Your skin goes through changes during the menopause, find out how to care for menopausal skin
Skin can suddenly change to being spottier, drier and more sensitive during the menopause. A decrease in oestrogen reduces production in collagen and elastin levels, making skin thinner, more prone to drying out and more prone to sagging. However with some careful and targeted preparation, you can minimise the changes your skin makes while going through the menopause. In this blog you’ll find out useful skincare tips on how to look after menopausal skin.
5 Tips on How to care for Menopausal Skin
1. Use a Moisturiser
A Night Cream
Night creams become especially important during the menopause because during the night is when the skin does most of its rejuvenating and repairing. It is crucial to maximise and aid this process as much as possible. At night you can use heavier and more nourishing ingredients on the skin, while during the day try to use more light weight products that are suitable for dry skin.
Skin Shop’s Kalme Night Repair Cream is great for calming for skin and combatting redness, as well as intensely moisturising the skin.
A Retinol Cream
Retinol is a vitamin A derivative and can transform your skin in a variety of ways: it speeds up cellular turnover, exfoliates dead skin cells, unclogs pores and helps to achieve a brighter, more even skin tone overall. Start with a lower concentration, especially if you have sensitive skin, as this ingredient can be drying; for most women, the skin will adjust fairly quickly and you can move up to a higher strength in time.
An Eye Cream
Women tend to begin ageing around the eyes first and menopause can make the eye area particularly dry, ageing the face far more quickly. Also, after years of wearing and using cosmetics, skin can become hyper sensitive during menopause. The skin around the eye areas can become very sensitive, inflamed and puffy from reactions to cosmetics.
An anti-inflammatory eye gel is therefore a must-have. Skin Shop’s Hydrosil Dry Eye Gel is a light, non-sticky eye gel for calming dry and inflamed skin around the eye area.
2. Protect Yourself From the Sun
Use a Day Cream With SPF
Sun protection is very important during menopause as the skin is thinner and more easily prone to UV damage. Antioxidants found in SPF’s are what can strengthen the skin against UV damage, while also having that important protection from SPF. Antioxidants fight off the damaging effects of free radicals found in UV light that contribute to premature aging.
Seek out Skin Shop’s Kalme Day Defence SPF25 a UV daily cream containing potent antioxidants . You’ll have a winning sun cream that helps protect your skin from the ravages of menopausal change.
Wear Protective Clothing
Any UV light on menopausal skin can have damaging effects. In addition, hair often becomes thinner during menopause, so the scalp is more exposed to UV damage too. A wide brimmed sun hat is one the best investments you can ever make for your menopausal skin. Buy several in different colours to match all your outfits. Hats can be very glamorous so try and make wearing a hat a fashion statement rather than feel it’s a drag or an item that ruins your appearance.
3. Use Gentle Cleansers
A Water-free Cleanser
It may sound strange, but if you have very sensitive or dry skin, cleaning your skin too often with water may make existing skin conditions worse. Water evaporates on the skin, making it dry out quickly. The menopause can also make skin extremely sensitive, making water an irritant. Water is a caustic substance, making it fairly abrasive to sensitive skin. Sudden temperature changes, especially cold to warm as when using warm water during winter time when the air outside is cold, can make menopausal flushes worse. As your skin becomes more delicate and sensitive during the menopause, you should practice water-free cleansing to help protect and preserve your skin as much as possible.
Try Skin Shop’s Kalme Cream Cleanser, a water-free, chemical-free and perfume-free cleanser. A great investment to both clean skin and remove make up to really protect sensitive skin from any sort of irritation or reaction.
4. Care for your Lips
Use A Protective Lip Balm
Just like the skin on the face, your lips become thinner during menopause. Lips also become more fragile and in some cases, prone to cold sores. The hormonal imbalances coupled with the thinner skin on the lips can make menopause a cold sore danger zone. Protect and nourish lips more than ever during menopause.
Check out Skin Shop’s LipQ Liquorice Balm, a cold-sore preventative lip balm that both conditions lips as well as preventing cold sores taking hold.
5. Use a variety of skin treatments
A Skin-toning Treatment
Age spots and discoloration are yet another common occurrence during menopause. The hormonal imbalances can cause mild pigmentation loss, making skin look slightly patchy. If your complexion could use a little evening out, try a treatment product designed specifically to address hyperpigmentation.
An Adult Acne Treatment
Unfortunately, menopause can cause acne due to the hormonal imbalances, the drop in oestrogen means that androgen (male) hormones are more prominent, resulting in menopausal acne. Typically menopausal acne is only temporary, however acne rosacea can be formed amongst this time. Acne rosacea is a type of adult acne that appears as crops of small pussy pimples with a red rash on the cheeks, nose and forehead. Acne rosacea is extremely common in menopausal women.
Skin Shop’s Kalme Day Defence Cream is an anti-redness moisturiser that helps control both the acne and the redness, but keeps the skin moisturised. If you have just normal acne, try Skin Shop’s Clarol Sebopure. Clarol Sebopure is an innovative new anti-acne treatment that controls acne by keeping sebum production pure.
A Gentle Exfoliating Treatment
One of the many common misconceptions about mature or menopausal skin, is that you shouldn’t exfoliate or you’ll cause irritation and damage. However, if you don’t get rid of dead skin cells on the skin’s surface, the products you use on your skin will not be able to penetrate through the surface. But instead of attacking your sensitive skin with aggressive scrubs, try a more gentle wash that is effective but still conditions the skin.
Skin Shop’s Clarol Silver and Birch Exfoliating Wash is a gentle exfoliating wash that can be used daily even on sensitive skin. Ingredients in this wash such as the Birch Bark, Pumice Stone and Rice Bran are used to naturally and effectively exfoliate and remove dirt and dead skin cells.
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