Menopause is a natural process and a normal part of women's lives, currently affecting 1.2 billion people worldwide! There are multiple stages of menopause, a condition where ovaries gradually stop producing estrogen. Early and late perimenopause begin with period irregularity, mood changes, headaches, and sleep disturbances, on up to hot flashes and night sweats. Menopause is the precise 12-month mark since your last period, and post-menopause is present when fertility completely ceases, with symptoms continuing to diminish in the years following.
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Menopause is a natural process and a normal part of women's lives, currently affecting 1.2 billion people worldwide! There are multiple stages of menopause, a condition where ovaries gradually stop producing estrogen. Early and late perimenopause begin with period irregularity, mood changes, headaches, and sleep disturbances, on up to hot flashes and night sweats. Menopause is the precise 12-month mark since your last period, and post-menopause is present when fertility completely ceases, with symptoms continuing to diminish in the years following.
Menopause typically coincides with aging but can come earlier – with some women entering perimenopause as early as 35-years-old! Why do some women go through menopause early? Those who have removed their ovaries or uterus, have undergone cancer treatment, or have health conditions that affect the ovaries cease estrogen production, entering menopause. Those whose periods started before the age of 11 and have family members who began their menopause journey at an early age are inclined to start their own transition early as well.
Menopause Symptoms... Oh Joy!
If you are constantly fanning, clothes aren’t fitting the same, and you can’t remember where you left your…well, everything, we hate to break it to you, but you may have unknowingly joined the menopause club. Hot flashes, belly fat, and forgetfulness are just the tip of the menopause iceberg (oh, joy!).
As if the inability to manage your weight wasn’t enough, fatigue, brain fog, poor sleep, ear ringing, body odor, mood swings, grouchiness, anxiety, headaches, dry mouth, low sex drive, urinary urgency, palpitations, hair loss, and even cold flashes are all linked with menopausal changes. But as everyone experiences it differently, don’t compare yourself to your peers.
Dr. Mary Claire Haver, a Board-certified Obstetrics and Gynecology Specialist, Menopause Practitioner with the Menopause Society, founder of the Mary Claire Wellness Clinic, and author of The New Menopause, recently shared her wisdom with Author, Podcaster, and Motivational Speaker, Mel Robbins. She stated that women are expected to live about one-third of their lives in this state and recommends implementing changes to address these symptoms and live fulfilling lives for decades afterward. She elaborated on what happens when a woman gets menopause: She elaborated on what happens when a woman gets menopause:
- By age 30, we have roughly ten percent of our original egg supply.
- At 40, we are down to three percent, with the overall quality of our eggs declining.
- Our endocrine system, which produces our hormones, ages twice as fast as the rest of our body.
- As egg quantity diminishes, changes begin to appear in perimenopause.
- By menopause, no eggs are left, and without ovulation, changes become more dramatic.
- We live the last third of our lives without estrogen’s protective benefits, leaving us vulnerable to medical conditions like heart disease, osteoporosis, and stroke.
- Vaginal health, sexuality and our complexions may suffer.
Finding Your Menopause Path
As women, we grew up watching our mothers or aunts’ fan themselves, and their waists thicken as they fretted about whether or not medical or cosmetic interventions were for them. We began dreading menopause and wondered what we would do when “the change” came.
For many, the answer was clear—go 100% natural and accept moderate weight gain, graying hair, and wrinkles with grace, or get a little help from hormone replacement therapy, face lifts, extreme diets, and exercise programs. While most of our paths fall somewhere in between, however you choose to navigate menopause or whatever makes you feel more comfortable in your skin, we'd like to help you flourish in this chapter of your life.
Menopause catapults us toward our last phase, and whether we’re ready for it or not, it seems to come too soon when we are just hitting our stride. However, as we are living longer and have learned so much about the human body, menopause doesn't have to signal the end of vitality. And since most of us will be around decades after menopause, we can and should embrace this phase.
Related: Menopause-Focused Treatments in Spa and Wellness
Skin Related Menopause Symptoms
Women in the throes of menopause frustration are all too familiar with the common signs but didn’t count on the multiple visible skin-related symptoms. Aside from the quality of life and health issues not visible to the naked eye, skin concerns during perimenopause and menopause can be pretty obvious. Fortunately, you can confidently navigate this aspect of the transition by understanding and offsetting the effects menopause has on your skin.
