Find out all there is to know about skin-conditioning ingredient, pro-vitamin D3 in our ingredient spotlight.

Your skin barrier is the outermost layer of your skin, that protects it from environmental aggressors and keeps your skin hydrated. If you have a damaged skin barrier, your skin may feel dry, tight, flaky, sore or look red. A compromised skin barrier may be caused by several different things such as cold weather, overusing actives or stripping the skin of its natural oils or from an allergy. 

Within the skincare world, the words ‘hydrating’, ‘nourishing’ and ‘moisturising’ are everywhere, but what is conditioning skincare? Read on to find out… 

The Skin Rocks Treatment category has welcomed its latest addition - The Support Oil - your saviour treatment for all skins that need extra support and care. Read on for all you need to know about our brand-new treatment oil.

The very first launch of the Skin Rocks Moisturise category, meet The Moisturiser – a daily moisturiser to give you instant hydration and help support long-term skin health and radiance. The Moisturiser caters to those prone to sensitivity or who simply prefer un-fragranced products by offering a fragrance-free formula, as well as those who prefer a more sensorial experience with our signature light, refreshing, scented option. Read on to find out all you need about this A-star launch.

Moisturisers are a staple part of any skincare routine and are far more important to your skin’s health than you may initially believe. Keep reading to learn more…

Facial oils can divide opinion and intimidate even the most experienced users, but they actually offer a number of skin benefits and can make a brilliant skin-boosting addition to your routine. Learn all about them in our guide.

Using too many actives, over-exfoliation, and harsh climates are just a few factors that can lead to a compromised skin barrier. Especially during the winter, when it is more important than ever to ensure you are taking care of your skin. Keep reading to find out how to keep it happy and healthy...

While there are a variety of skincare myths that often circulate, retinoids draw particular attention. With this in mind, we asked board-certified dermatologist, Ranella Hirsch, to bust the most common myths around the gold-standard ingredient.

Find out all you need to know about this all-star ingredient with Heather Wish, Skincare Education Specialist at Paula’s Choice.  What is azelaic acid? Azelaic acid is a skin-friendly dicarboxylic acid* with unique properties that deliver: Mild exfoliating action that helps unclog pores and refine skin’s surface Skin tone-evening properties that visibly fade post-acne marks and other discolourations

Have you been using a retinoid for a while now and are ready to dial it up a notch? Here’s what you need to know. What are retinoids? The gold standard in skincare, retinoids (an umbrella term used for the various forms found in topical skincare), such as retinal, are derivatives of vitamin A – a key nutrient needed in order for our skin cells to function properly. They work by increasing skin cell renewal (the rate at which new skin reaches the top layer) and helping to stimulate key processes such as collagen and elastin production, altogether leaving the skin with a smooth, radiant and even appearance.

Find out all about the journey of the long-awaited Skin Rocks Skincare in our interview with Founder, Caroline Hirons. When did you first decide you wanted to launch a skincare line? I have a note in my phone from 23rd April 2013, so nearly 10 years ago, where I listed out what I would launch under a different name. These were my early thoughts of it, as I’ve always looked at overhyped claims and thought ‘if I had the opportunity, I would do it better than this’. Now, there is so much goodness in the industry that the thought has switched from ‘I will do better than this’ to ‘I want to do our best work’.

