The area is treated at varying heat intensities to reach different tissue depths and is one of the few treatments that really does shift that hard to reach double chin that is so difficult with just diet and exercise,” explains treatment pioneer Dr Jules Nabet. Reaction Double Chin Treatment, (£180 per treatment, a course recommended).
Chin and bear it! [Photo: Getty]
Pimp your products
Your usual moisturiser won’t necessarily cut it on this trickiest of body parts, so if your jowls have started to slacken it could be time to pimp your products. “The skin on the neck and décolletage is so thin, fragile and delicate, that using ordinary creams and lotions will only pull and drag the skin and create even more creasing and sagging,” Cathy Kangas, CEO & Founder of PRAI Beauty says. “The neck is fighting gravity 24/7, hence stretch marks and deep wrinkles occur more than any other area.” Cathy recommends choosing a specialised product for the problematic neck area. “PRAI’s Ageless Throat & Décolletage Creme is clinically proven to restore elasticity and firmness. It acts like ‘liquid lifting tape’ and results can be seen in just 7 days.”
Change the way you apply your products
Temple Spa Co-Founder and Managing Director Liz Warom has a great necks-pert tip on how to apply chin firming products to achieve the best results. “Dot the product on the back of both hands, rotate to spread, then use the back of your hands to massage upwards and outwards in long strokes, ‘ironing’ your skin with the back of your hands until it has been fully absorbed by your neck and décolleté. Your skin will feel incredibly soft and deeply enriched. You’re hands will feel treated too,” she advises.
More extreme treatments are available for particularly stubborn double chins [Photo: Getty]
Give your neck a workout
“The jaw and chin give definition and shape to the lower half of the face but as we age collagen and elastin production slows down which results in loss of elasticity and tone which in turn creates a saggy and ageing appearance,” says Sharon Hilditch, MBE, MD, founder and skin expert from Crystal Clear. But there are certain exercises that can help tone the area. “Facial muscles require much the same toning and exercise as any other muscles in the body and has serious anti-ageing benefits. Even sagging jowls can become defined and taut again.”
In salon Sharon recommends. Crystal Clear Microlift, a non-invasive treatment that exercises and stimulates facial muscles to improve tone and contours of the face. (A 40 minute treatments costs from £45.00 and a course of 10 treatments is recommended, taken twice weekly.) But you can give your jowls a home workout too. “Crystal Clear Lift Away the Years, £59.99 (Available direct from Crystal Clear or from M&S), is an innovative gadget that uses sonic technology with gentle vibration to exercise the facial muscles, toning and tightening the skin. The subtle vibration causes the facial muscles to contract, increasing circulation and oxygenation of the skin to restore shape and a more contoured look to the face and providing an instant firming and lifting effect to the jawline.
Chin up! [Photo: stokpic.com via Pexels]
Perfect your pose
If your double chin is still making an appearance as you wade through your selfies, try making it less noticeable by putting your tongue to the roof of your mouth. It gives a natural lift without anyone being any the wiser. Double chin be gone!
What are your top tips for banishing a double chin? Let us know @YahooStyleUK
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