Remodelling contours and redefining femininity

Menopause is a major change in the life of women and has a tremendous impact on the skin, hair and body. There are almost a billion women worldwide who are over the age of 50 and experience menopause-related skin needs.

Croda, Sederma and Crodarom conducted a global consumer study in four different regions to gain insights in the specific needs of peri- and menopausal women. The data generated from the study identified that skin sagging is one of the major signs of ageing. Consumers mentioned that sagging of the cheeks, jawline and eyelids were accentuated by menopause. The challenge facing the cosmetics industry is to break the barriers of how ageing and beauty are defined. The industry needs to offer more realistic concepts that emphasise and include wellbeing, pro-ageing, body positivity and menopausal personal care subcategories.

Eco-designed active ingredient

Using smart science to improves lives, Croda is proud to introduce Feminage, a new active ingredient developed by Sederma. It is especially dedicated to women experiencing a loss of skin elasticity and firmness caused by glycation and oxidation events and related to oic decline.

This ethically sourced, eco-designed Engelhardtia chrysolepis leaf extract (INCI: Glycerin (and) Water (and) Engelhardtia Chrysolepis Leaf Extract) has a 100% natural origin in accordance with ISO 16128, is COSMOS-approved and IECIC-compliant.

Engelhardtia is a subtropical tree that grows wild in Asia and contains glycosyl flavonoid molecules. It has traditionally been used in China to prepare a sweet tea that promotes general health and wellbeing.

Feminage mainly targets elastic tissue and helps to protect its integrity, quality and functionality during a higher risk of sugar (glycation) attacks and degradation by elastase. These effects are associated with vimentin (cytoskeleton) protection and cell resilience to glycating stress (fibroblast contractility). Feminage also helps maintain major components of the dermal-epidermal junction (collagen IV, collagen VII and lamini-5), protects from oxidative stress (DPPH⁰, singlet oxygen, ROS and lipoperoxidation neutralisation) and inflammatory manifestations (PGE-2, IL-6 and IL-8 release reduction).

Clinically proven to be effective

Extensive clinical evaluations were done at 3% on Caucasian menopausal women in France and menopausal women in China, over a two-month period. The results demonstrated the visible and significant efficacy of Feminage (versus a placebo) on the Caucasian and Chinese women’s skin by improving elasticity by 14% and firmness by 8.2%. The active ingredient also smoothed out wrinkles and helped to improve jowl volume by 11.4%, reduced droopy eyelids by 24.7% and improved crow’s feet wrinkles by 9.5% and marionette lines by 14.8%. These results are associated with a higher quality of the elastic tissue and a preserved fibroblast vitality against glycation and oxidation*.

During the consumer study, 80% of the volunteers perceived significantly reduced eyelid drooping and less tired-looking eyes.

Feminage is designed to support harmonious femininity, to uplift feminine beauty, redefine facial contours and to help the skin transition smoothly and gracefully while going through life’s changes.

* All the results of the clinical studies, as well as in vitro studies and consumer study are available upon request through your local sales representative. •

GET MORE INFO ON FEMINAGE ONLINE

• To download a presentation and watch a video of Sederma’s marketing director, Olga Gracioso, discussing menopause as a process and concept, as well as the relevance of creating a ‘menopause’ personal care subcategory – click here: https://bit.ly/3v7XF9e.

• For Feminage literature or to request samples, please click here: https://bit.ly/3dCYL71.

Did you know?

Feminage helps to compensate for the antioxidant and sugar metabolism regulating effects of os which are reduced with menopause, while improving the elastic tissue quality. According to the WGSN trend agency, the Early Boomer (born between 1955 and 1964) is the first generation that is looking for ways to own and manage this stage of the ageing process.