Loved by dermatologists and aestheticians alike, retinoids (aka vitamin A) are best known for their ability to significantly improve the appearance of the skin, particularly texture, wrinkles, breakouts and sun damage. Whilst the results can be impressive, many are hesitant to add a retinoid to their routine as they can be irritating ― especially when used incorrectly. Follow our advice to use your retinoid like a pro. Before you start Address any sensitivity. Before adding any new skincare product into your routine, make sure your skin isn’t irritated or sensitised. If it is, take care of any sensitivity first. Start low. First-time users should begin with a low-strength/gentle formula and build up over time. Generally, once you’ve used up your current strength, you will be ready to move up a level, but always listen to your skin. Slow and steady. It’s important to add your retinoid product into your routine slowly. Start off using it every third day before increasing to more regularly once your skin has acclimatised (unless the brand states otherwise). How often you use it will also depend on your skin’s tolerance, but as a general rule of thumb, you can use this guide: 2 times a week if you are a beginner or in your 20s, 3 times a week in your 30s and 4 times a week if you are over 40. Research has suggested that there is no additional benefit to using a retinoid more than 3-4 times a week1. So, in essence, every other day is a happy medium.  Go easy on the actives. When you first start using retinoids, we suggest going easy on the actives, particularly exfoliating acids (hydrating products are fine). Once you know your skin is tolerating it well, you can then re-introduce them on ‘non-retinoid days’ or in the mornings.  Here are some of our favourites for beginners: Medik8 Crystal Retinal 3 Pestle & Mortar Superstar Retinoid Oil Skin Rocks Retinoid 1  How to use  Brands will always provide you with instructions on the product packaging but for further guidance, follow our top tips: Retinoids come first. Apply after cleansing and before the rest of your routine. For over-the-counter retinoids, it is optional to wait 20-30 minutes before applying anything else. Brands have traditionally advised applying on dry skin but we know that dampening the skin first (with a hydrating toner, mist or essence) can help with penetration. We advise against this if you have very sensitive skin. For prescription-strength formulas such as tretinoin, always follow the guidance provided by your doctor.   Protect your skin. Use at night and always make sure to apply SPF 30 or above during the day. Some newer brands have formulas that can be used in the morning but if in doubt, please use them in the evening. More is not more. Apply a pea-sized amount (you can use slightly more for most OTC formulas) and distribute evenly across the face. With stronger formulas such as tretinoin, avoid the direct eye area (unless it’s a targeted eye cream), neck, around the nostrils and the corners of the mouth, as these areas are prone to irritation. Your skin may react initially. Dryness, irritation, redness and flaking are all normal reactions when you first start using retinoids, particularly stronger formulas. During this stage, stick to a hydrating and nourishing routine until your skin builds tolerance. You’ll know you’ve overdone it if your skin stings when applying a simple moisturiser or feels like it’s burning/is sore. In this scenario, stop usage, go back to basics and give your skin time to recover before reintroducing slowly. The buffering technique will be helpful here. The buffering technique. Whilst sophisticated formulas often contain nourishing ingredients; some retinoid products can be quite drying/irritating. To combat this, you can buffer its effects by applying a layer of moisturiser under your serum. This won’t stop your retinoid from working; it’ll just penetrate slower and mitigate any potential irritation or dryness. Be patient. Retinoids are the gold standard in skincare for a reason - they work. However, consistency is key. While you will likely see some benefit after 4-6 weeks of use, full results can take up to 6 months. It’s worth the wait ― trust us!  Experienced retinoid user? Check out our top picks: Paulas Choice 1% Retinol Treatment Skin Rocks Retinoid 2  Sunday Riley A +  Shop our Retinoids here.   Words by Katie - Team Skin Rocks Qualifications - BTEC, Beauty Therapy Applied Sciences   References 1. https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0190962297801296

