15 Best Neck-Firming Creams to Tighten and Smooth Skin (Tested and Reviewed for 2023)

“The most tried and true ingredient to firm the skin on your neck is retinol,” says dermatologist Shereene Idriss, MD, which happens to be the gold-star ingredient in this neck cream from Roc. “Retinols speed up cell turnover in your skin, which helps smooth texture and fine lines and boosts collagen production to make skin look tighter and more plump,” she says. However, it can be very difficult to tolerate retinoids on your neck, because they can be irritating, inflammatory, and can cause redness and itching, Dr. Idriss adds. Which is why she loves this cream that’s filled with moisturizers (shea butter and hyaluronic acid), along with soothing allantoin, to help offset some of the side effects.

• Key ingredients: Retinol, hyaluronic acid, shea butter, allantoin
• Fragrance free? Yes

THE REVIEWS: One reviewer notes, “I recently started using it to address some mild lines on my neck, and I was pleasantly surprised by the results. After just one week of use, I noticed a visible reduction in the appearance of the lines on my neck.”

I love giving myself a gua-sha facial massage with this neck-firming cream because it has such a slippery texture that helps the tool and my hands glide across my skin. The richness makes my at-home massage feel so luxe, along with the ~chic~ glass bottle and peptide-rich formula. It helps plump up my skin, making it look so smooth and hydrated right after I massage it in and builds up over time.

• Key ingredients: Sunflower seed oil, squalane, peptides, aloe, bisabolol
• Fragrance free? No

MY REVIEW: I love the rich consistency of this cream on my neck. It makes my skin feel so soft and firm, and its rose scent is so light and fresh.

Sometimes, my neck looks a lil dry and dull from hunching over my phone and laptop all day long (brb while I sit up straight!), which is when I turn to this moisturizing roll-on neck-firming cream. It has a built-in metal roller head that I can roll along my neck, chest, and jawline to dispense the product and give myself a massage. I keep it in the fridge so it stays cold and helps temporarily constrict my blood vessels to give my skin a tighter appearance, but I love that the roller even stays a little cool while I’m traveling too. Yes, this is technically considered a serum, but it's filled with so many moisturizers—hi, squalane, hyaluronic acid, and sea buckthorn oil—that give it a richer texture that makes it feel more like a cream, IMO.

• Key ingredients: Squalane, sea buckthorn oil, aloe vera, hyaluronic acid
• Fragrance free? Yes

THE REVIEWS: “Love the feel of the cream—lightweight, not sticky, but still feels substantial and very hydrating—and really love the way you apply it,” writes one tester. “The applicator roll is the nicest massage on my neck. I keep it next to my bed to apply at night and give myself a little lymphatic neck massage at the same time!”

Dermatologist Shereene Idriss, MD, recommends this retinol-spiked cream for your face and neck to help firm, tighten, and smooth fine lines and wrinkles. “It has approximately 0.2 percent retinol, so it’s a great starting point that won’t cause as much sensitivity,” she says. It actually combines both retinol and retinyl palmitate (the least irritating retinoid), which both put cell turnover into overdrive, thus smoothing texture and fine lines. She’s a big fan of slathering this all over your face and neck three nights a week, but she suggests following it up with an occlusive cream to help lock in moisture and offset potential dryness.

• Key ingredients: Retinol, hyaluronic acid
• Fragrance free? Yes

THE REVIEWS: “I love this stuff,” one tester writes. “My skin has not felt smoother. Ever. It has a good smell. It is not too thick. And I feel moisturized when I wake up in the morning as well. I would definitely recommend this!”

This cream isn’t filled with intense AHAs or retinoids, which makes it such a solid pick for slathering all over your face and neck every single day. Not only is it filled with collagen-boosting vitamin C, which helps smooth and plump up fine lines, but it also has SPF 30 to protect your skin from sun damage (which dermatologist Shereene Idriss, MD, notes can make your neck get saggy and wrinkled faster, fyi). Plus, you’ll get a nice shot of brightening hexylresorcinol (a lab-made antioxidant) to even out your skin, along with moisturizing shea butter to keep your skin soft.

• Key ingredients: Vitamin C, hexylresorcinol (synthetic antioxidant), shea butter
• Fragrance free? No

THE REVIEWS: “I was pleasantly surprised to find that after several weeks of using it the wrinkles and itchy dryness on my neck are significantly diminished,” writes one tester. “The cream is much greasier than I'd typically use on my oil-prone face, but on my neck, it absorbs beautifully and the smell is kind of growing on me. For the price point, I'd definitely recommend this product, especially if you get frequent exposure to the sun and to dry conditions as I do here in Colorado.”

