Succour for your skin post menopause

The beauty industry has long ignored women over 50. But at last products promise . . .

FINDING skincare designed to work when you are in your late 50s or beyond has never been easy.

Product options tend to be limited, with obtuse terminology (‘densifying’ cream for ‘fragile’ skin), accompanied by pictures of models in their mid-30s.

The beauty industry isn’t known for speaking frankly to its customers at the best of times, and once you’ve been through the menopause and have got the T-shirt, it hardly speaks to you at all. But change is on the way.

‘I started a pro-ageing brand for mature women because I knew they felt invisible and neglected — and I was one of them,’ says Cathy Kangas, CEO and founder of Prai Beauty.

Its Ageless Throat & Decolletage Creme, aimed at women aged 45-plus, was an instant success when launched in Marks & Spencer in 2018. Excepting M&S Food, it became the retailer’s second best-selling product, making Prai the store’s number one beauty brand.

Last month, Prai launched Platinum Firm & Lift, a range specially designed for post-menopausal skin. ‘We wanted to take our story one step further and address post-menopause,’ says Kangas. ‘There’s no reason any of the changes that come with age should be swept under the carpet.’

It makes good economic sense, too. In her book The Skincare Bible, consultant dermatologist Dr Anjali Mahto points out that, despite women’s average life expectancy being 83, the menopause’s onset hasn’t changed. That means more women with post-menopausal skin.

If that’s not a market waiting to be tapped, it’s hard to see what is.

Kangas says: ‘The tide is turning; there’s an appetite and need for honesty and transparency over meaningless beauty-speak. Women want to celebrate whatever stage of life they’re in.’

That was borne out by the success of a spate of small new skincare brands last year which focused on the menopause, such as VENeffect and MegsMenopause (from Noel Gallagher’s former wife Meg Mathews).

BESIDES Prai, brands Nivea, Clarins and Korres have just unveiled formulas for post-menopausal skin.

Like Kangas, Lena Korres, co-founder and chief innovation officer of Korres, says she wants to ‘open up the dialogue so this subject is no longer taboo’.

Being post-menopausal means the body is oestrogen-deficient. That spells disaster for skin, which relies on the hormone. Five years after the menopause, you will have 30 per cent less collagen (which provides structure), 30 per cent fewer skin lipids (fats) and a 36 per cent drop in cell turnover.

Your protective skin barrier will suffer water loss and irritation, and loss of fat and connective tissue will weaken blood vessels. The visible result is drier, thinner, slacker skin with age spots.

So how to mitigate these ravages? Fortunately, the new breed of post-menopause skin formulas are here to do just that . . .

FRENCH FAVOURITE

Clarins Nutri-Lumiere, clarins.ie

THE new Nutri-Lumiere range from the iconic French brand Clarins comprises a day cream and emulsion, both €109, night cream, €115, and essence, €65, designed to tackle dull post-menopausal skin. MarieHelene Lair, Clarins’s scientific communications director says: ‘This demographic has been asking for targeted formulas for years and now has them.’

As Lair explains it, skin has a ‘micro-nutrient network’, which sends water, vitamins and other nutrients to the cells. Postmenopause, its activity grinds to a near-halt, leaving skin lacklustre.

So the brand devised a complex of 17 brightening, energising and toxin-busting botanical extracts, delivered in light liquid or gel-cream formulas to enhance all-important penetration. Optimum nutrition restored, mature skin gets its glow back.

The four products deliver roughly the same benefits, but come in different textures to suit individual preferences.

VERDICT: A quenching treat. 4/5

AFFORDABLE OPTION

Nivea Q10 Power 60+, boots.com

THIS new addition to the popular Q10 range, launched last November, includes a day cream and Night Cream, both €17.99, and pampering oil, €24.99.

It uses lauded cell-energising vitamin CoQ10 (already a Nivea staple) for boosting cell regeneration when skin needs it most.

This is teamed with argan and grape seed oils, plus water-binding panthenol for rich moisturisation and skin barrier protection.

This is the only post-menopause range that features a face oil (with CoQ10 and healing milk thistle oil).

VERDICT: Reliably rich-textured. 3/5

THE POWER OF PINE

Korres White Pine Meno-Reverse, korres.de.

THIS range has a pair of products — a Volumising Serum-inMoisturiser, €49.90, and Deep Wrinkle Plumping + Age Spot Concentrate, €52.90 — which see the chic Greek beauty company set its sights on the thinning and blotchiness that blights postmenopausal skin.

‘We use a white pine bark extract celebrated for its proven ability to detoxify cells and accelerate the production of new proteins,’ says Lena Korres.

‘It’s teamed with a peptide complex that restores water levels and skin volume.’

Crucially, says Korres, clinical trials show that the right technology can actually ‘put the skin’s state into reverse, with skin density, natural moisture, wrinkle depth and evenness in tone returning to pre-menopausal levels in 28 days’.

The two products work together, with the serum geared more towards tackling pigmentation and the cream concentrating on plumping and volumising.

VERDICT: Impressive ingredients and research. 5/5

PLATINUM PICK

Prai Platinum Firm & Lift, marksandspencer.com

THE full set comprises a day creme and serum, €36 each, and a night creme, €42, and serum,€46, all focused on recovering skin’s elasticity, with peptide complexes proven to lift and tighten.

In studies of women aged 54 to 75, skin showed a 20 per cent improvement in firmness and density in two months.

But there are other benefits. ‘We use polymer and protein elastomer complexes that form a smoothing, tightening film on the skin,’ says Cathy Kangas.

‘These give an immediate lifted appearance and act as a repository for key ingredients, releasing them over time.’

Skin’s depleted moisture content, meanwhile, is restored with water-binding algae, hyaluronic acid and plant oils. There’s also platinum to tackle age spots and dullness, and antioxidants to shield from further damage. Our pick of these would be the Firm & Lift Day Creme for its long-term and immediate benefits.

VERDICT: Visible skin improvement was instant. 4/5