Dealing with menopause

Menopause means the end of a woman's reproductive years.

It generally occurs around the age of 50, but every woman is different; it can happen any time between the age of 40 and 55. The biggest sign that menopause has arrived is when your periods stop for good. After 12 months of zero periods, you’re officially considered menopausal.

From around the age of 40, the hormones your ovaries have been producing since puberty begin to gradually drop off, until they stop altogether. Oestrogen and progesterone are no longer secreted, meaning ovulation stops and your periods end.

Although some may struggle with no longer having periods and what it means, this is a weight off some women’s shoulders, especially those who had intense PMS symptoms and painful periods.

Menopause isn’t an overnight thing. It’s a natural transition that can take a little time to set in. This intermediary period generally happens in your forties and spans several years: at this point, you’re what’s called ‘perimenopausal’.

Early signs of menopause can include:

• ● Irregular periods that may even stop for several months
  
• ● Your periods becoming more frequent
  
• ● Your flow becoming heavier or lighter than usual
  
• ● Bloating
  
• ● Mood swings
  
• ● Headaches
  
• ● Worse period cramps and pain

Other signs of menopause include:

• ● Hot flushes
  
• ● Night sweats
  
• ● Fatigue
  
• ● Disrupted sleeping patterns
  
• ● Irritability

Menopause is about so much more than periods and fertility. These hormonal shifts have repercussions on a woman’s body, causing it to progressively change.

Some disruption triggered by menopause (hot flashes, insomnia, mood swings) fades with time: after a few months or years, depending on each woman, you’ll find these issues resolve themselves, leaving you able to relax again.

Other changes to the body affected by menopause include:

• ● Your metabolism slowing down
  
• ● Weight gain
  
• ● Skin dryness
  
• ● Wrinkles deepening
  
• ● Hair becoming brittle
  
• ● Lost sex drive and libido
  
• ● Vaginal dryness

During menopause, your body produces less oestrogen, which means your skin’s cell turnover slows down and its ability to create fibroblasts is reduced.

Fibroblasts are responsible for producing collagen and elastin, the two key ingredients for a firm, lifted complexion, and their reduction leads to less natural bounce in your skin. Naturally occurring hyaluronic acid in the skin - one of the most important skincare ingredients for hydration - slows down in production, too.

All of this can cause your skin to become thinner, drier and more sensitive. Wrinkles deepen and become more pronounced, especially around the eyes and mouth. You might also notice that your skin loses its firmness and plumpness.

To treat menopausal dry skin, we recommend:

• ● Switching out your skincare products for those specially formulated for mature, drier skin such as our Super Restorative range
  
• ● Apply light layers of moisturising skin care products as opposed to one thick layer of moisturiser. For example, apply a treatment essence or toner, followed by serum and eye care treatment, then lock in all the hydration with a moisturiser
  
• ● Use a face treatment oil designed to treat dry and dehydrated skin such as our Santal Treatment Oil or Blue Orchid Treatment Oil

Remember that dehydration, dryness and wrinkles are mostly caused by external factors like the sun, smoking, alcohol, pollution, poor sleep, poor diet and stress. To keep skin looking its best, it's now more vital than ever before that you start practising self-care with a healthy, nurturing lifestyle.

Our Super Restorative range helps to protect your skin with anti-pollution ingredients. These help by protecting the skin’s natural barrier and reducing the harmful effects of external factors. The day cream and night cream formulas have been adapted to the skin’s chronobiology, meeting its specific needs at different times of the day and night.

Organic gorse extract is a key ingredient in the Super Restorative range. It helps to improve the production of fibroblasts, enhancing the skin’s natural ability to replenish itself and maintain its youthful elasticity.

To keep your hands looking youthful, we recommend using a regenerating hand cream like our Super Restorative Age-Control Hand Cream. Containing a powerful duo of Harungana and Montpellier Rock-rose extracts, this hand cream helps to redensify the skin and reduce the appearance of age spots. After daily frequent use, the skin on your hands replumps and skin tone is more even.

To stop your neck and décolleté from looking old, we recommend incorporating skincare for this specific area into your morning and evening routines. Our Super Restorative Décolleté and Neck Concentrate helps to diminish wrinkles, signs of ageing on the décolleté and the appearance of age spots. Apply from the chin down to the tops of your breasts twice daily after cleansing for the best results.

We have been researching the specific needs of menopausal, mature skin since the beginning of Clarins. Our third generation of our Super Restorative range harnesses 18 years of expertise and incorporates our latest breakthrough innovations to tackle menopause-related skin-ageing.

Skincare specifically designed for women aged 50 and above, our new Super Restorative Day Cream available in SPF 15 and very dry skin formulations and Night Cream for all skin types and very dry skin is a powerful anti-ageing duo specifically formulated for skin left compromised by a drop in hormone levels. These deliciously rich, dense creams work day and night to tackle wrinkles and loss of density to protect and regenerate your epidermis.

Shop our Super Restorative range today specially formulated for menopausal skin