Personal care ingredients for menopausal women

There are almost a billion women over 50 worldwide who are going through or have completed menopause and they have specific needs for their cosmetics and healthcare relating to this. They also represent one of the consumer blocs with the highest purchasing power. As such, menopause is a challenge for women, but an opportunity for brands.

The challenges of menopause

Menopause is a natural physiological process that occurs on average in the fifties and marks the end of the female reproductive years. The ovaries no longer produce high levels of hormones (primarily estrogen and progesterone). Estrogen particularly influences how your body uses calcium and maintains cholesterol levels in the blood. After releasing their last eggs, female hormones are not secreted anymore. This natural process can be described in three stages: perimenopause, menopause and postmenopause.

The consequences of this can include hot flashes, vaginal dryness, emotional symptoms, hair loss, fatigue, mood disorders and others but one major effect that isn’t discussed much is skin sagging.

How does the menopause affect the skin?

The drop in estrogen and progesterone levels can severely affect the skin in several ways.

• The renewal of the basal layer (dermal-epidermal junction) is less and less efficient and skin renews itself less quickly.
• Lipid synthesis and sebum production slow down. The skin barrier is then altered and the skin's ability to retain water takes a hit.
• This can lead to dryness and itchiness. Collagen and elastin, proteins that give your skin its firmness and elasticity, decrease with age.
• Menopause can accelerate this loss, resulting in sagging skin and wrinkles.
• The skin may become thinner and more fragile, making it more susceptible to injury.
• The skin may become more sensitive to irritants and allergens.
• Hot flashes and night sweats can cause excessive sweating, which can contribute to dryness and irritation.

Menopause, a challenge for women, an opportunity for brands

Menopause can have a strong psychological impact on some women, causing them to question their femininity, their sense of who they are and their role in society and serving as an undeniable indicator of ageing. This can have knock effects on self-confidence, libido and happiness.

For many women, their appearance is strongly linked to building that confidence back up. Menopause can be a wake-up call that triggers a desire to take better care of oneself and to rebalance. 

Many women undergo hormonal treatments, but some prefer gentler alternatives such as natural and traditional remedies (phytotherapy or homoeopathy for example) to fight imbalances created by hormonal change. Cosmetics are also perceived as a good way to regain control, but routines need to adapt to the body's changes. Therefore, women undergoing menopause often change their products or brands. When they do so, they have high requirements for quality, origin, naturalness, safety and pleasure. Marketing and formulating for the needs of menopausal women can be a great opportunity to capture this generation with high purchasing power. 

How can cosmetics help menopausal women?

Combating the effects of menopause on the skin can be broken into: products which provide moisturising effects; products which help with sensitive skin; products which help improve skin elasticity and thickness; and products which target age spots and improve skin radiance.

At Croda Beauty, we offer a number of active ingredients which are ideal for products aimed at menopausal women. 

Ingredients that improve skin elasticity

A consumer study identified skin sagging as one of the major signs of ageing being accentuated by menopause. Feminage™ is an anti-ageing active ingredient especially dedicated to women experiencing loss of skin elasticity and firmness caused by glycation and oxidation events and related to estrogenic decline. Extensive clinical evaluations have demonstrated the visible and significant efficacy of Feminage on the skin of Caucasian and Chinese women by improving elasticity and firmness while smoothing out wrinkles. These results are associated with a higher quality of the elastic tissue and a preserved fibroblast vitality against glycation and oxidation. Feminage is an eco-designed extract of Engelhardia that comes from ethical sourcing in line with UEBT standards. 

Majestem™ is an active ingredient which tightens the sagging neck skin and lifts the cheeks. Majestem is derived from plant cell culture and is 100% natural origin content, COSMOS natural approved, vegan suitable and IECIC compliant. Majestem acts as a skin conditioner, particularly on the face and neck and received the In-Cosmetics Silver Green Award in 2016.

Phytessence™ Hazel Leaf Mbal is a natural active ingredient that brings vitality and energy to the scalp by boosting ATP synthesis. It demonstrates a firming effect by increasing the expression of collagen VII within the cells. Phytessence Hazel Leaf also exhibits antioxidant and soothing properties.

With its high content of unsaturated fatty acids, phytosterols and vitamins A & E, Avocadin HU25™ is a multifunctional ingredient offering soothing, regenerating and smoothing properties.

Derived from baobab trees, Repulpami™ EC has been demonstrated to significantly stimulate the expression of genes involved in skin firmness and plumping effect. It acts as a reducer of muscle contraction and improves the skin condition by reducing the appearance of fine lines and wrinkles, increasing the tightening effect but also increasing the firmness and hydration of the skin.