Most neck-tightening creams are filled with retinoids and AHAs that can cause your lil bb dry skin to just feel irritated. Instead, boost your skin barrier with this ceramide-rich neck cream. It’ll help boost collagen to tighten and firm your neck with peptides, all while coating your skin with hella moisture and barrier support (thanks to shea butter, sweet-almond oil, and wheat-germ oil).

• Key ingredients: Peptides, ceramides, shea butter, sweet almond oil
• Fragrance free? Yes

THE REVIEWS: One tester writes, “This is a very moisturizing cream that works very well with my aging, dry skin. It is rich and cream but doesn't feel too heavy. It goes on my skin easily and feels very smoothing. It plumps up the skin and lessens the appearance of lines and creases.”

If you don’t wanna spend a lot but still want a smooth, moisturized neck, opt for this firming cream Olay you can use on your face and neck. Thanks to moisturizing ingredients like collagen and peptides, this neck cream will hydrate TF out of your skin, while still being lightweight enough that it won’t leave behind a sticky, greasy finish. Just massage it on your face and neck before bed every night and/or morning (the formula also has smoothing silicone to temporarily “blur” the look of your lines).

• Key ingredients: Collagen, peptides, dimethicone (temporarily smooths)
• Fragrance free? Yes

THE REVIEWS: One review reads, “It’s lightweight and effective. Just because it is inexpensive does not mean it is not a quality product. I think it has done wonders for my 60+-year-old skin.”

Cosmo’s entire beauty team agrees this serum is the GOAT for smoothing, firming, and brightening, which is why I swear by smoothing it all over my face and neck to help mitigate my tech neck. It combines collagen-boosting peptides with growth factors that can potentially help repair your skin barrier. The bottle is actually made up of two chambers: One with a lightweight, watery substance filled with growth factors and peptides to help smooth wrinkles and uneven texture, while the second chamber is filled with botanical extracts to hydrate your skin. And if you needed another endorsement, Dr. Idriss says all of her patients love it.

• Key ingredients: Peptides, growth factors (repairing)
• Fragrance free? Yes (*But contains botanical extracts)

THE REVIEWS: “I think my skin texture and lines look better after using for 12 weeks,” writes one reviewer. “I'm not one to usually pay this much for beauty products, but I think this one works.”

If you want your skin to look temporarily smooth and tight, try this neck-firming cream from Maely’s. It uses an ingredient called pink pepperslim that some anecdotal evidence suggests can make your skin look a bit more taught to disguise sagging skin. FYI: It does sting a bit right after you smooth it on for up to an hour, but most testers (including me) find it tolerable. If it feels too spicy, massage it into your skin, then glide a chilled ice roller around your neck to cool things down.

• Key ingredients: Pink pepperslim (temporarily tightens), peptides
• Fragrance free? No

THE REVIEWS: “I have been using this product for two weeks now and am starting to see results,” one tester wrote. “It takes 30 seconds to rub in to your skin, so there is very little effort in the application of this cream. I will continue to use this cream and, hopefully, the lines will disappear FOREVER…”

Ever since Cosmo deputy beauty director Chloe Metzger told me she’s obsessed with this calming moisturizer for her keratosis pilaris-prone skin, I’ve been slathering it all over my sensitive neck. It feels like I’m giving my neck eczema a big hug, thanks to calming allantoin and lightly moisturizing sunflower-seed oil (but fyi, they also have an oily-skin version I’ve been loving on my face). All the while, a barrier-boosting peptide puts my skin into collagen-making overdrive to help smooth and plump my skin.

• Key ingredients: Allantoin, sunflower-seed oil, peptides
• Fragrance free? Yes

THE REVIEWS: “This stuff is the best,” one tester wrote in a review. “It looks thick, but vanishes into my face, leaving it soothed and moisturized. My skin is very sensitive, and I’ve tried so many moisturizers, and this is the best one I’ve found.”

Retinol—aka the gold standard of anti-aging ingredients—is the MVP of this cream and for your fine lines. It, along with bakuchiol (a plant-based retinol alternative), works to plump up your skin and fill in fine lines and wrinkles by producing more collagen while also increasing cell turnover to make your skin look bright and smooth. Meanwhile, shea butter, hyaluronic acid, and squalane help offset some of the potential drying effects.

