The Best Home Remedies for Crepey Skin

 

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Just like those rough crepe paper that we used to decorate rooms and tables with, our skin can and will develop a similar texture one day as we get older.

Except unlike the popular childhood craft stable, crepey skin is neither colorful nor exciting to have around. As a fairly common skin trait among mature age people, crepey skin can manifest everywhere on the body.

Aging is of course the primary cause of crepey skin, but quite a few other factors can either contribute or worsen the appearance of crepey skin. Unfortunately, nobody can escape the fate of crepey skin unless time reverses itself.

Skin aging is as a matter of fact irreversible and unavoidable, but there are also many non-invasive ways to combat skin aging, effectively treat or minimize the appearance of crepey skin.

 

We are going to recommend some easy crepey skin treatments so you can even take care of the issue from the comfort of your home!

 

The Definition of Crepey Skin

Let’s play a word association game. When you first came across the term crepey skin, what came to your mind? Crepe, other than being a delicious French treat, by Cambridge Dictionary, is also a thin cloth with a surface that has wrinkles.

Crepe paper is a type of coated tissue paper that is manufactured to produce a surface that stretches. If you have ever made a decorative flower bouquet with crepe paper, you must be familiar with its rough, crinkly, yet elastic texture.

Out of everything that can “crepe”, crepe paper is the most accurate texture counterpart of crepey skin – thin, fragile, delicately wrinkled, loose, and stretchy. While being a type of skin wrinkle, it also differs from most wrinkles that appear on aging skin.

Crepey skin is commonly spotted around the eyes, on the upper inner arms, and the neck, but they are not just limited to these areas.

In fact, crepey skin can be found on larger areas such as upper arms and thighs, for the reason, that skin on those areas is vulnerable to changes.

 

Main Causes of Crepey Skin

Since crepey skin appears to be a type of skin wrinkle, many people regard it as a sign of aging. Aging is the primary cause of any skin wrinkles including crepey skin.

The loss of elastin and the deteriorating ability to produce collagen results in saggy and flaccid skin.

“Crepey skin usually begins to appear when you’re in your 40s. But it can show up as early as your 20s if you are a chronic tanning-bed user or have gained and lost substantial amounts of weight.

Medications are another potential cause of crepey skin, such as long-term prednisone,” says Dr. Amy Kassouf, MD.

Dynamic wrinkles such as under eye wrinkles and smile lines are typically linked to repeated muscle movements, whereas crepey skin often results from skin damages without proper care.

 

Sun Damage

Sun exposure is probably the reason why sunscreen has been the new moisturizer in any solid, dermatologist-approved skincare routine.

When you get a tan, either on a beach or on a tanning bed, the amount of ultraviolet radiation absorbed by your skin can instantly speed up skin aging.

When you get a sunburn, your skin’s outer layer is completely damaged, the collagen and elastin inside your skin will suffer a big loss too. In short, the UV radiation in sunlight breaks down the fibers in your skin.

Your skin will try to grow back those fibers at first, but the skin’s ability to repair itself will decrease over time. 

Effects of sun damage on skin of a young woman anti aging anti wrinkle treatment and prevention

 

 

Significant Change in Weight

People who have lost a significant amount of weight in a short period of time are easy subjects to crepey skin.

Even if it has never happened to you, you must have come across people who needed surgery to get rid of excess skin after a drastic weight loss.

“Fluctuation in weight is often a big contributor to crepey skin, which is another reason to try to maintain a steady weight,” says Dr. Kally Papantonion, a board-certified dermatologist in NYC.

Don’t get us wrong, it shows great commitment and how much you care about yourself if you have succeeded in a dramatic weight loss transformation.

From a skin health point of view, if excess fat sits under the skin for a long time, with fast weight loss, the skin wouldn’t be able to shrink back as much as it should.

 

Medication

Some medications are responsible for the formation of crepe skin, namely steroids.

The most famous drug, in this case, is prednisone, a corticosteroid that is used to treat conditions such as arthritis, blood disorders, breathing problems, allergies, and other immune system disorders.

Prednisone has been discovered to cause crepe skin if being used on a long-term basis.

Consult your dermatologist or doctor when you are taking steroids and understand the side effects first.

