Skin Care

Menopause and Aging Skin

It’s September, and you can already start to feel the changes in the air as we transition from summer to fall.  It’s also Menopause Awareness Month, which is a good reminder to talk about the changes you might be seeing in your skin for the women approaching, or in the trenches of menopause.

Women in their 50s, in particular, tend to notice drastic changes to their skin in a relatively short period of time. They feel as though their skincare routine is no longer as effective as it once was.  The skin often appears thinner, dryer and duller with more pronounced fine lines and wrinkling.  However, some women may notice these changes to their skin in their 40s.  The reason behind these changes is typically more closely associated with menopause than it is to chronological age alone.

As women enter menopause and their estrogen levels throughout the body begin to drop, they also experience estrogen deficiency in the skin, known as Estrogen Deficient Skin.  Estrogen is critical in helping skin maintain a youthful looking appearance—it helps skin maintain moisture, thickness, and an overall glow.  Thus, when women approach and enter menopause and experience Estrogen Deficient Skin, they will notice skin that is dryer, duller, thinner and overall, “older” looking.  During the first five years of menopause, women lose up to 30% of their dermal collagen.  They will continue to lose 2.1% of their collagen and 1.1% of their skin thickness each year thereafter.  Even women who eat healthy, exercise and avoid the sun will experience these sudden and rapid declines in their collagen levels and the noticeable signs of skin aging.

Up until recently women could not address the root cause of this accelerated aging specific to the skin as a result of these dramatic drops in their Estrogen levels.  Enter Emepelle, brought to you by Biopelle. Emepelle consists of a Serum and a Night Cream that feature a patented one-of-a-kind ingredient called MEP Technology.  MEP Technology is not a hormone yet has profound positive effects on Estrogen Deficient Skin.  This unique ingredient, MEP, has undergone extensive research in a study that was published in November of 2018 by Zoe Draelos, MD., in the Journal of Drugs in Dermatology.  This study evaluated safety and efficacy of this key ingredient and determined that MEP is clinically proven to help improve skin atrophy, dullness, dryness and laxity after a 14 week twice a day application of MEP alone.

A year later, Joel L. Cohen, MD published a separate clinical study in the Journal of Drugs in Dermatology on Emepelle Serum and Night Cream.  According to the clinical study, study participants showed improvement in hydration, wrinkles, texture, color, sun-damage, thickness and integrity by week 20 of the study.  More specifically, “On a 0-4 Facial Hydration Scale, 100% of study participants by week 20 showed at least one-grade improvement and 93% saw two grades or more improvement in hydration. 100% of study participants showed aesthetic improvements per investigator-assessed Global Aesthetic Improvement Scale (GAIS) at week 14. By week 20, 93% of study participants responded that the combination of Emepelle Serum and Night Cream regimen helped improve wrinkles, texture, and color, and 86% of study participants responded that Emepelle helped improve sun-damage, thickness, and integrity. In the Quality of Life questionnaire, 86% responded that Emepelle helped alleviate some or all of the skin issues they developed since entering menopause. Investigator clinical assessment scored patients with a 53% improvement in texture, 21% improvement in keratoses, and 15% improvement in laxity on the Alexiades-Armenakas Comprehensive Grading Scale for Assessment of Skin Aging and Photodamage by the end of the study at week 20.”

Emepelle currently has two products in its portfolio: Emepelle Serum and Emepelle Night Cream.  Emepelle Serum is a lightweight oil-free serum for daytime and/or nighttime use chock full of multitasking ingredients that work together to help produce more youthful looking skin. Emepelle Serum features:

  • MEP Technology for Estrogen Deficient Skin
  • Antioxidants for free radical defense (Vitamins C, E, and Ferulic Acid)
  • Niacinamide and Peptides for helping skin tone and texture as well as reducing the appearance of fine lines and wrinkles
  • Hyaluronic Acid for hydration benefits.

Emepelle Serum is a complete all in one Serum that women may use in place of or in addition to other products they are currently using.

Emepelle Night Cream is a rich, luxurious and restorative night cream that will help leave your skin feeling hydrated and soft with clinically proven results.  Emepelle Night Cream features:

  • MEP Technology for Estrogen Deficient Skin
  • Retinol to reduce wrinkles, pigmentation and skin roughness
  • Niacinamide and Peptides for helping skin tone and texture as well as reducing the appearance of fine lines and wrinkles
  • Hyaluronic Acid, Emollients and Humectants for hydration benefits and to support the skin’s moisture barrier.

Because Emepelle Night Cream contains Retinol, I recommend using 2-3 times a week for the first several weeks and then increasing usage depending on your skin’s overall retinol tolerance.

For those who are looking for an all in one Serum and Night Cream designed specifically for women approaching or in menopause, Emepelle Serum and Night Cream address the root cause of skin aging that is a result of Estrogen Deficiency.  Emepelle addresses Estrogen Deficient Skin without the use of hormones and in a way that is both safe and effective.

 

 

About Dr. Alan J. Parks

Dr. Alan Parks is a board certified dermatologist. Dr. Parks founded his practice, Eastside Dermatology, in 1986 and has been practicing there ever since. In 2016 Dr. Parks launched DermWarehouse, an eCommerce website selling professional strength skin care products to customers across the United States.