But, fyi, retinol can be irritating, especially on your v-thin neck skin, says dermatologist Shereene Idriss, MD. Start by coating your neck with a pea-sized drop once a week at night for one week, then twice a week for two weeks or until your skin can tolerate three times a week indefinitely. Dr. Idriss recommends loading up on another moisturizing cream too (like just bringing your face moisturizer down to your neck) and adding an occlusive layer like Vaseline or Aquaphor.

• Key ingredients: Retinol, bakuchiol, shea butter, hyaluronic acid, squalane
• Fragrance free? No

THE REVIEWS: “I have been using this product for about two weeks now, and I already see a difference in the way my skin looks and feels,” writes one reviewer. “It has definitely helped smooth lines and help pores look less defined. I am pleasantly surprised at the smell of the product too; it has a fresh scent.”

Hormonal, cystic acne has left me with lots of jawline and neck scars. So in my late-20s effort to both brighten up hyperpigmentation while also preventing fine lines on my neck, I started incorporating this AHA neck-firming cream into my daily routine. I just coat my entire neck with it before smoothing on sunscreen in the morning, and it helps smooth uneven texture and fade my acne scars with lactic acid and licorice root extract. But I also love how damn moisturized and supple it makes my skin feel (‘sup, shea butter and hyaluronic acid)

• Key ingredients: Lactic acid, licorice root extract, shea butter, hyaluronic acid
• Fragrance free? No

THE REVIEWS: According to a review, “Where has this product been my whole turkey neck life?! Suddenly, I noticed a lack of firmness on my neck and panic-bought this cream. I look like I’ve had Botox on my neck as the results appeared within a few days! Makes my skin so smooth, and the container is carefully thought of design. Great product 10/10.”

TBH, most days I’d rather just incorporate this lightweight neck serum into my routine than a whole rich cream. I love how thin and light it feels on my skin, but because it's chock-full of firming peptides and soothing niacinamide, it still makes my neck look and feel v smooth. And because it’s so sheer, it doesn’t pill or get goopy when I layer it with other products, like another cream from this list.

Dermatologist Shereene Idriss, MD, is also a fan of the featherweight texture. “This neck-firming serum has a combination of various peptides, such as argireline, to help smooth visible wrinkles, as well as a slew of other peptides to increase collagen production which can improve skin’s firmness and elasticity.”

• Key ingredients: Peptides, niacinamide, squalane
• Fragrance free? Yes

THE REVIEWS: “I love this neck cream,” writes one tester. “Necessary? Unsure, but it does do its job by reducing fine lines. I am using this more as a preventative step in my skincare routine as my decolletage hasn't really aged like my face has.”

Listen, there is nothing (!!! say it louder for the people in the back!) wrong with having fat under your chin or a round face. And there’s nothing wrong with wanting to disguise it a bit or get a snatched Bella Hadid jawline. But, tbh, the only thing that can truly do that is surgery (like liposuction or Airsculpt), or an in-office fat-reduction procedure like Sculpsure and Kybella.

But if you wanna make your jawline and chin look more chiseled, try this depuffing serum from Pillowtalk Derm (which was created by dermatologist Shereene Idriss, MD). The formula is filled with anti-inflammatory ingredients—like arnica, centella asiatica, and niacinamide—all of which help bring down swelling and inflammation that could be making your face look puffy. FWIW, I slathered this on my neck and jawline twice a day for a month after getting Airsculpt on my double chin, which really helped reduce the swelling and pain, as well as calmed down redness and irritation too.

• Key ingredients: Arnica, centella asiatica, niacinamide
• Fragrance free? Yes

THE REVIEWS: “I love it,” writes one reviewer. “I was recently diagnosed with Crohn’s disease, and my face has been inflamed and swollen like a blowfish. I use The De-Puffer, and within five minutes, I can see the bone structure of my face again.”

So if you do end up trying an in-office procedure (like a skin-tightening laser) to firm your skin on your neck, then you should definitely slather on this cream from Alastin for three to four weeks afterward. It’s chock-full of barrier-repairing ceramides and collagen-stimulating peptides to help your skin heal. But it also gives you a little bit of brightening with niacinamide and major moisture with squalane and shea butter.

• Key ingredients: Peptides, niacinamide, ceramides,
• Fragrance free? Yes

THE REVIEWS: “My neck is much smoother and the appearance of my lines are much better since using this,” one review reads. “I liked it so much, I ordered more so I wouldn't run out. Yes, it is expensive. But it is the BEST product I have ever used. I’ve seen such great results on my neck.”