Hydroxypinacolone retinoate, or HPR, is a vitamin A derivative – a type of retinoid. It is also commonly referred to by its trade name, Granactive Retinoid, which has a slightly different meaning (more on this later). Before we deep-dive into this ingredient, let’s remind ourselves about retinoids and what they are.  What is a retinoid?  Vitamin A is retinoic acid.  A retinoid is a vitamin A derivative. Some common examples of retinoids in skincare are retinol, retinal and retinyl palmitate. Retinoids have several skin benefits such as reducing the appearance of fine lines and wrinkles, reducing pigmentation and improving skin texture (for more on this, see our vitamin A Think Science ingredient glossary).  What is retinoic acid?  Retinoic acid is the active form of vitamin A. It is bioavailable to the skin (aka, it’s the form that your skin actually uses). So, when you apply any vitamin A derivative to your skin, it will need to convert to retinoic acid to have the same effect. You can read more about this in our ‘Vitamin A Stages of Conversion’ article, but the bottom line is that each conversion step needed will weaken the product - the fewer the conversion steps, the better. For context, retinol esters (such as retinyl palmitate) require a minimum of three conversions to reach the active form. Retinol requires two and retinaldehyde (retinal) requires just one step.  So, what is HPR?  HPR is an ester form of retinoic acid. It is unlike retinol esters, which require a minimum of three conversion steps to reach the active form; due to its close relation to retinoic acid (it is a retinoic acid ester), HPR does not need to go through the same steps of conversion as other retinoids do – it is already bioavailable to the skin as it is.  How does HPR compare to other retinoids?   If we had to rank HPR with other retinoids, in terms of efficacy, HPR sits at around the same level as retinal (i.e., more effective than retinol, less than retinoic acid), yet in terms of irritation, it sits around the same level as retinol esters (i.e., least irritating). Because of its ester structure, HPR is oil-based and is, therefore, gentler on the skin than retinoic acid. HPR has a low potential for irritation and is suitable for sensitive skin. Research has shown that HPR induced significantly less skin irritation than the same concentration as retinol, whilst still providing the same benefits to the skin. So, you can see why HPR is becoming more popular.  How is HPR different to Granactive Retinoid?  Granactive Retinoid is the trade name for HPR (think Nurofen vs ibuprofen). Trade names in cosmetics are used to describe blends of ingredients from specific suppliers. This is where we should talk a little about blend vs active ingredients.  Blend vs active ingredients The simplest way to put it is that your active ingredient is mixed with another ingredient/other ingredients to make a blend. Think of dissolving a Berocca in a glass of water – imagine the Berocca is your active ingredient and your water is your solvent. Once fully dissolved, this is the form we consume – this is your blend.   So, Granactive Retinoid is the trade name for a blend of HPR (your active ingredient) plus solvent (in this case, just one solvent called dimethyl isosorbide). The solvent in this instance is added to enhance the delivery of HPR into the skin. Granactive Retinoid contains 10% HPR – the other 90% is your solvent. So, if your product is ‘2% Granactive Retinoid’, what this means is that it contains 0.2% of the active ingredient, HPR. Do be wary of this, as this labelling terminology can be confusing for consumers.   HPR-containing products we recommend:  Zelens Power A  The Ordinary Granactive Retinoid 2% Emulsion Skin Rocks Retinoid 1 Skin Rocks Retinoid 2  Sunday Riley A+ High-Dose Retinoid Serum    Words by Ceyda Faik-Yildirim MSci (Chemistry) – Team Skin Rocks   

Prescription* strength vitamin A is retinoic acid (also known as Tretinoin/Retin-A). This is the star of the show in terms of skin ‘care’. It has a long list of conditions/signs of ageing/skin problems/disorders that it is proven capable of either fixing entirely or massively helping. Originally (and still) used to treat acne, it quickly became obvious that there was such more to this wonder ingredient. Retinoic acid is bioavailable to the skin. The difference between retinoic acid (Tretinoin/Retin-A) and retinol/retinaldehyde/retinol esters is that they need to be converted into retinoic acid by your skin at a cellular level in order to have the same effect. Each one takes one further stage to convert, as per the table below, and each conversion weakens the strength/effect of the product, hence why a 1% retinol is still not as effective as a 0.025% retinoic acid but may prove more irritating: retinoic acid/tretinoin/all-trans-retinoic acid (prescription only in the UK)0.1%0.05%0.025%                                ^ retinaldehyde and hydroxypinacolone retinoate (granactive) (retinaldehyde – one conversion – acts quickly, just not as quickly as the above)(hydroxypinacolone retinoate is a retinoic acid ester – so it’s directly related to the Boss, but it’s not a direct descendant, more a cousin. Sometimes used in higher %s because it’s an ester and gentle)(Given the choice, I would still pick retinaldehyde over HPR.)   ^^ retinol(two conversions – still works, takes a little longer to get you there)1%0.5%0.3%   ^^^ Retinol esters including :retinol propionateretinyl palmitate(three conversions minimum – these all differ but there is evidence showing that palmitate is the weaker of the family, more of which in individual reviews)There are other derivatives such as retinyl acetate and retinyl linoleate, but they are not as prevalent.   Added to the above are adapalene – trade name Differin, and tazorac, trade name Tazarotene. Differin, now OTC in the USA, is mainly used in the case of acne, but has its own proven benefits on signs of ageing on the skin and so is an easy pick if you are state-side and looking for something affordable, easy to access and try, that won’t break the bank or your skin. It’s also safe for pregnancy and not a problem in the sun. I recommend Differin to anyone that isn’t contraindicated. It’s a no brainer. Tazarotene is mainly prescribed for psoriasis and acne and is prescription only for a reason. It’s irritating and isn’t really used for cosmetic benefits, so if you are on that, keep talking to your doctor, I’m leaving it alone for the sake of ‘cosmetic’ reviews. That’s it. The process is akin to coffee:  double espresso ^espresso ^^cappuccino ^^^latte   Shop our Retinoids. *It is possible to buy tretinoin over the counter in mainland Europe with no prescription needed. When I am talking about prescriptions I am referring to the UK.  Do not forget your SPF. Avoid if pregnant, just for your own peace of mind. Retinoids are fine with breastfeeding** **See video here with Dr Emma Wedgeworth.

