Crepey Skin

It’s like an onslaught. One morning you wake up and suddenly realize most of your body parts—your butt, your boobs and your skin, once firm, are now headed south. If you don’t know what a saggy butt and boobs look like, lucky you!! Be patient.  You will eventually be graced with this wonderful phenomenon of aging.


What does it mean when your skin heads south? More importantly, what does it look like?  Well, it looks saggy, wrinkly, droopy and crepey.  Crepey skin can be anywhere: face, legs, arms, knees, elbows, stomach and hands.  Unfortunately, crepey skin is quite a common occurrence as millions of other women have it too. 

Let's get into the details of how to get rid of crepey skin. For your face, there are many lotions, potions and surgeries to address saggy, crepey skin. Your body is a different story. The basic physiology of body skin (legs and arms etc.) is much denser with less oil glands than facial skin and thus requires a more extreme protocol to help to firm up the crepey-ness. Lotions and  potions aren’t enough. Sure they can moisturize. But that is a temporary solution as you are applying moisture to  plump up dead dry surface cells.

You need to moisturize both your face and your body.  So if you want firming, de-creping benefits, make sure to pick a cream with alpha-hydroxy acids. We’ll talk more about this later.

What can bring on crepey skin? 

·         weight gain and weight loss

·         yo yo dieting  

·         poor nutritional choices

·         sun exposure

·         muscle loss

·         lack of exercise

·         dehydration

As the body slows down the production of elastin and collagen (the proteins that allow skin to stretch and contract) the skin begins to sag and wrinkle. For some people, aging skin manifests itself in deep lines and facial wrinkles. For others, smaller wrinkles appear primarily on the face, neck, and hands, giving the skin a crepey appearance.

Another factor to crepey skin is the amount of moisture in your skin. Your skin will begin to feel drier because your body is not holding as much moisture as it did when it was younger. Even oil glands stop producing the oil it once did when we were younger. The reduction of these oils can lead to more wrinkles resulting in crepey skin.

Finally, the loss of fat may be a cause of crepey skin. With age, the skin naturally becomes finer and thinner. With the loss of fat underneath to support the skin, tiny wrinkles may begin to form.   We all yearn to be thinner and then, once we are there, we realize our chubbier friends really look better because their plump skin has less wrinkles!!

How do you get rid of crepey skin?

Number 1: Collagen Peptides

The number one choice to get rid of crepey skin is a “beauty from within” approach starting with collagen peptide supplementation.  Collagen is a part of the connective tissue that in the skin helps in firmness, suppleness and constant renewal of skin cells. Collagen is vital for skin elasticity. There are collagen peptide supplements that have been clinically proven to increase collagen density, skin hydration and skin restructuring which leads to smoother skin on your body and as a bonus, fewer wrinkles on your face!  

Number 2: Gelatin

Gelatin is number two on the list for the “beauty from within” approach to un-crepe the crepey skin.  Gelatin contains 18 amino acids, 9 of which are essential. Its unique amino acid profile is one of the reasons it has been called the original super food and loaded with so many benefits!  Most importantly are the radiant skin beauty benefits that gelatin possesses naturally including smoothing, firming and tightening skin.

If you are looking for an easy, convenient, tasty way to get your gelatin, check out Triple K, an all-natural instant beverage mix, with 11g of collagen protein and only 60 calories. Triple K is a collagen protein enriched instant beverage mix, blended with organic cocoa, organic cinnamon plus a hearty roasted barley/rye blend. Simply scoop, add hot water and enjoy.

Number 3: Exfoliate

Dry brushing your body with a boar bristle brush or loofah sponge is one of the fastest ways to rid yourself of dry dead skin revealing fresh younger looking skin immediately.  Exfoliating also triggers new collagen production. (Aggressive exfoliation is considered an attack on the skin therefore the skin goes into protection mode by producing more collagen.)  The more collagen you have to sustain and fortify the skin, the smoother and enviable it will look.

Number 4: Moisturize

Topical moisturizing will help to keep crepey looking skin at bay. Having dry and crackly skin will only boost the speed of skin aging. Treat your skin with a moisturizer that contains Shea Butter, Jojoba Oil, peptides or ceramides daily. Coconut oil and sesame oil are my personal favorites.   Be sure to remove dead skin before application of any moisturizer to ensure that the product will be properly absorbed by the skin. One trick is to apply moisturizer when skin is damp from a thorough cleaning for better product absorption.

There are also heavy duty creams out there containing alpha-hydroxy acids, retinols and glycolic acids that do more than moisturize. Many of you may be using them on your face already such to slough off dead skin cells as well as to tighten your skin.  To get rid of crepey skin, go for a moisturizing cream with an alpha-hydroxy/glycolic acid of 10%.  

Number 5: Sunscreen

If you’re not using this at the moment, please start right away.  Take a look at your arm right now. What does it look like? Crepey, dry, sunspots? Your arm has been exposed to the sun. Now think about your butt.  Does your arm's appearance resemble the look of your butt?  Does your bottom have crepey skin or sunspots on it? It is most likely smooth to the touch and looks much younger than your arm does. Why? Your butt has not been exposed to the sun!

It’s all about the sunscreen. You can take your pick since there are absolutely hundreds of sunscreen brands in the market today. Look for a natural sunscreen(no chemicals used to protect you from the sun) . If you want to kill a few birds with one stone though, get one that has moisturizer and anti-aging ingredients in the formulation as well.  Plus, always make sure it is a broad spectrum sunscreen with at least a 30 SPF.

Number 6: Exercise

Exercise tightens your muscles. As the muscles get stronger and tighter, so does the skin. Strength training strengthens muscles as it creates a layer of muscle underneath the skin. As a result, your skin will become tighter.  Weight bearing exercises such as Yoga and circuit training can have a dramatic improvement on the appearance of crepey skin.  A combination of both will give you increased flexibility coupled with your strength training benefit.