 

Smoking, Poor Nutrition & Sleep Deprivation

Bad lifestyle choices and unhealthy living habits pose imminent threats to our overall health and our skin health.

The skin is a vital organ in our body, anything that harms our body can inflict damages on our skin.

Perpetuating factors such as aging and sun exposure have caused our skin many problems, we don’t need to pour more gasoline on a fire.

Take smoking as an example, the toxins and chemicals in cigarettes damage the collagen and elastin in the skin, and smokers often develop crepey skin around their mouth, their eyes, and on the back of their hands.

Unbalanced diets or poor nutrition cannot provide skin all the nutrients it needs, therefore its ability to stay firm and bouncy will decrease. Last but not the least, we have all heard of the term “beauty sleep”.

Proper rest gives our organs a chance to recuperate, reset, and heal, that’s why we often feel refreshed after a good night's sleep.

A dreamless night of sleep is one of the best crepey skin treatments, simple as that. 

 

Best Home Remedies for Crepey Skin

Exfoliate Skin Regularly

It doesn’t matter what your preferred exfoliating method is, exfoliation is a great and a must-have step in any valid skincare routine, ask any dermatologist.

However, we highly recommend using a chemical exfoliator such as AHA (alpha-hydroxy acids) or BHA (beta hydroxy acids) because a physical exfoliator such as a granulated scrub could cause micro-tears on the surface of your skin.

The point of exfoliating your skin, especially on crepey skin or any skin area with wrinkles, is to get rid of dead skin cells and peel away the old surface to boost skin cell regeneration.

An at-home exfoliation equals to a mild acid peel, a step that helps increase skin cell regeneration as well as bring out the newly regenerated cell for a more radiant, younger-looking skin appearance.

As an effective crepey skin treatment, exfoliation is even more important for aging skin.

The skin’s metabolism and skin cells’ ability to reproduce slow down drastically with aging, exfoliating your skin from time to time is like giving the aging skin a much-needed wakeup call.

 

woman exfoliating skin with a scrub skincare

 

Hydrate Your Body and Moisturize Your Skin

Up to 60% of the human body is made of water, without enough water, the organs will fail to function properly. Our skin is a major organ too.

It is tasked with the important mission to protect everything that sits inside the human body. Lack of hydration will result in the skin appearing dry, taut, and flaky. Aging skin is fragile and easily susceptible to wrinkle formation.

If aging skin also suffers from dehydration, wrinkles could pop up anywhere overnight. Because we lose water every day throughout our daily routines and exercises, we need to at least replenish the amount we lose somehow.

Sometimes when you think you have been drinking enough water, but the truth is that the amount of water you consumed could only suffice the body’s needs.

That’s why we need to make sure that we reach the minimum 8 glasses a day quota and on top of that, we should have a moisturizer that suits our skin type to nourish and lock in the moisture that our skin values the most. 

 

Exercise, Massage & Meditate 

Crepey skin treatments do not just limit to topical options, keeping a healthy, active, and stress-free lifestyle is one of the most optimal, easiest, and least costly treatments.

Dr. Annthea Fenwick, a sports science doctor and certified exercise physiologist, recommends any workouts targeting upper arms as great crepey skin treatments.

“The best exercises would be the more challenging ones, such as push-ups. You get a lot of bang for your buck with the push-ups. Tricep bench dips and tricep dumbbell kickbacks all target the upper arms, and are very effective.”

For crepey skin on other body parts, massaging the area gently or practice facial yoga could see some good results in days.

Frequent massages could increase blood flow under the skin and thus boosting cells’ regeneration rate to achieve the rejuvenating effect. Stress is also a major trigger for skin aging.

A constantly stressed person will also develop many facial wrinkles such as crow’s feet and frown lines.

We know that avoiding stress is not as easy as it sounds, it is impossible to slow down a fast-paced lifestyle for many of us. However, we all need to learn how to care for our body and skin before it’s too late.

We found that practicing yoga, meditation or even simple mindfulness exercises could make a difference.

These exercises are excellent crepey skin treatments because they give our body, our skin a chance to breathe, to stretch, to live in the moment so we can soon reach our maximum capacity again.

