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Menopause, perimenopause and your skin
These changes in hormones can affect everyone differently, but we're here to share our advice on what you can do to manage the symptoms with the help of skincare, treatments and nutrition.
What are the perimenopause and menopause?
Jayne, one of our Dermal Therapists at Pfeffer Sal, is also a qualified Women's Holistic Hormone Health Practitioner. Here she breaks down some interesting facts for us.
What is the difference between the perimenopause and the menopause?
“Menopause is officially the day 12 months after your menstrual cycle has come to an end. The perimenopause is the period of time in the run up to the menopause when your hormones are fluctuating and the body is releasing its last eggs. This can take anywhere from 2 to 12 years.”
What are the symptoms?
"There is a wide range of symptoms that women can experience during this time, like irregular periods. Other common symptoms include (but are not limited to!) changes in mood, sweating, fatigue, anxiety, depression, hair loss, dry skin, acne, weight gain, aching muscles, bone pain, forgetfulness and palpitations."
Why does this happen?
"These changes occur during perimenopause because of decreasing estrogen, but the four reproductive hormones are all being effected. These are estrogen, progesterone, luteinising hormone, and follicle stimulating hormone. Add testosterone to the mix and it’s no wonder why the body mind and organs are all effected."
How to look after your skin
It's all about using the right skincare: We list our favourite key ingredients and products below, but as a general rule, we are all about caring for your skin barrier here at Pfeffer Sal. That means using hydrating products that do not strip the skin, e.g. a non-foaming cleanser and barrier supporting ingredients like vitamin B, centella asiatica and probiotics.
Sun Protection: Protect your skin from UV rays by wearing sunblock with at least SPF 30 daily, even on cloudy days. Sunblock helps prevent premature aging and reduces the risk of skin cancer.
Hormone testing and Hormone Replacement Therapy (HRT): Discuss hormone replacement therapy with your healthcare provider if you think you are experiencing severe skin issues due to hormonal imbalances during menopause. You can ask for a hormone level test. HRT can help rebalance hormones and alleviate some skin symptoms.
Diet: Maintain a balanced diet rich in fruits, vegetables, and foods with antioxidants and omega-3 fatty acids, which can promote skin health. It seems like an obvious one, but smoking and excessive alcohol consumption can accelerate skin aging, so try to avoid them.
Exercise: Regular physical activity increases blood flow to the skin, delivering essential nutrients and promoting a healthy complexion. It's great to incorporate the use of light weights to help build muscle. Plus it gets those feel-good endorphins going!
Stress Management: Stress can exacerbate skin issues. Practice stress-reduction techniques like yoga, meditation, deep breathing exercises or a regular facial! ;)
Key ingredients and products
As estrogen levels decrease during menopause, women can see a decline in the skin's oil and collagen production. There are a number of ingredients and treatments that can help this - but remember don't use them all at once. Have a look at your skin and think about what it might need the most. And remember these are guidelines - if you are unsure, pop in to see us so we can analyse your skin.
Peptides - great for helping to keep the skin looking plump
Our product choice: Wildsmith Active Repair Copper Peptide Cream
A powerful copper peptide moisturiser designed to restructure the skin’s collagen and restore firmness. It also delivers antioxidant protection, preventing cellular damage and removing damaged collagen and elastin.
Lactic acid - to exfoliate and hydrate the skin
Our product choice: Elequra Intense Restore Mask
A gentle lactic acid-based exfoliating mask combined with enzymes, antioxidants and hydrators that helps to restore your skin’s glow and improve hydration levels.
Apply to cleansed skin 1-2 times a week in the evening. Leave for five minutes only and rinse with tepid water.
Oils - to nourish dry skin
Our product choice: Ojai Wild Yarrow Facial Oil
A nourishing facial oil with Yarrow leaves and flowers in a base of organic jojoba oil. The Yarrow is hand harvested seasonally at full bloom, dried and rendered with Ojai Wild’s signature slow heat process.
This process maintains the integrity of Jojoba’s natural benefits (such as vitamins A and E, and omega-6 fatty acids) while integrating the added super nutrient benefits of Yarrow, resulting in an extremely potent, fast absorbing dry oil.
Retinol - proven to help fine lines and skin texture
Our product choice: Synergie Skin Ultimate A
What we love about Ultimate A is that its retinol is stabilised and deeply penetrative. This means that unlike other retinol or retinaldehyde formulations that become unstable when exposed to heat and air, Ultimate A does not lose its efficacy over time and is gentler on the skin.
On top of that Ultimate A is also contains witch hazel to reduce skin inflammation, redness and transepidermal water loss.
Vitamin C - an antioxidant to help protect the skin from free radicals, plus help stimulate collagen production
Our product choice: Cosmetics 27 Essence 27
A super-hydrating product featuring vitamin C, hyaluronic acid and centella asiatica that gives your skin a boost of moisture while protecting it from environmental stressors. A great all-rounder for antioxidants, hydration and skin barrier protection.
Our favourite treatments for menopausal skin
Ultra Synergy
Our advanced treatment featuring microneedling, and our exclusive cocktail of peptides, aminos and vitamins, all of which helps to stimulate deep tissue repair, collagen production and increase in cellular turnover.
See our video on how it works in over on our Instagram.
Under the Light
This 30 minute LED treatment can be used alone or as a booster to another treatment. We use Dermalux LED to stimulate collagen, heal acne and help with rosacea, all of which can occur as hormones change during the menopause.
Outside of a full facial treatment, a quick 20 minute LED session is invaluable for revitalising skin cells and improving the energy function of your mitochondria (the powerhouse of skin cells).
Forever You
Forever You uses the ClearLift laser to promote the growth of collagen as well as tighten the skin. This treatment also incorporates Near Infrared (NIR) technology which provides long and short-term benefits, by instantly lifting and sculpting the skin, as well as enhancing your skin’s natural radiance.
See our video on how it works in over on our Instagram.
Renew You
This advanced resurfacing treatment targets skin tone, texture and elasticity. The targeted laser stimulates healing, working on specific areas to reduce expression lines, acne scars and pigmentation, as well as stimulating collagen and reducing the appearance pore size.
As it uses heat as its primary power, it’s not for the faint-hearted and there is downtime involved but, we promise, the results will make it more than worthwhile.