Retinal, also known as retinaldehyde, is a type of retinoid. Retinoids are vitamin A derivatives – some common examples are retinal, retinol and retinyl retinoate.  Retinoids are widely known as the gold standard for reversing the signs of ageing such as fine lines and wrinkles. They can also reduce the appearance of hyperpigmentation and help to normalise skin function, reducing excess oil production and unclogging pores – making them beneficial for acne-prone skin.

Widely considered as the gold standard in skincare, retinoids, such as retinol, are derivatives of vitamin A – a key nutrient needed in order for our skin cells to function properly.

A hero product in The Best Version Of You Box, learn more about the Biossance Squalane + Copper Peptide Rapid Plumping Serum, including how to get the best out of the serum and how copper peptides support the skin as Holly Daniels, Global Head of Education for Biossance, reveals all you need to know. Our serum utilises four key ingredients - copper peptides, hyaluronic acid, squalane and polyglutamic acid - to deliver instant and long-term hydration, plus visible firming for bouncy, healthy and plump skin. Here’s what makes these ingredients so effective:

You’ve probably heard of probiotics in skincare, but perhaps are unsure as to how they work and what it means for your skin. Here, Aurelia London’s Head of Brand and Product Expert Antonia Knox explains these fascinating ingredients and their best-selling Cell Revitalise Day Moisturiser, as found in The Menopause Box 2.0.

A key product in The Menopause Box 2.0, we asked NIOD to explain exactly how the ingredients in this intelligent mist work to protect and support the skin.  This product is a dermal treatment mist — not to be mistaken for a "toner" — that hydrates the skin while also helping to protect against environmental stressors and water loss, both of which, over time, may result in a loss of visible skin quality, such as thinning and dryness.

The products included in The Menopause Box are hand-picked by our Founder and Skincare Expert, Caroline Hirons. Read on to find out why she chose the products and to discover her top tips for dealing with menopausal skin.

Here to revolutionise the way you shop for and learn about skincare, discover exactly how the Skin Rocks App came to be as Journalist, Claire Coleman, sits down with our Founder, Caroline Hirons, to find out. “Whenever I come up with something new, I normally message the team: ‘I’ve had an idea!’” says Caroline Hirons, explaining how the Skin Rocks app came about.

You’ve likely heard plenty about the radiance-boosting benefits of vitamin C but did you know that azelaic acid is another ingredient that can be effective at brightening the skin? Here, facetheory Education Manager Claire Balas tells us all we need to know about the ingredient and their best-selling azelaic acid serum as found in The Brightening Box.

The products included in The Brightening Box are hand-picked by our Founder and Skincare Expert, Caroline Hirons. Read on to find out why she chose the products and to discover her top tips for dealing with dull skin. 

The cause of breakout-prone skin is varied and can be down to a number of reasons but first of all, let’s clear a few things up (no pun intended): There is a difference between breakout-prone skin and acne.  Acne is a chronic skin condition.  'Breakout-prone skin' is skin that is consistently prone to breakouts every so often or on a consistent but sporadic basis.

You've probably heard a lot about acids in skincare. They sound a bit scary, but also excitingly powerful - what exactly do they do, and do you need to use them? Here's the lowdown on the most common acids in skincare. 

As a board-certified dermatologist, Dr. Sandra Lee always urges people to resist popping their own pimples because it can often do more harm than good — making spots worse and leading to scarring and potential infection. She is aware however, that most of us will not listen to that. With this in mind, we asked for her expert advice on how to pop a spot properly.

When you think about breakouts you automatically picture a teenager with a few spots. But while there is still a stigma attached to the age we experience them, it is becoming more and more apparent that breakouts do not discriminate against age.

