Sherna Malone, Skin Specialist and Meno Active Ambassador
If you are noticing skin changes as you enter menopause, you’re not alone. Understanding what happens around the time of menopause and how that impacts your skin health is key to understanding what changes need to be made to your skincare routine. Disruption to all hormones, particularly oestrogen during menopause (and perimenopause) can affect skin in many ways - increased dryness, itchy skin, increased oil/sebum, breakouts, sensitivity, loss of firmness, and texture differences, to name but a few - which I might add are not just confined to the face, skin on the body can also experience these changes. Now is the time to do a skincare audit to help skin adapt better to these changes and to ensure that the products you are using are serving you and your skin to the best of their ability.
Start with your routine, adopting a well-structured skincare routine is key – with the emphasis being on ‘gentle’ - you don’t want to compromise that delicate skin barrier further. So, when it comes to cleansers for example, hydrating/creamy cleansers are a great option. For your supportive moisturiser, and to help combat dryness look for products with glycerin, ceramides, niacinamide and shea butter to actively moisturise for deep comfort while supporting your skin barrier. If you are experiencing dryness along with breakouts, make sure your moisturiser is one that doesn’t clog pores, the term to look for here is non-comedogenic.
For loss of firmness and uneven tone and texture, look to skincare serums with ingredients like vitamin c, peptides, and retinoids. Serums play a starring role in your skincare routine and are made up of smaller molecules that can penetrate deeply into the skin making them a great tool for targeting your specific skincare concerns. There are lots of them out there, so choosing wisely is always a challenge. It’s best to focus on YOUR skin and your specific concerns and treat accordingly, rather than throwing the kitchen sink at your complexion.
Protect your skin - if you aren’t doing so already, you need to adopt the daily habit of applying a broad-spectrum sunscreen to protect your skin from UV damage and premature ageing of skin. UVA is the silent assassin and is present 365 days a year, it zaps your collagen and elastin resulting in sagging and wrinkling – no excuses, this is a must.
Treat skin from within – you can complement your topical skincare routine by adding some key ingredients to your diet or adding a supplement such as Meno Active that contains Vitamin C which contributes to normal collagen formation and Vitamin A, Iodine, Biotin, Riboflavin, Niacin and Zinc which all contribute to the maintenance of skin.
And finally, remember, you didn’t arrive at menopause overnight so don’t expect to be able to correct or improve any changes you’re seeing in skin overnight – it takes time. With skin experiencing all these changes, if you are in doubt as to how to care for skin best, meet with a skincare professional who will guide you during this pivotal time and far from popular belief, it is not game over when it comes to the appearance of your complexion. When you take care of your skin and adjust your skincare to meet the needs of the here and now, you’ll begin to see the differences - you’ll feel happier, and skin will be happier.
Sherna Malone, Skin Specialist and Meno Active Ambassador
