Extreme Dryness and Redness

Hormones often have the last word on how your skin behaves, regardless of your life stage. But that’s not to say their effects can’t be minimised. Liz Dwyer looks at what fluctuations dominate in your fifties and sixties, and how best to safeguard your skin from hormonal havoc.

Extreme dryness and redness – why now?

As Brigitte Bardot once said, ?It’s sad to grow old, but nice to ripen.? That said, no one likes shriveling up, and with menopause and peri-menopause, oestrogen levels plummet, drying skin out like you never expected. Oestrogens also have anti-inflammatory properties, so the loss of these hormones can also lead to increased inflammation, which can exacerbate certain conditions like rosacea. And during hot flushes, skin can flare up, and turn temporarily red and blotchy.

How to handle it

Get familiar with the terms humectant and hyaluronic, as these are skincare ingredients you’ll want in every stage of your regime. They act like water magnets when applied to the skin surface, attracting up to 100 times their weight and size in H2O, from the blood supply that runs through the dermis. For instant plumping and quenching power, liberally apply Image Skincare Ageless Total Pure Hyaluronic Filler, €29.50.

For tackling redness, the team at Dr Hauschka labs, experts on menopausal skin, have formulated a four-week Intensive Treatment 05, €65, that balances out the hormone-related skin changes with a cocktail of calming and vein-constricting botanicals to counter the blotchiness and spots, making for a calm, even complexion.

Image via Vanity Fair.