Perimenopausal Skin Challenges

Working with clients’ skin, you’ll notice the visible changes that perimenopause can bring to a woman, placing you in an ideal position to help rebuild their sense of self.

Navigating through the stages of growing older can have a severe effect on a woman.

Perimenopause, the transition into menopause, brings with it a host of changes caused by shifts in oestrogen, progesterone and testosterone levels as a woman ages.

You may personally have experience of perimenopause, but for some beauty therapists tackling perimenopausal symptoms may be new for you. In the salon you have a perfect opportunity to support female clients through what can be a challenging time physically, mentally and emotionally.

“Perimenopause is the time in a woman’s life when menstrual cycles transition to lengthen or shorten before they ultimately end,” explains Clare O’ Hanlon, Co-Director of Boost Beauty.

“This natural process involves ovulation becoming erratic and periods may become irregular because of the main female hormone - oestrogen. Women typically experience hot flushes, night sweats, sleep problems, mood changes,decreases in fertility and skin changes. The falling oestrogen will affect the skin’s ability to retain ceramides, fatty acids that help the skin to lock in moisture and protect the skin barrier.

“Yet, everyone’s skin reacts differently, some will have very little changes and some will have huge changes to their skin.”

“There are three types of skin ageing: biochemical ageing, photo-ageing, and hormonal ageing,” explains Claire Kenny of Sunaura Distribution Ltd. “Biochemical ageing is the natural body process whereby cell structure gradually weakens as we get older. Photo-ageing is additional damage that can occur because of lifestyle and/or external factors such as smoking, sun damage, stress, lack of sleep or pollution. The majority of anti-ageing skincare products only treat one or both of these.”

Claire continues: “Hormonal ageing is where a change in the hormone levels speeds up skin ageing, primarily because of a drop in oestrogen levels. This increases the breakdown of collagen fibre, slows down cell renewal and reduces the moisture-holding capacity of the skin.”

For some women, this transition may begin in their 30s although majority will start to experience perimenopause from the age of 40 to 44 years lasting on average four years. This time in a woman’s life is often misunderstood and sometimes the term ‘menopausal’ is used derogatively to explain why they are feeling or behaving in a certain way. In fact, a woman only reaches menopause 12 months after her last menstrual period.

Perimenopause is not an illness but a stage in life, but it can be extremely debilitating and disorientating. You are in the perfect position to help rebuild clients confidence and discuss their concerns sensitively and openly.

“As professional[s], we…can often find ourselves recognising the visual effects of perimenopause,” comments Marie Nieuwoudt, Group Education Manager at Cloud Nine.

“Understanding and education is key. By ensuring that all aspects of the menopausal journey are present and regularly discussed throughout the education of your team, it simply becomes a part of salon/spa culture. Giving both the professional and the client the confidence to have an open conversation and dispel any stigma.”

Marie recommends that salon teams are educated on recognising the signs of symptoms of perimenopause, menopause and post menopause, treatment recommendations and benefits and record keeping, logging all client outcomes for a more personalisedsalon experience.

In the salon, use your knowledge to create a bespoke treatment programme and homecare that will deliver effective results. “An important point to make is some women experiencing perimenopausal skin issues may have an array of different skin conditions on the skin at the same time,” says Clare O’Hanlan. “For example, hormonal acne and ageing skin. It is important to zone the face and neck and treat each individual area with with different ingredients/products.

“If the client has hormonal breakouts on the chin, and ageing/dry skin on the forehead and cheeks, I recommend different products on those areas to really tackle the individual concern. This will aid in treating the concerns with the correct ingredients/products specifically and have effective results.”

The effects of hormone levels

“As our oestrogen levels start to drop in perimenopause, so too does our body water content, which leads to dehydration,” adds Margo Marrone, Pharmacist, Homeopath and co-founder of The Organic Pharmacy. “Not only can this leave our hair and nails brittle, but it also leaves our skin looking and feeling dry.”

In addition, decreasing oestrogen is linked to a drop in collagen and elastin levels, reducing elasticity and plumpness.

Introducing formulations to preserve and restore the skin barrier function is vital. “For the typical client whose skin becomes dry and thinning, it is important to add ceramides to the skincare routine,” says Clare O’ Hanlon. “Ceramides contribute to the regulation and layout of the stratum corneum’s lipid layers, which is the key to the formation of the skin barrier, protecting it from exogenous factors. They moisturise and rejuvenate the skin and improve its elasticity.”

Shelley Martin, owner of Skinician agrees on the importance of moisture content within the skin during this period. “Hydration is crucial during menopause, with a focus on products featuring hyaluronic acid,” she says. “Equally vital is sun protection, as UVA exposure accelerates ageing and harms fragile blood capillaries.” as overactivity of tyrosinase leads to the overproduction of melanin,” advises Clare.

She continues: “For hyperpigmentation/melasma, we find chemical peels very effective along with tyrosinase inhibiting products, ingredients commonly found excellent in chemical peels are tranexamic acid, phytic acid, gallic acid, glycolic acid and azelaic acid.”

Without the use of an SPF product as Shelley recommends, exposure to the sun combined with hormonal changes can cause patches of brown pigmentation, or melasma. “With melasma, it is important to recommend tyrosinase inhibitors,

“To combat photo-ageing, the additional of Phyto-oestrogens to cosmetic products is really helpful,” advises Claire Kenny. “Phyto-oestrogens are ingredients that can help to reduce the effects of hormonal ageing on the skin. These are not plant hormones but have a similar chemical structure to oestrogen and they have been scientifically proven to tighten the skin and stimulate cell activity, reducing the effects of a lack of natural oestrogen. They work with the skin’s own oestrogen receptors to compensate for the lack of natural oestrogen, without disrupting the body’s hormonal balance.”

“With the reduction of progesterone, inflammation may also arise on the skin as redness, itchiness, spotty and prone to rashes,” says Clare O’ Hanlon. “Testosterone levels are likely to rise which may result in cystic acne. In most cases adult acne is caused by hormonal imbalances where the body produces too much androgen (male sex hormones) as well as the appearance of facial hair.

“For acne, salicylic peels are often effective because salicylic acid works by preventing the development of future breakouts of acne by unclogging pores, another acid called succinic acid is more gentle and directly kills the acne causing bacteria.

“For rosacea, acne rosacea and acneic perimenopausal skin, azelaic acid has high anti-inflammatory effects treating visible rosacea symptoms such as redness, swelling and has antibacterial effects to treat inflamed acne. It works by killing the bacteria that infects the pores and decreases production of keratin.”

Know your hormones...

• Oestrogen helps to stimulate the production of collagen, elastin and hyaluronic acid helping to promote firmness, plumpness, elasticity and hydration levels in the skin. In addition, oestrogen helps to minimise inflammation, boosts wound healing and protects against sun damage. This hormone also plays a key role in keratin production, important for good hair and nail health.

• Progesterone supports oestrogen and stimulates the production of sebum/oil in the glands of the skin. Too little progesterone and skin becomes dry and sensitive, however if the body produces too much of this hormone, there can be a build-up leading to breakouts.

• Similar to progesterone, Testosterone activates the sebaceous glands to produce oil and also impacts hair follicles affecting hair growth, hair shedding and filament size.