When going through “the change,” the decline of estrogen negatively impacts the skin. As estrogen is an anti-inflammatory hormone, inflammatory skin conditions like aging skin, rosacea, acne, and hyperpigmentation increase due to this decrease. Crinkles can occur alongside delicate, sensitive, dry, and oily skin that threaten otherwise serene complexions. Thinning, bruising, slower healing, flushing, rough hands and feet, and facial hair also occur.
Menopausing with mindful awareness and grace requires staying informed and setting an intentional path. Here is what happens to our skin during menopause and the best menopause-friendly ingredients to help address key concerns:
Aging: While everyone experiences a one to two percent collagen loss around the age of twenty-five, it is compounded by menopause-related estrogen decline, which contributes to wrinkling, loss of elasticity, thinning, and crepiness. Forehead furrows and crow's feet will soon become a permanent scowl if not addressed. Advanced formulas with science backed results driven skincare ingredients put the “pause” in menopause. Here are the top picks:
- Peptides: Peptides help protect against hormonal changes in the skin. These amino acid compounds can help stimulate collagen production and improve skin firmness, which is beneficial for addressing sagging menopausal skin.
- Stem Cells: Topical plant-based Stem Cells bestow revitalizing skin-repairing and antioxidant properties. These remarkable, rejuvenating actives target the root causes of the problem, stimulating skin cell renewal and progressively improving the appearance of the fine lines, wrinkles, and loss of elasticity that multiply during menopause.
- Vitamin C: This antioxidant protects against free radical damage, stimulates collagen production, and has a mild exfoliating effect, helping support cell turnover and diminishing the look of fine lines. A vitamin C serum is an easy addition to any menopausal skin care routine!
- Retinol: This powerhouse active is proven to prevent and minimize the appearance of fine lines, wrinkles, uneven texture, and other aging-related symptoms of menopause. It has exfoliating and resurfacing benefits, boosts cell turnover, enhances natural collagen and elastin production, and improves skin tone and appearance.
- Marine Collagen: The ocean-derived, amino acid-rich protein fortifies healthy collagen production and repair in the skin, helping counteract its accelerated menopausal decline.
- Marine Elastin & Sorghum: These actives support skin’s elasticity, moisture retention, and suppleness, diminishing the visible drooping of “menopause face.” Marine Elastin yields naturally firmer-looking skin. Sorghum a non-occlusive net that delivers tighter-looking skin, reduces wrinkles, and provides antioxidant protection against damaging free radicals.
- AHAs: Naturally sourced alpha hydroxy acids (glycolic acid, lactic acid, citric acid and malic acid) are the top AHAs for increasing cell turnover, which slows during menopause. You can swap your regular moisturizing cream with an AHA-infused resurfacing formula to put menopause in its place!
Drying: As estrogen helps maintain our skin's hydration, its decline contributes to moisture loss, tightness, itchiness, flakiness, and early fine lines. Help skin hold onto moisture with a sulfate free oil-based face cleanser with menopause-friendly lipids. Put dryness and discomfort in the past by locking in moisture with an antioxidant-infused dry skin cream and serum duo and face oil for dry skin that protects the skin barrier from environmental aggressors.
Sensitivity & Fragility: Delicate menopausal skin needs TLC from non-toxic clean skincare for sensitive skin – the difference between stressed menopausal skin and a tranquil complexion. Redness and irritation-soothing ingredients and natural Ceramides, help reinforce the skin barrier against thinning and susceptibility to damage. Products with arnica also benefit thinner menopausal skin prone to bruising. A natural skin care serum with Propolis can provide double duty, controlling bacteria while calming sensitive-prone menopausal skin.
Oiliness: As estrogen declines, male sex hormones (like testosterone) dominate, potentially causing a surge in sebum. Rebound oil production can also occur as the skin works to counteract menopausal dryness. These factors and the sweating from hot flashes call for a weightless, simple routine of a non-drying natural cleanser for oily skin, an oil-balancing skin care cream, and a facial mask for oily skin.