Repulpami EC was the subject of a self-evaluation study on 25 women (31 to 65 years old) after 28 days of treatment with a cream containing 2% of our product. The volunteers received in advance all the information on the test and the product. The product was applied twice a day (in the morning and the evening) for 28 days. At the end of the test period, the volunteers completed a satisfaction survey on the five criteria being assessed. More than 70% felt an improvement of their skin after the treatment vs before the treatment. 

Moisturising ingredients

SphingoCare™ is our complete range of sphingolipids and ceramides and assists with moisturisation by helping to repair the skin barrier which is mostly comprised of ceramides. These trusted ingredients are mostly biotechnology and plant derived and naturally compensate the loss of lipids onto the skin barrier to avoid trans-epidermal water loss and the penetration of external aggressor’s such as heat and pollution.

High in flavonoids, Phytessence™ French Rose EC moisturises and protects the skin. It also has strong associations with femininity and agelessness making it an ideal active and emotive botanical for products aimed at menopausal women.

Every step of the manufacturing process is done to preserve the quality of the Rosa gallica active molecules: from manual harvest in organic farms to our innovative and sustainable Eco-sound™ extraction process. This gentle ultrasound-assisted process allows the preservation of the heat-sensitive molecules of rosa gallica while assuring high ecological performance.

Ingredients for sensitive skin

Pacifeel™ is a plant-based active ingredient that addresses the signs and causes of sensitive skin. It improves skin resilience to offer reinforced long-term protection for sensitive skin.

Phytessence French Rose also has benefits for sensitive skin as does Cytokalmine™ EC, a 100% natural and organic derived (according to ISO16128, COSMOS certified 98.6% organic content) ingredient obtained from upcycled materials, the pericarp of fruit cultivated in the south of France. This high-tech ingredient is effective for sensitive skin and has strong antioxidant power thanks to its punicalagin content which protects against skin oxidative stress caused by free radicals, and soothes the skin by regulating the release of interleukin-8.

Ingredients that target age spots

Senestem™ is an active ingredient derived from plant cell culture. It visibly fades signs of senescence, enhances skin viscoelastic properties and brightens senile-pigmented spots. It soothes and strengthens the melanocyte environment to limit melanin overproduction. This active is 100% natural origin content, COSMOS natural approved, vegan suitable and IECIC compliant.

Ingredients which improve overall skin radiance

Responsibly sourced from padina pavonica (peacock's tail algae) in French Polynesia, Padinami EC™ helps to maintain the extracellular matrix integrity of skin, leading to skin that appears firmer and more supple.  Efficacy tests on Padinami EC have demonstrated its ability to stimulate the synthesis of sulfated GAGs and Hyaluronic acids. It’s also proven to boost the synthesis of collagen and pro-collagen and improve cell communication between keratinocytes and fibroblasts. 

Quantified in verbacoside, Phytessence™ Osmanthus helps to protect the skin from the harmful effects of heat by regulating the production of HSP70 and reducing the production of free radicals. It also naturally soothes the skin from sunburn by reducing redness and PGE2 production. These proven properties make it an ideal choice for protecting skin from the harmful effects of heat. 

Kombuchka™ is very common in Russia and China, where it is known for its toning, detoxifying and energising properties. Traditionally used as a pro-biotic drink, rich in organic acids and vitamins, it is said to increase the longevity of the people who drink it. Croda Beauty offers 2 variants, Kombuchka PH and NG Kombuchka, as the product of the fermentation of sweet black tea by the symbiosis of 2 microorganisms (saccharomynes yeast and Xylinum bacteria) that has been demonstrated to provide an improvement in skin quality (smoothing, radiance), anti-glycation and lipofilling effects.

Formulations for menopausal women

Our anti-sagging refreshing mist contains both Feminage and Dynalift™ to fight against hormonal facial skin sagging and lift the skin. Alternatively, this moisturising rose facial mist has both Cytokalmine and Pytessence French Rose EC for a double dose of botanical actives that moisturise, fight free radicals and regulate sebocyte activity.

Senestem is the star ingredient in this anti-wrinkle serum. It visibly fades signs of senescence, enhances skin viscoelastic properties and brightens senile pigmented spots. You can also use it in this natural youth emulsion which offers moisturisation with a non-greasy finish. 

Both Majestem and Feminage feature in this anti-sagging contour stick which is a must-have for any skin care correction throughout the day. It tightens the sagging neck skin, lifts the cheeks and smoothes out crow's feet.