  

Take Care of Crepey Skin with A Great Diet

The purpose of a skin-benefiting diet is not to lose weight, drastic weight loss can cause crepey skin too, remember?

On the other hand, restricting the intake of sodium and sugar helps eliminate the possibility of dehydration. “Limiting unhealthy foods, in general, will reduce inflammation and irritation of the skin,” says Dr. Fenwick.

“Unhealthy foods can limit how much vitamins and minerals, amino acids, and antioxidants we take in on a daily basis. This will reduce our body’s natural ability to preserve healthy skin.”

 

Night Time Skincare Routine for Crepey Skin

Cleanse

A proper, deep cleanse is the start of any effective crepey skin treatment.

We wash off the dirt and toxins gathered on top of the skin's outer layer to avoid further contamination and provide a fresh bed for other skincare products to penetrate through deeply.

Woman cleansing her face skincare anti aging  

Exfoliate

We have rounded up enough reasons why exfoliating your skin is crucial when you are taking care of aging skin.

Apply an AHA (for dry skin) or a BHA (for oily skin) exfoliator after cleansing to unclog the pores, get rid of dead skin cells, and bring out the glow.

 

Face Masks / Eye Patches

We love a self-care mask session at night.

When you are done with work and just want to kick back with a book or some good TV shows, why not putting on a mask to restore and relax your skin at the same time?

Oia’s Restoring Hydrogel Eye patches are perfect for crepey skin around the eyes. The combination of glycerin, snail filtrate, collagen, red ginseng, and seaweed extract adds immense hydration to aging skin while feeding the skin powerful nutrients.

Minimize that crepey skin lines can be easy and relaxing!

Oia Restoring Hydrogel Eye Patch Anti Wrinkle Anti Age Hydrating

 

 

Serums / Spot Treatments

Everyone has their own skin issues which might require specialized treatments.

For crepey skin sufferers or aging skin in general a strong anti-aging treatment is needed. Retinol is a renowned anti-aging ingredient to add to your skincare collection, Vitamin C also contributes to collagen production and the health of the skin barrier.

Oia’s Vitamin C serum is a marriage made in heaven of antioxidants (retinol, Vitamin C and Vitamin E) and hyaluronic acid – a powerful skin hydrator for aging skin.

Massage 2-3 drops on the skin area you desire and for best results use once to twice a week.

Woman putting on Oia Vitamin C Serum with Retinol and Hyaluronic Acid Anti Aging Treatment

 

Moisturize

If you don’t lock in all the goodness you just put on your skin, then what’s the point?

Aging skin is prone to water loss, using a rich moisturizer as the last step at night is a no-brainer. For crepey skin, we recommend choosing a moisturizer that contains silicone – an occlusive agent that binds moisture into the skin and can prevent any water loss.

 

Optional: Oia Silicone Anti-Wrinkle Patches

Silicone is a magical ingredient that is able to produce an occlusive environment for skin to retain moisture and recover.

The stable and resilient characteristics of Oia’s silicone patches also strengthen the muscles underneath the skin and prevent more wrinkles fhttps://gem-3910432.netrom forming in the future.

Wearing these silicone anti-wrinkle pads frequently can minimize the appearance of crepey skin along with many other wrinkly concerns.

Our Thoughts

We always want to blame aging for everything that our skin has gone through or is currently experiencing, but the skin is a very complicated organ and how to care for aging skin is also influenced by many other factors.

Genetics and skin type decide whether we are more susceptible to crepey skin or not, while environmental variants and our own life choices can accelerate and worsen the appearance of crepey skin.

 

Although crepey skin is common among people over the age of 40, the formation could have resulted from accumulated skin damages throughout our youth.

Apart from applying sunscreen diligently every day and perfecting your anti-aging skincare routine, you have to realize that great skin also comes from taking good care of your health as a whole.

But fret not, Oia is here to help. You might have made some skincare mistakes or overlooked some major causes for aging skin in the past, but from now on we are here to remind you.

 

Do you currently suffer from crepey skin? How do you take care of crepey skin? We encourage you to try out our anti-aging collection curated by skincare experts and share your master tips with the rest of our community online! 

 

Stay radiant,

Oia Skin Team