Breakouts: Like a bookend to puberty and teen years, acne may rear its ugly head again (literally) when going through menopause if you experienced breakouts in your youth. Constant wiping of sweat from your face coupled with stress and anxiety tied to menopause can exacerbate your proneness to acne, resulting in blackheads and whiteheads. The ideal products for acne prone skin during menopause utilize salicylic acid, niacinamide, AHAs, hyaluronic acid, and soothing botanicals in gentle yet effective formulas that help control breakouts without stripping or dehydrating the skin.
Hyperpigmentation: Pigment changes may also occur due to hormonal changes. People with a personal or family history of hyperpigmentation or melasma, such as the mask of pregnancy, will likely experience hyperpigmentation again with perimenopause and menopause.
Natural, effective skin care ingredients provide safe alternatives to controversial lighteners like hydroquinone:
- Vitamin C offers illuminating and antioxidant skin-defending properties, helping even skin tone and protect against skin-dulling free radical damage.
- Diacetyl Boldine, proven to inhibit Tyrosinase, the enzyme responsible for pigmentation, instantly boosts radiance and provides long-term luminosity. This pregnancy-safe active also blocks stress receptors and performs as an anti-free radical.
- Retinol promotes radiant, glowing skin. It minimizes Tyrosinase, calming pigment production, plus speeds up skin’s natural cell turnover rate, quickly removing dulling dead skin cells.
- Niacinamide, Phytic, and Lactic Acids help manage post-inflammatory hyperpigmentation that may follow breakouts.
- While SPF is important for everyone, it is crucial for people prone to pigment changes to be hypervigilant about UV exposure at the first sign of perimenopause. Be sure to watch for the heat as well – it is another hyperpigmentation trigger.
Flushing & Rosacea: Flushing and rosacea flare-ups are common symptoms of low estrogen levels that occur during “the change.” Menopausal estrogen depletion causes our body’s thermostat to react to slight body temperature changes, resulting in hot flashes, which trigger flushing and other rosacea symptoms. Control your rosacea flare ups with products featuring green tea, licorice, rose, chamomile, and guarana – the best ingredients for rosacea to address this reactivity and effectively diminish flushing and redness.
Rough Hands and Feet: With menopause, the palms and soles of women’s hands and feet accumulate skin cells, a condition called Haxthausen's disease (Keratoderma Climactericum). A gentle natural exfoliating body scrub and Enzymo Spherides Peeling Cream will help exfoliate the cell buildup without further drying hands. Promptly following with a moisturizing Collagen Hand Cream and natural foot cream will help seal in vital moisture.
Facial Hair: Facial hair growth (hirsutism) occurs due to menopausal estrogen loss and testosterone dominance, producing more facial hair. Waxing to remove hair may trigger breakouts, requiring safe skin clearing products to help control them. Dermaplaning or threading are alternative hair loss removal treatments worth considering.
Pro Tips for Guests with Menopausal Skin
- Be thorough: Recommend guests use a cleanser, toner, serum, and moisturizer on the face, neck, and chest daily. To complete their moisture-preserving menopause facial routine, recommend they use a Collagen face mask bursting with collagen polypeptides, squalane and shea butter once or twice weekly.
- Extra attention for the fragile eye zone: Menopausal skin thinning contributes to capillaries around the eyes becoming more visible, highlighting dark circles. The best eye cream for menopausal skin will contain niacinamide, hesperidin, NHS, and chrysin to diminish the look of dark circles beneath the eyes, plus the aforementioned key actives to smooth crepiness and crow's feet. Guests can also camouflage dark circles and other eye concerns with a skin-blurring formula that contains a natural mineral tint.
- Protect it: Guests should also use a daily broader protection SPF with blue light protection to minimize all the symptoms of “menopause-face.”
- Refresh it: Recommend that they add a Hyaluronic Acid skin mist post-hot flash to cool, moisturize, and plump the skin or at any time daily to instantly refresh their complexion.
As an industry expert, it is important to strategically expand your reach to include pre-menopausal and menopausal concerns. Your selected skin care vendor partners should facilitate this process with strategic recommendations, content, and tools. A strong collaboration should include sales, marketing, and educational support.
By positioning your spa as an insightful, mindful, and intentional solutions provider, you are strengthening your spa’s value proposition as an undisputed and trusted source to assist each guest on their path to improved health and wellness.
