Welcome to the Menopause Skincare blog. If you're like me, you are experiencing all the highs and lows of going through perimenopause. Or perhaps you are already through menopause. Either way, this stage of life comes with unique challenges, just like every stage of life.
Not only does our skin get thinner and more fragile in perimenopause and menopause, it also gets more sensitive. The skincare you used before perimenopause or menopause may actually be harming your skin barrier and exacerbating your lines and wrinkles, causing redness and just not working overall.
I hear from my customers a lot that their skin is dry, dull and lacking in the firmness they once had (myself included).
Hormonal Changes that trigger skin changes:
As all people age, our skin starts to slow down it's turn over of skin cells. Our skin in our twenties regenerates much faster and heals, produces more collagen and hyaluronic acid (yes, that is an "chemical" is naturally in your skin) that binds cells together and keeps them hydrated. As female hormones change, our skin changes with them.
Women already have more fragile skin then men, but it gets even thinner and more susceptible to damage as we enter perimenopause. Our skin doesn't repair as quickly and produces less of what keeps it healthy and youthful. Therefore, your skin becomes much more fragile, sensitive to the sun and damage compounds when you are not protecting it.
While it might sound nice to get chemical peels to get rid of layers of skin to get rid of damage and wrinkles, if you do this too often, you might actually be thinning our your skin, damaging your skin barrier and making it more susceptible to damage in the long run.
Our skin is our largest organ. It's function is to protect us. When we strip away natural moisture, called sebum, we are potentially setting ourselves up for issues.
But there's good news! There are ways to counteract aging by using a combination of lipids, vitamins, and peptides suited for your skin type that helps to increase your skin's natural ability to heal itself and repair damage.
Why changing your skincare to fit your changing menopausal skin is critical:
If you are still using the same products you did even 10 years ago, if they aren't made to hydrate, protect and rejuvenate your skin, they aren't going to give you the results you want.
Many women I speak to forget a few crucial steps in their routine that assist in slowing down the aging process.
1. Exfoliation: This is a process of assisting the skin in shedding the top layers of dead skin cells to remove them and in turn, increase our body's natural ability to create it's own collagen.
Tips:
- Acid Exfoliation: Don't over use acids or peels. AHA acids and chemical peels are wonderful for delivering immediate and often dramatic results. However, you need to use them sparingly and with caution. Use these one or two times a week at home and chemical peels are great once a year in the Fall or Winter. Overusing acids and peels can lead to skin sensitivity, redness, irritation and even a burning sensation.
- Physical Exfoliation: Use a soft silicone brush or gently use a salt or sugar scrub to exfoliate once a week. Microdermabrasion is wonderful too at a visit with your esthetician. Or you can find devices to use at home, but use only once a month or less.
2. Keep your Skin Hydrated: Many people forget to add a moisturizer- even if you have acne prone or oily skin. Moisturizers and Facial oils assist our skin in reducing water loss from the elements. Your skin dries out and is more susceptible to damage as a result.
Tips:
- Use creams, hyaluronic acid serums and facial oils to keep skin soft and hydrated.
- If you have oily or acne prone skin, "oil-free" is not necessarily a good idea. The more you strip your skin of moisture by over washing it, your skin actually produces more oil to try to repair it. Use a moisturizer and facial oil made for balancing sebum production that won't clog pores.
3. Helping your Skin Repair Itself: Your skin- like the rest of your body- is a masterpiece of God's work. Your body has everything it needs to repair itself in most cases. As we age, those processes slow down, but there are ways to help speed it along by using specific ingredients consistently to help your skin look and feel younger.
Tips:
- Use anti-aging serums that protect your skin barrier. Retinol (from Vitamin A) is wonderful for helping our skin cells turnover and produce new cells. It is in many anti-aging products, and while it is great at night, it may sensitize your skin to the sun, making it easier to burn during the day. Most research suggests that as long as you wash it off in the morning and apply sunscreen, you should be ok. But if you already have sensitive, dry menopausal skin, or burn easily as it is like me, you may want to switch out your retinol products. Retinol can dry your skin out, so it is important to keep skin hydrated as well.
- Find Alternatives to Retinol that don't cause sun sensitivity. Bakuchiol is widely revered and researched to be a great alternative to retinol because it produces the same results and is well-tolerated by most skin types because it doesn't cause sensitivity. It is from the Babchi flower, so it is naturally produced and our body processes it easier as a result. It is also not as drying as retinol can be.
- Vitamins in skincare that help the skin: Vitamin B3, Niacinamide, is a hero ingredient for many reasons. It helps strengthen the skin barrier, reduce the size of large pores, brighten skin, and even helps reduce oily skin by balancing sebum production. This powerhouse vitamin is mild and well tolerated by most. You may see a red flush or blushing of your skin when you use if you are fair, but this will go away in a few minutes. And it actually gives your skin a beautiful, rosy glow, which is lovely in my opinion.
- Vitamin C: We all know why Vitamin C is important for our bodies, but topically it can produce some amazing results as well. This hero vitamin helps our skin defend itself against free radicals from UV rays, pollution and helps skin to brighten over time. It can assist in repairing damage to skin along with other ingredients.
- Peptides: There are many incredible peptides that are produced from natural sources using biotech to harness their power. These special ingredients have a variety of functions depending on their molecular structure to help repair skin, stimulate collagen, reduce wrinkles and strengthen the skin barrier.
"So what products do I use then?" you might be asking.
Well, thankfully, you've come to the right place. I created my skincare to deliver the results I wanted to see in my own perimenopausal, sensitive, acne prone skin. So I've done all the work for you.
About Menopausal Skincare by Bella Vida SB (bellavidasb.com):
I hear quite often from my customers and Estheticians who use my skincare that they are often shocked that my skincare works far better than big brands that are sold in high-end retailers like Neiman Marcus and cost upwards of $800.00.
Why? Because I created my skincare to not address just one issue at a time.
Each formula I create from my lip balm and cleansers to my serums and moisturizers are highly targeted to deliver deep moisture, rejuvenate while protecting the menopausal and sensitive skin barrier.
I don't believe in "fluff" in my skincare. Each formula has a combination of vitamins, lipids and hero botanical ingredients that are meant to deliver noticeable results for your skin.
So if you have been searching for skincare that will help you look and feel younger without constant trips to the spa, irritation and downtime or an enormous price tag. Try Bella Vida SB. I promise you will see and feel results. And if you aren't happy, you can get a no-questions asked refund in 30 days or less.
Shop now.