Avoid Products with Harsh Chemicals
With age, many women become more sensitive to harsh chemicals in skincare. Almost all skincare, including medical skincare brands, contain standard cosmetic chemicals such as harsh alcohols, petroleum-derivatives, detergents, and many other skin irritating ingredients. This can be particularly challenging in menopausal years when your body needs MORE to function at its best. Also, many of these chemical ingredients add to the dryness issues and the oil imbalance issues. Additionally, blood vessels in the face may become more prominent at this time, so reducing exposure to chemical irritants is critical.
Choosing skincare products that are non-irritating is important. L'ATHENE products contain the highest-quality vitamins, minerals, proteins and fatty acids that are nourishing, mild and non-irritating.
Become a label reader. Avoid products with irritating chemical ingredients. Also drink more water to flush any toxins out of the body. Read more about the ingredients in L'ATHENE products.
TIP: Use a natural, non-detergent shampoo on your hair to avoid exposure on your face to potentially irritating ingredients. Cleanse in the shower using only detergent-free shampoos on your body and hair. After showering or cleansing the face, applying moisturizers to the face and body for hydration is important.
Protect Skin from Sun Exposure
During menopause, pigmentation changes on the skin can happen. These can be seen as brown or dark spots and/or patches on the sides of the face, as well as around the lips. These changes are triggered due to shifts in hormone levels. The easiest way to minimize the changes in skin tone and color is to always wear antioxidant skincare products followed by a sunblock and reapply often. Antioxidants are proven to reverse the damage caused by free radicals from the sun, stress, aging, smoking and environmental exposure.
Click here for more information about sun protection. It is best to use products specifically made for sun protection only, with a sun block of SPF 30 or more.
Bleaching cremes, gels and laser treatments are also widely used to correct pigmentation issues, and can be successful, however, it is very important to be diligent about using sun block following these products/procedures to avoid the rebounding effect of increased pigmentation.
Eat a Balanced Diet & Exercise
Many experts feel that menopause is similar to puberty since both have a multitude of changes occurring in the body. It is just as important to eat a healthy diet in menopause as it was when we were going through puberty. While the body can rebalance from small or infrequent shifts in nutrition and hydration due to changes in appetite, frequent or prolonged unhealthy dietary changes can negatively impact the body at this challenging time. Get rest, eat antioxidant foods and drink plenty of water. Exercise 3 times a week for at least 15 minutes. Walking or enjoying the outdoors is also a great way to relieve stress and keep you looking and feeling younger.
More about Menopause
During the late 30's, a woman's skin cell turnover begins to slow down. This causes dead, dull skin cells to build up on the surface of skin. The combination of dead surface cells plus the thinning out of the skin causes a decrease in skin's ability to retain moisture and an overall dull appearance of the skin. Fatty acids can powerfully help by replenishing the skin's moisture loss and providing needed emolliency.
At some point in the 40's or 50's, every woman will experience menopause. Estrogen loss can make the skin look and feel drier, dull and wrinkled. Additionally, changes in estrogen affect collagen breakdown, pore size, pigmentation, skin tone changes and thinning of skin. L'ATHENE offers a complete line of natural skincare treatments that nourish and support menopausal skin so that it looks its most healthy and vibrant.
The terms 'menopausal', 'going through menopause' and 'the change' are used to describe this time. This marks the end of the female reproductive cycle. Although a woman's body starts to produce lower hormone levels in her 30's, the symptoms associated with this time do not appear until 40's. Peri-menopause is that time from the onset of lower hormone levels (30's) up to twelve months after the last menstrual period. After one year of no menses, menopause is said to be complete. During peri and menopausal time, the hormone levels continue to decrease. The loss of the estrogen level contributes most to the changes in the skin.
Without proper care during this time and after, the skin will continue to deteriorate. Although this is a challenging time in many women's lives, these key steps can lessen the impact of menopause on skin and beauty.