Cosmetologist told about the impact of menopause on skin condition

With the onset of menopause hormonal background of a woman, there is an age-related deficiency of estrogen and progesterone. Cosmetic chemist, founder of the Roz Mary beauty brand Natalia Tkachenko told Izvestia on January 30 how menopause affects skin condition.

"Estrogens affect skin thickness, elasticity, skin moisturization, blood flow, barrier function, hair growth and more. Many women notice dryness, decreased skin firmness and elasticity, dullness, and poor wound healing as early as a few months after the onset of menopause. Estrogen deficiency leads to thinning of the skin due to atrophy of the dermis," she explained.

According to the expert, decreased estrogen leads to a decrease in glycosaminoglycans, such as hyaluronic acid, which reduces the skin's moisture content in the thicker skin. Also, the decrease in estrogen affects changes in elastin fibers: skin extensibility increases, skin tone is lost, and skin folds become more pronounced.

"In postmenopause, compared to estrogen, androgen levels decrease more gradually, so a number of women may have a relative predominance of androgens. This can lead to a temporary increase in the oiliness and porosity of the skin. Also pores become more pronounced due to loss of skin elasticity, pore walls are more flabby, do not hold the shape and easily stretched, "- said Tkachenko.

The cosmetologist specified that there are cosmetic assets that can smooth the effects of hormonal imbalance on the skin. Thus, she drew attention to the fact that to stimulate collagen synthesis, maintain skin elasticity in cosmetics for age skin should be peptides. Enhances the effectiveness of peptides the presence of antioxidants: resveratrol, vitamin C, plant extracts.

"To combat thinning skin during menopause, retinol should be in the care, it polishes the stratum corneum of the epidermis, while increasing the thickness of the living layers of the epidermis. In addition, retinol stimulates collagen synthesis," the chemist added.

In addition, to increase skin hydration in the composition of cosmetics should be complexes of moisturizers of different molecular weight. The expert called collagen a good surface moisturizer. It has a large size, lies on the surface of the skin when applying the cream and does not penetrate anywhere. For cascading moisturization, it must be enhanced with multi-molecular hyaluronic acid, ectoin, and amino acids.

"The most frequent question is whether cosmetics with hormones can be used to make up for estrogen deficiency. Hormones in cosmetics are prohibited and can only be in medicines and sold only in a pharmacy. But there is a milder substitute - phytoestrogens. These are plant analogs of estrogens, but they act thousands of times softer. When estrogen is deficient, they bind to estrogen receptors and compensate for their deficiency. Our cells respond to phytoestrogens like our own estrogens. Soy phytoestrogens are used more often," Tkachenko concluded.

The day before, Tkachenko said that in the case when the first age changes appear - fine lines and wrinkles, reduction of density and elasticity - it is worth including rejuvenating cosmetics. In order for it to have a positive effect, it must contain components with proven anti-aging effect in working dosages.