Many are blissfully confident that 50 years is what happens to others. I don't want to upset, but I want to explain what happens to the female body at this age. At the same time, I will tell you whether it is worth equipping yourself with hot flush sprays and moisturizing lubricants.
What is Menopause?
First, a short course in anatomy. Girls are born with a certain number of eggs stored in the ovaries. Ovulation occurs once a month, a process during which two hormones, estrogen and progesterone, instruct the egg (and sometimes more than one) to leave the ovaries. If the egg is not fertilized by the sperm, the menstrual cycle begins.
The climacteric period, or menopause, occurs when the level of estrogen decreases, ovulation stops, and with it - menstruation. After that, a woman can no longer become a biological mother. This usually occurs after age 45 and depends on genetics, ethnicity, lifestyle, and other factors.
By the way, menopause happens not only to women, but also to men at about the same age.
This period is called andropause and is characterized by a decrease in the hormone testosterone. As a result, in men, sexual desire decreases, but not the ability to conceive.
Menopause before the age of 45 is called premature. The reason may be chemotherapy or radiation therapy, autoimmune diseases, thyroid diseases, sometimes IVF (in vitro fertilization) procedure.
There is also the so-called surgical menopause after ovarian removal surgery. If such an artificial menopause occurs immediately, then the natural one occurs in several stages:
1. Premenopause is a long-term stage that begins simultaneously with the first menstruation and ends with perimenopause. At this time, the first unpleasant symptoms of menopause appear.
2. Perimenopause begins with a decrease in estrogen levels and is divided into two stages: early and late. Early starts at age 40 or earlier and lasts until menstruation is three months in a row. After that, the late stage of perimenopause starts.
3. Menopause occurs at 45–55 years of age. The main criterion is not age, but the number of cycles without menstruation: 12 months in a row should pass. The entire subsequent period is called postmenopause. But most often in different sources there is precisely the name "menopause" or "menopause" for the entire period during and after the cessation of menstruation.
4. Postmenopause continues from the moment of complete cessation of menstruation and the rest of life. The body gets used to the decrease in estrogen levels and most of the symptoms disappear.
What are the symptoms of menopause? Hot flashes - a sudden sensation of heat, sweating, redness
faces
and upper body, increased heart rate.
moods
: irritability, anxiety, depression. Poor memory and concentration, fatigue.
Weight gain, digestive problems and bloating. Decreased sex drive. Dryness of the vagina and vulva.
Hair Growth
on the face and deterioration of the hair on the head, weakening
nail
. Joint pain, muscles, headaches, osteoporosis. Urinary incontinence, changes in body odor.
Sounds intimidating. But these symptoms are not universal and “obligatory” for everyone. Some women go through all the circles of menopausal hell, others do not notice them at all. It all depends on the individual. For those who experience severe discomfort with symptoms, hormone replacement therapy is available. However, she has contraindications and risks, therefore, only an endocrinologist or gynecologist should prescribe treatment.
What happens to the skin during menopause?
Estrogen is important for more than just being able to have children. It also stimulates the production of collagen, elastin and hyaluronic acid. Therefore, the condition of the skin directly depends on it. Since the level of this hormone decreases during menopause, the skin loses 30% collagen during the first five years and 1-2% every next year. Here's what happens to the face at this time:
the number and depth increases
wrinkles, "Floats"
circuit
; appear
dehydration
and
dull color
; worse around the eyes
dark circles, puffiness, dryness, crow's feet, drooping upper eyelids; due to a decrease in skin elasticity, pores expand; excessive sebum secretion causes age-related
acne
;
pigmentation
not directly related to estrogen, but also appears during menopause.
Are Anti-Aging Cosmetics Effective During Menopause?
Today, the beauty industry has focused entirely on millennials and genzers rather than their moms. In January 2019, the online platform for middle-aged people Rejuvage published a study according to which women over the age of 45 make up more than 58% of the clients of the beauty market. Despite this, until recently, manufacturers only offered "anti-wrinkle creams" to the audience.
Even vivid examples of the participation of adult women in advertising campaigns show that under different sauces they sell us one dish - eternal youth.
Back in 2005, 58-year-old Susan Sarandon became the face of Revlon, and 12 years later she appeared in an advertisement for the Jil Sander Sunlight fragrance. 25 years after the first collaboration Lancôme again invited 65-year-old Isabella Rossellini. Five years ago, Helen Mirren introduced L'Oréal Paris Age Perfect cream and continues to work with the brand today, at 74. CoverGirl chose the nearly 70-year-old model May Musk over others, and Joan Collins celebrated 86 years as the face of Charlotte Tilbury. Even the 40-year-old model Lertulo appeared in the advertisement of the Russian brand Don't Touch My Skin - a rarity for the local market.