The products included in The Breakout Box were hand-picked by our Founder and Skincare Expert, Caroline Hirons. Read on to find out why she chose breakouts as a theme and why the products were selected.  Why did you choose breakouts as a theme? Irrespective of your age or skin tone, if you have oily or combination skin and visible breakouts, this is the Box for you.  The Breakout Box came to fruition as we know that quite a few older people bought into our Teen Box. Breakouts are something many of us experience at some stage in our lives and so I wanted to create a targeted routine designed to decongest, soothe and balance blemish-prone skin.  Why did you choose these products? Whether you’re experiencing large, painful, hormonal spots or a cluster of breakouts from a heavy weekend, I’ve chosen products that can help to tackle breakouts, no matter what the cause.   Paula’s Choice Skin Balancing Oil-Reducing Cleanser: This gently foaming cleanser is ideal if you suffer from excess oil and blackheads. It removes dirt, oil and makeup without stripping the skin, thanks to the addition of glycerin and aloe vera.   Murad Daily Clarifying Peel: Working over time to decongest pores and resurface the skin, this multi-action peel is a triple-threat when it comes to breakouts. Addressing both the cause of spots and appearance of congested skin, it uses a powerful combination of glycolic acid, salicylic acid and a retinoid.  If you are new to acids, please start by using twice a week. Increase if you feel it is necessary.   REN Clearcalm Replenishing Gel Cream: When your skin feels oily, angry and congested, the last thing you want is a thick, heavy moisturiser. This soothing, lightweight gel cream is designed to boost moisture in breakout-prone skin, leaving it feeling calm and comfortable.    Votary Blemish Rescue Oil: This oil has been designed as a sophisticated alternative to traditional spot treatments which can be quite drying. It’s brilliant if you suffer from regular breakouts and want an invisible treatment that can be re-applied throughout the day without stripping the skin. What’s your advice for dealing with breakouts? First and foremost, work out what might be triggering your breakouts. Is it your hormones? Stress? Your skincare routine? Each of these factors can lead to breakouts, so it’s important to identify the potential cause when treating them.  On that note, treat the spots, take care of the skin. Don’t treat your entire face as if it’s covered in breakouts (unless it is!). Spot treatments such as the Votary Blemish Rescue Oil included in the Box, are brilliant for targeting localised areas.  I’ve also created a complete guide on types of spots and how to deal with them which you can read here.  Shop The Breakout Box.

We often think that skin concerns such as breakouts, are only caused by the products or lack of products we apply to our skin, however, that isn’t always the case. 

Carefully selected by Skin Rocks Founder and Skincare Expert Caroline Hirons, all the products within our Boxes work in synergy to target a specific concern, age, skin type or ingredient.

Co-founder of Summer Fridays and social media influencer, Marianna Hewitt is a self-confessed beauty fanatic. Prior to her popular brand launch, Marianna paved her way to over 1 million loyal followers by sharing her beauty knowledge, recommendations and natural passion for the industry. Now, the successful co-founder is a podcast host and regularly interviews fellow brand founders, influencers, and personalities. Looking to start your own beauty brand? Read on as we interview her on all things business and beauty.

The products included in The Sensitive Face Box were hand-picked by our founder, Caroline Hirons. Read on to find out why she chose sensitive skin as a theme and how she selected the products.

Oh, the skin barrier. You will have likely heard of this being referred to A LOT within the skincare industry and while you might not know what it is, we’d bet good money that you’ve probably felt the backlash when it's become compromised (aka unhappy). 

Have sensitive or sensitised skin? Here are our do’s (and don’ts!) to help keep it calm and balanced

You might assume that sensitive skin simply means skin that is easily irritated, but there are other signs to be aware of that may indicate your skin is sensitive or sensitised.

Contrary to common belief, sensitive skin isn’t a skin type. Caused by both genetic and external factors, sensitive skin straddles between a skin type and a condition. For some, it can be temporary, while for others, it’s chronic ― typically in those with a genetic predisposition or inflammatory skin condition.

