Décolletage

Your décolletage is the area that runs from your neck down across your collarbones to your upper chest. The word comes from French, where it originally meant the low neckline of a dress. In beauty and skin care, it now refers to the skin that neckline reveals.

This entry covers where the décolletage is, why its skin ages noticeably, and why estheticians often treat it together with the face. It doesn’t cover dermatology procedures like lasers or peels.

What is the décolletage, exactly?

Décolletage comes from the French verb décolleter, “to lower the neckline.” Merriam-Webster lists both senses: the low-cut neckline itself, and the area of the chest it exposes. When skin care articles talk about “caring for your décolletage,” they mean the second one.

It’s pronounced day-kol-uh-TAHZH.

Décolletage or décolleté?

You’ll see both words in beauty writing, and they share the same French root. Strictly speaking, décolletage is the noun for the neckline or the area, while décolleté describes a garment cut low at the neck. In everyday use the line blurs, but décolletage is the more common choice when the topic is skin.

Why does the décolletage show age early?

The skin here is exposed almost as often as your face, but it rarely gets the same attention.

• It catches a lot of sun. An open neckline leaves this area in the sun right alongside your face. Repeated UV exposure can bring on fine lines and uneven pigment over time.
• It gets skipped. Most people apply sunscreen and moisturizer to the face, then stop at the jawline. Day after day, that adds up.

Why estheticians treat the face and décolletage together

In Korean esthetics, the face is rarely treated as an isolated zone. A facial often extends to the neck, shoulders, and collarbone area, so the therapist can ease tension in the surrounding muscles as part of the same session.

Salon care aside, the daily basics matter more: sunscreen and moisturizer, applied past the jawline.

Simple ways to care for your décolletage

• Extend your sunscreen. Carry it from your face down your neck to your upper chest, so nothing gets missed.
• Skip the hard scrubbing. If your skin turns red or stings, that’s too much. Apply moisturizer with a light hand instead.
• See a dermatologist if something changes. A spot that shifts in color or shape, or a sore that won’t heal, is worth having checked.

Related terms

• Face sculpting: Hands-on care that works on the lines of the face, often extending to the neck and décolletage.
• Collarbone: The bone running between your neck and shoulder, at the center of the décolletage.
• Lymph: The circulation system that carries lymph fluid and immune cells.
• Fascia: The connective tissue that wraps around muscles, organs, and nearly everything else beneath your skin.

Frequently asked questions

What area does the décolletage cover? It runs from just below the neck, across the collarbones, to the upper chest. The word originally referred to the low neckline of a dress in French.

How do you pronounce décolletage? Day-kol-uh-TAHZH. The related word décolleté is pronounced day-kol-TAY.

Why does the décolletage age faster? It gets regular sun exposure but is often left out of daily sunscreen and moisturizer routines. Repeated UV exposure can lead to fine lines and pigment changes over time.

Does the décolletage need its own routine? Not really. The simplest fix is to extend what you already do: carry your sunscreen and moisturizer from your face down through your neck and upper chest.