But among the many examples, there was not one that spoke of a woman in menopause.
Perhaps because the topic is still taboo in society. And a language understandable to all, in which one can and should speak about menopause, is in the stage of formation. In the meantime, the lack of attention and understanding deprives 58% of women of the opportunity to find the right products to solve the problems caused by menopause.
It's not just a shortage of special creams, but also ageism. Menopausal women do not need anti-aging products. They need to be noticed.
Fortunately, there are already the first brands created by post-menopausal women for people like them.
5 beauty brands for menopausal skin
Rochelle Weizner believes that “aging is good, but only on our terms,” and suggests replacing the term anti-aging with well-aging. She built her brand on this foundation when menopause became a part of her life. All products contain the Pause Complex, a blend of vitamins, antioxidants and peptides. Together they keep the fibroblasts (the cells that produce collagen) from being lazy with all the elastic and radiant effects. In addition to cleansing and moisturizing products, the brand has a refreshing Hot Flash Cooling Mist with menthol and a FasciStimulating Tool massager for even more active stimulation of those very fibroblasts.
Emepelle
Empelle has only two weapons against menopause symptoms - a serum and a night cream, which are also suitable for the eye area. The composition is what the doctor ordered: retinol, niacinamide, peptides, antioxidants, hyaluronic acid and a certain MEP Technology. The purpose of MEP is to help the skin to pretend that there is as much estrogen in it as in the skin of a student. And the £ 300 worth hoping to look the same after three months of using the serum and cream.
Megsmenopause
Meg Matthews and Dr. Louise Newson spent two years conjuring intimate hygiene products. They wanted women not to blush at the checkout when buying such jars. The result is a means for washing and moisturizing the vagina, as well as a lubricant with camellia leaf extract. Megsmenopause vegan formulas reduce the feeling of dryness and discomfort in this very area.
Phytomone
The British brand was muddied by 52-year-old Jane Atherton in 2014. And patented the phytoestrogen Phytomone Cosmetic CRT (Collagen Regeneration Technology), derived from soybeans. Its molecular structure coincides with human estrogen, therefore, it suits the skin an upgrade one or two. Phytohormone is included in four types of Phytomone oils: cleansing, night for the face, for the body and one more - to restore firmness and elasticity to the vagina. And the main product Pause HydrCreme, according to Atherton, makes the face visually five years younger.
Kindra
The brand produces body care products - inside and out. And he promises to help a woman "feel like a man again." To do this, it is enough to use a body lotion, hand and foot cream with vitamins B3, B5 and E. And the main thing is not to forget about the vagina lotion (yes, again). It is recommended to apply it with an applicator similar to a beauty blender. For oral administration, vegetable capsules are offered for hot flashes, insomnia and fatigue.
There are no questions about the positioning of "cosmetics for menopause". Manufacturers describe the complexities of menopause and offer solutions. But upon careful reading of the composition, it turns out that somewhere we have already seen this.
Formulas with anti-aging essential ingredients - working but not groundbreaking. Therefore, we remembered a few more cool products for those who care about the result, not marketing:
serum with peptides
Indeed Laboratories Snoxin II
prevents the formation of mimic wrinkles; moisturizing emulsion for the face
Vichy AqualiThermal SPF 25
for sun-induced dehydration; serum capsules
OskiSuper-C
against dull complexion and loss of firmness; night cream
SkinCeuticals, Retinol 1.0
with 1% encapsulated retinol for visible signs of aging; anti-aging sheet mask
SesdermNatural Lifting Therapy Mask
increases the synthesis of collagen and elastin; cream
Caudalie, Premier Cru
with grape extracts (polyphenols, resveratrol, vinefirin and wine yeast) corrects facial contours, smoothes wrinkles and evens tone; lotion
Sensai, Ultimate The Micro Lotion
with a rejuvenating complex based on sakura; revitalizing concentrate
Chanel, Sublimage L'Essence Lumière
with vanilla planifolia extract for an even complexion and
neck
; night cream
Payot, Suprême Jeunesse Nuit
global anti-aging action with the Youth Process complex; a nourishing fluid that gives the skin a radiance, Clarins, Nutri-Lumière
with organic plant extracts and floral acids for women over 60; a brightening eye serum
Guerlain, Orchidée Impériale The Radiance Eye Serum
with orchid extract and diamond powder.
Face and body products for menopausal women are as important a step out of the gray zone as Fenty Beauty's 50 Shades of Foundation for All Skin Tones or Beautiful Right Lipsticks to support the fem movement.
And yet, you should not delete from your beauty routine brands that make, first of all, cosmetics and only then - a social statement.]>