As a consumer who has dealt with severe acne in the past, I found that my hyperpigmentation became a reminder of how I felt at the height of painful acne flare-ups. I began a personal journey of research to uncover effective ways to treat hyperpigmentation and hopefully educate my growing audience at the same time. As soon as I mention the word ‘hyperpigmentation’ on social media, I am always met with an influx of questions and experiences from my community. While hyperpigmentation is not a new topic, there always seems to be a lot of confusion around it. Let's take a dive into some background knowledge on the subject. Hyperpigmentation describes those pesky dark marks or areas we see on the skin which are usually the result of an inflammatory response. Excess pigmentation is caused by the overproduction of melanin by the melanocytes. This will occur after damage to the skin. The overstimulation of the melanocytes results in extra deposits of pigmentation appearing on the damaged area. The colour of the hyperpigmentation can give you an insight into the depth of the hyperpigmentation: grey hues indicate dermal melanosis, while brown indicates epidermal melanosis. Knowing how deep the lesion is will help guide you when choosing the correct treatment. During my research, I discovered how much information and misinformation about hyperpigmentation flooded skincare spaces. A lot of the information that was credible required a very deep understanding of scientific language and biological processes – which would be a lot of faffing for someone who just wanted to treat their skin. Something I noticed in my research is that the treatments I found useful for hyperpigmentation were not always the hyped-up treatments. One of the most popular products for treating hyperpigmentation is a Vitamin C serum. You cannot search hyperpigmentation without a Vitamin C serum popping up. Controversially, I do not find them useful for hyperpigmentation. I think this is because I saw how frustrated my community was becoming when trying to find the perfect Vitamin C serum and feeling like their hyperpigmentation would never reduce. As mentioned earlier, hyperpigmentation is caused by the overproduction of melanin and, therefore, people with deeper skin tones are more likely to get hyperpigmentation and require a more intensive treatment other than Vitamin C.  The key to truly effective treatment is to use products that help with inflammation and inhibit tyrosinase. However, while vitamin C does have tyrosinase-inhibitor properties, it is not the gold-standard treatment. There are many efficacious tyrosinase inhibitors besides Vitamin C and that is a hill I am willing to die on! Alternatively to Vitamin C, I am a huge fan of azelaic acid and kojic acid which are both amazing tyrosinase inhibitors. Azelaic acid at 20% is wonderful for treating both acne and pigmentation. Kojic acid is a little harder to get your hands on, but I am such a huge fan! Kojic acid can usually be found in consumer products at 1%, but is available at a higher percentage in a professional treatment clinic. There is no way I could talk about hyperpigmentation without dispelling two of the most common myths. Myth 1: ‘People with deeper skin tones should not use AHAs as they can cause burning or bleaching’. This is super FALSE! Your skin tone does not dictate which ingredient you should use; your skin type (oily, dry, sensitive, normal) has more of an impact. I find this myth very damaging to a lot of people’s skincare journeys. Deeper skin tones can absolutely use AHAs, and I often recommend them. One tip I advise people to remember is that formulation of a product matters and you should not discount an ingredient based on one bad product experience (unless you are allergic to it).  Myth 2: ‘Hydroquinone is dangerous and illegal in the UK’ Hydroquinone remains the gold-standard tyrosinase inhibitor and it is NOT illegal in the UK, but it is available by prescription only. The main danger with using hydroquinone is obtaining it from an unregulated source or improper use. The Pigmentation Box is a great example of treating hyperpigmentation in a multifaceted way and it is great for both pros and beginners to kick their pigmentation into line!     Desai S. R. (2014). Hyperpigmentation therapy: a review. The Journal of clinical and aesthetic dermatology, 7(8), 13–17. https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1111/jdv.12048  Del Rosso J. Q. (2017). Azelaic Acid Topical Formulations: Differentiation of 15% Gel and 15% Foam. The Journal of clinical and aesthetic dermatology, 10(3), 37–40. Punchard, N. A., Whelan, C. J., & Adcock, I. (2004). The Journal of Inflammation. Journal of inflammation (London, England), 1(1), 1. https://doi.org/10.1186/1476-9255-1-1

Hormones, school stress, and nights out, can all wreak havoc on skin. The impacts may not show on younger skin but at Skin Rocks we say good habits start young.

Like me, you may have been there, hoovering the last grains of glitter from dorm floors as the sun sets on freshers. Looking into the mirror at some ungodly hour and seeing three-day old hour, slightly crusty foundation from topping up your makeup rather than removing it and dark circles desparately hiding behind concealer. If you happen to be running on minimum sleep, consuming more sodium than a professional eater and gaining upper body strength from the pure weight of looming essay deadlines, we understand skincare is a very low priority, and why should it be? Whether you enjoy wearing makeup or like to step out nude our skin is our biggest protector and largest organ - we think this qualifies it a bit of respect and TLC. Think about a skincare regimen as an early preventative measure. Do you know how to get rid of sun damage? By not getting it in the first place. 1. Hydration - sorry to say but alcohol isn't a hydrator. Ideally, we need two litres of water a day. This will seriously improve the way your skin looks and those hangover headaches might actually be a little less brutal, two birds, one stone. 2. Expense - a basic but effective skincare routine can be bought on a budget, doing a little research goes a long way and many companies offer student discounts. 3. Arsenal - the military kind! A cleanser, toner, good moisturiser and SPF is a great place to start, leaving you with a clean base for makeup or a flawless, fresh-faced look. 4. Take off your makeup - please, please, please, whatever you do, take your makeup off before bed. If nothing else, think of your pores! 5. SPF - the UK may be known for it's colder climate and expected 170 days of rain but UVA rays are still at work, speeding up skin ageing. Think of it as armour. Make it a habit now, and your older self (and skin) will thank you. Just like your plans, your skin changes. Quite literally shedding thousands of cells daily, creating a daily routine doesn't have to be time consuming and really can be fitted into the most hectic of scheduled. Your degree sets up your future, think of an early skincare regimen as the same thing. No matter your age, the Skin Rocks Teen Box is a great place to start if you are looking for an updated skincare routine. The Teen Box is suitable for any skin type, but has been created to be gentle enough and hydrating for young skin that may already be irritated from breakouts or acne.

