Cara Ho

Turning 40. A birthday many of us try to hide from and cannot quite accept has come around quite so quickly!

Just as our style and tastes change over time, so does our complexion, and most importantly its genetic makeup. As you all likely know by now, our skin is ruled by hormonal changes, and with age comes many alterations to hormones, and ultimately our skin.

Hormonal aging is characterised by significant changes in the secretion of ovarian steroids, usually coinciding with the onset of Perimenopause. This is the marking of the end of reproductive years and the time during which your body makes the natural transition to menopause.

Contrary to popular belief, during this phase your estrogen does not plummet, that is yet to happen – just you wait until post-menopause!

It is in fact, the hormone progesterone that starts to dramatically decline, while your estrogen levels go through more of a roller coaster ride - from tripling to dropping and every level in between.

Staying skin-specific, these dramatic and ever-changing hormonal fluctuations can see an onset of adult acne, rosacea, increased skin sensitivity, peri-oral dermatitis, dryness of the skin, and an overall feeling of heat (oh hot flushes, how we dread you!)

As the skin aging process continues and volume loss in the skin is a lot more prominent an increase in skin dryness and decrease in thickness begins to become apparent, but this is just the beginning of what will later be one of your bigger skin concerns post-menopausal. 

To combat these changes if you are in or entering your forties you should…

1. Prescribe to regular in-clinic treatments to address the skin changes being faced, and the only way you can significantly increase collagen and elastin production. Some of our favourite treatments to help with this are - Nano-fractional RF Skin Resurfacing, Skin needling using R.A.S. Infusion and Laser Facials.

2. Increase the use of active ingredients in your skincare, such as vitamin B3, C, A, and E. Here are our most efficient products to deliver these - Biologique Recherche's Lotion P50, Serum 3R, the Mystiq Intense C Booster C15 from Lira Clinical, and their brand new CBD oil booster, & Serum 24 by Cosmedix.

3. Almost the most important element, you should also include hydrating products such as Hyaluronic acid. In particular, we love the Hydrating Booster from PCA and Serum Yall02 by Biologique Recherche. For lipid depleted skin (oil dry) we recommend the ultra-luxurious Vintners Daughter Botanical Serum, Seba E from DMK, and the Beauty Oil by Lira Clinical.

4. Include supplements with Essential Fatty Acids, Glutathione, Zinc, magnesium and collagen & consider adrenal support supplements. Our favourite combination to deliver these is our Ultimate 1.0 – collagen and EFA’s from DMK daily. For an even better boost, we recommend our Superfeast range, in particular, Ashwahganda or Reishi for adrenal support and Chaga Mushroom for added zinc and magnesium.

5. Ensure your gut and liver are well functioning - this will be one of the keys to fewer menopausal symptoms. Caras favourite for this is by doing a Digestive Tune-Up using Regul8 Maintain a probiotic with lactoferrin, Regul8 Restore for the gut lining & Regul8 Maintain for the protection of the probiotic cultures in the digestive tract. And for the further benefit we recommend taking Masons Mushies - an all-rounder from Superfeast, MSM for the liver from Superfeast and eat plenty of steamed cruciferous veggies! (think cauliflower, cabbage, kale, garden cress, bok choy, broccoli, Brussels sprouts)

6. Keep refined sugar and alcohol to a minimum. Their effects on collagen production are enormous and as we enter our 40s anything we can do to reduce the degradation of this should be considered!