Have you noticed fine lines, wrinkles, and dryness in your skin? You’re not alone. It’s a problem that most people deal with as they age. Another frustrating problem that often goes along with wrinkles and lines is crepey skin. Crepey skin is a condition where the skin looks thin, wrinkled, and similar in appearance to crepe paper, hence the name. It may also sag or feel loose. Crepey skin is like common wrinkles in many ways but may affect large portions of the skin on your face, neck, or other areas.
If you don’t like the way crepey skin looks, you can improve its appearance. While some people are quick to resort to drastic procedures, like a face or neck lift, most of us would like to avoid such a drastic undertaking. Still, improving the appearance of crepey skin doesn’t happen overnight. Taking care of your skin and keeping it healthy is an ongoing process. Just as you nurture the health of your heart and other tissues and organs through lifestyle and a healthy diet, you must devote time to protecting and caring for your skin as it ages.
What is Crepey Skin?
Crepey skin occurs as your skin thins, due to the supportive layer of your skin called the dermis becoming thinner and more disorganized. In addition, crepey skin feels dry and papery to the touch. Because of its fragile nature, it’s also vulnerable to tearing or bruising with minimal trauma.
Skin problems often occur together, and crepey skin is no exception. With crepey skin, you might also notice fine lines and wrinkles, pronounced pores, and other issues associated with loss of collagen and elastin. Some people with crepey skin may find it difficult to apply makeup evenly or moisturize. The skin can also take on a crinkly or saggy appearance.
What’s happening at the cellular level when skin becomes crepey? Crepiness is a sign that collagen and elastin are breaking down. Collagen gives your skin its support and resistance to wrinkles and sagging while elastin helps your skin bounce back when it’s stretched or compressed. For example, when you smile, your skin stretches along with the muscles underneath. Then it snaps back once you stop smiling. As you lose elasticity, your skin has less recoil or ability to bounce back and you start to notice smile lines.
Age, sun exposure, and smoking are factors that degrade the elasticity of your skin, making it less able to return to its original shape. With loss of elasticity, it becomes less firm, and the texture changes. Loss of collagen further contributes to wrinkles and crepey skin as your skin loses its support structure.
Who Gets Crepey Skin?
Crepey skin is most common in people over 50. The reason? Age and hormonal changes associated with aging lead to collagen and elastin loss. Many factors contribute to crepey skin — sun damage, smoking, air pollution, a poor diet, and lack of moisture.
If you have thin or fair skin, you have a higher risk of developing crepey skin. The less collagen and elastin your skin has, the thinner and more fragile it becomes. Plus, fair skin has less melanin to protect against sun damage. Once your skin loses subcutaneous fat, it becomes even thinner and more vulnerable to crepiness. Losing or gaining large amounts of weight or repeated weight fluctuations stresses the elastin in your skin and contributes to crepey skin too.
What Works for Crepey Skin?
Moisturizer can temporarily make crepey skin look better by plumping up the skin, but it alone won’t solve the problem. Instead, you need a moisturizer with added benefits. Moisturizers and anti-aging products that contain retinol boost collagen production and can improve the appearance of crepey skin over time. Products that contain alpha or beta hydroxy acids also boost collagen production and improve skin texture.
Other effective ingredients include peptides, vitamin C, and stem cell extracts. You can find these ingredients in higher-end skincare products but do your research. Some products may contain only small amounts, not enough to make a difference.
A large observational study evaluated the effectiveness of a topical formulation containing peptides and vitamin C for improving signs of skin aging, including crepiness. It found the combination was effective for reducing forehead wrinkles, and crow’s feet wrinkles, and improving skin hydration and skin quality.
More Advanced Treatments for Crepey Skin
Several procedures that an esthetician or dermatologist performs can help with crepiness. A procedure called microdermabrasion sloughs off the surface of the skin, making it look smoother. The mild damage that microdermabrasion causes also triggers your skin’s natural repair mechanisms and helps restore some of your skin’s natural elasticity.
Laser treatment can help rejuvenate your skin by stimulating collagen production. Boosting collagen helps rebuild the underlying structure of your skin, which subtly helps firm crepey or loose skin. Fractional laser resurfacing removes the top layer of damaged skin cells while also heating deeper layers of skin. This heat prompts new collagen production, which fills in wrinkles and fine lines. However, the recovery time can be several weeks.
Non-ablative laser heats the deeper layer of the skin, the dermis, without removing the top layer. Non-ablative laser requires several treatments to see results and the results are less dramatic, but the recovery time is only a day or two. Chemical peels that remove the outer layer of skin cells can also improve the appearance of crepey skin. An esthetician or dermatologist can perform these peels in their office.
Conclusion
There are topical treatments that will help alleviate the problem and restore some youthfulness to your appearance. Just don’t expect these products to perform miracles — they’re part of a long-term strategy. It’s also important to wear sunscreen, stay hydrated, and quit smoking if you smoke. You’ll be glad you did it later!
References:
- “Laser resurfacing – Mayo Clinic.” 24 Jan. 2020, mayoclinic.org/tests-procedures/laser-resurfacing/about/pac-20385114.
- Farage MA, Miller KW, Elsner P, Maibach HI. Characteristics of the Aging Skin. Adv Wound Care (New Rochelle). 2013 Feb;2(1):5-10. doi: 10.1089/wound.2011.0356. PMID: 24527317; PMCID: PMC3840548.
- “Skin Aging Studies – Stanford Medicine.” med.stanford.edu/annechangmd/skin-aging-studies.html.
- Ganceviciene R, Liakou AI, Theodoridis A, Makrantonaki E, Zouboulis CC. Skin anti-aging strategies. Dermatoendocrinol. 2012 Jul 1;4(3):308-19. doi: 10.4161/derm.22804. PMID: 23467476; PMCID: PMC3583892.
- “Crepey Skin: Treatment, Causes and Prevention.” https://www.healthline.com/health/crepey-skin.
- Akulinina I, Stefanaki I, Pavlíčková E, Maiolino M, Hajduk S, Sápy M, Mertin B, Rijo H, Tekeli Ö, Valois A, Delva C, Kerob D. Topical formulation containing peptides and vitamin C in ampoules improves skin aging signs: Results of a large, international, observational study. J Cosmet Dermatol. 2022 Sep;21(9):3910-3916. doi: 10.1111/jocd.14733. Epub 2022 Jan 22. PMID: 35064615; PMCID: PMC9786622.
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