Hyperpigmentation is a broad umbrella term that covers any excessively pigmented (brown / black) marks of the skin. It can include sun damage (sometimes referred to as sun spots or liver spots), post-inflammatory hyperpigmentation, drug-induced hyperpigmentation and melasma (although the last one is a complex medical condition so I don’t advise trying to address this one on your own). In order to treat hyperpigmentation successfully, whether at home or in-clinic, there are a few things we need to understand first due to a couple of common misconceptions that I see a lot in-clinic, preventing people from getting results. Firstly, hyperpigmentation is always the result of something else i.e. it’s a secondary concern and only exists as a result of something else. Whether it’s prolonged sun damage, trauma or inflammation, medications or a hormonal imbalance. Jumping in and treating hyperpigmentation without first understanding the primary cause is like trying to empty the bathtub with both taps still running. You need to fix the problem that caused the hyperpigmentation in the first place, even if it's the pigment that bothers you the most. Secondly, hyperpigmentation is complex. It’s not just a simple staining of the skin. Unfortunately, you can’t just exfoliate the skin to get rid of the excess pigment granules. A key thing to understand about melanin (pigment) is that it’s one of our skin's defence mechanisms - like putting an umbrella up on a sunny day. A major factor that is often overlooked when treating hyperpigmentation is the melanocyte is inflamed (the cell that produces pigment). Therefore, a big part of treating hyperpigmentation must include a way of reducing inflammation and calming the melanocyte down. Another issue often overlooked when treating hyperpigmentation is the importance of skin barrier integrity. As a corneotherapist I put skin barrier health at the forefront of everything I do, but it can be overlooked in treating hyperpigmentation. The skin barrier becomes compromised cell-2-cell communication is broken down and inflammation increases, hence my emphasis on its importance. Yes, our cells really do speak to each other! This communication is vital for even pigment production and distribution within the epidermis. Every treatment programme, whether it be at-home with products or in-clinic with treatment, should incorporate some form of barrier repair process in the beginning to ensure optimal long-term results. Once the primary factors that caused the pigmentation are found and the skin barrier is being supported, it makes treating hyperpigmentation that much more effective and the skin will respond better to treatment. Treatments could include peels, microneedling, IPL (Intense Pulse Light Therapy) and laser treatments. Chemical Peels are a great option for treating hyperpigmentation, as they increase cell turnover and help remove excess pigment granules. I prefer combination peels rather than single-agent peels, as these include a combination of ingredients to not only peel the skin but also regulate pigment production such as Vitamin A and Vitamin C for example in combination with AHA’s (Alpha hydroxy acid) / BHA (Beta hydroxy acid). I personally like to use peels in combination with other treatment, such as LED light therapy or even microcurrent to help reduce inflammation and increase cellular energy, supporting the overall result. Microneedling is a great option for treating hyperpigmentation. The controlled trauma of the needles not only helps to break down pigment, increase cell turnover and renewal but also helps repair the communication between cells. Using a 0.5mm needle depth is ideal for most hyperpigmentation issues as it works down to the depth of skin where melanocyte lives. Microneedling can also be combined with growth factors and mesotherapy quality ingredients to address pigment. IPL and laser are light based treatment methods that induce heat into skin to break down pigment clusters. Although IPL and laser are different technologies, the principle is the same but energy deliverance is different. Melanin absorbs light energy, this energy is then transferred into heat. This heat causes controlled trauma to the skin and breaks down pigment granules to increase cell renewal. It can be highly effective in treating pigment and one of the fastest ways to see results, however, caution is needed on darker skin types. Heat trauma can instigate more pigment to be produced making IPL an unsuitable option for treating pigment in darker skin tones, but some laser technology is. A practitioner experienced in treating skin of colour is also essential, but it is possible to treat all skin types with laser. In terms of how long it takes and how many treatments are required, it really depends on many factors including what the primary cause was, how long the pigment has been there, the age of the client and what supporting home care is being used. Generally, I advise my clients to expect at least 3-6 months before seeing decent results, though in some cases this can be longer.

The NIOD Re:Pigment, featured in The Pigmentation Box, is a superstar serum for people with pigmentation who want help in reducing the look of pigmentation on their skin.

Back in 2011, when searching for a deodorant for my teenage children, I was astounded at the pink and pouty cans aimed at my daughter and the aggressive steel and grey products targeting my son.  Having always brought them up as equals (I’ve been a stay-at-home dad for 15 years) ,I was shocked how some brands used sexual stereotyping to market to teenagers at the exact age they needed help and advice from our industry when dealing with issues like body odour, oily skin and greasy hair. The products also smelt like an explosion in a sweet shop or a 1970’s locker room.  Returning to the classroom, I passed a Diploma in Cosmetic Science with Distinction from the Society of Cosmetic Scientists. This allowed me to see how some brands were also marketing fear and ignorance surrounding ingredients in order to dupe consumers.  In reaction to this, I created a line of Unisex Personal Care products for Teenagers (Adolescent skin). The SAMFARMER range is designed to support and lend confidence to teenagers throughout their adolescence and into adulthood. My focus is to support, and encourage skin health incorporating clinically proven, specifically targeted actives in easy-to-use, efficacious and affordable products. Teenagers look to the cosmetic industry, not only to provide them with products to help them deal with their physical changes, but also help them negotiate their way through a crucial period of self-development. The SAMFARMER Moisturiser This unique moisturiser has been carefully formulated to support adolescent skin without clogging pores. It contains: skin-compatible Squalane (synthesised from olives) soothing Aloe moisturising Shea Butter and Glycerin protecting Vitamin E Butyl Avocadate – a unique extract from avocados that has been shown to reduce excessive sebum production without drying the skin. The light and mattifying formulation helps to not only rebalance the skin’s moisture levels after cleansing, but also to reduce excessive sebum production. It should be applied to dry skin immediately after washing the face and then throughout the day if required. As with all my formulations, ingredient selection is based on scientific and historical evidence rather than marketing trends. I use some synthetic ingredients, especially the fragrance to minimise sensitivity, and Parabens (Short chain Paraben esters) as the broad spectrum preservative system. I continue to be heavily involved in the professional Cosmetic Science community, championing scientific evidence and exploring the inherent complexities within the industry. This allows me to keep up-to-date on the latest ingredient clinical trials and advances in Cosmetic Chemistry, as well as the challenging areas surrounding sustainability and raw material sourcing.  The words Personal Care have real meaning for me.  This is personal and I really do care.

My love affair with beauty started before I turned 13. I recall walking into the very first Body Shop in Falls Church, Virginia: the year was 1986.                                                

By Dr Radhika Vohra - NHS & Private General Practitioner in Surrey, Educator & Medical Trustee to The Menopause Charity Thankfully, everyone is talking about menopause! If you know you are suffering with symptoms such as hot flushes, sweats, brain fog, tiredness or anxiety, you may be wondering where to start when trying to get some help. Many women suffer for years with perimenopause and believe they just have to put up with the 40-odd symptoms of menopause. NO, NO, NO! Please don’t wait until you are desperate and at breaking point as it usually makes the process more frustrating. I work as an NHS and Private GP, so I very much understand the challenges GP surgeries are facing and the struggles that patients are having. So, I’m going to share some advice and tips that will allow you to get the most from your consultation with your health professional. Who to speak to? It’s not essential that you always speak to a GP about perimenopause or menopause. GP surgeries are changing, so practice teams are made up of multiple health professionals including: nurses, paramedic practitioners, nurse practitioners and junior doctors.  Non-GPs are dealing with all sorts of problems, so it’s important to try and speak to the right person… I hear you sigh in exasperation… please wait! There are lots of ways to find this right person: have a look at the practice website – does anyone have a special interest in women’s health? look at the practice social media and pop a query there if you feel comfortable most practices are offering e-consults (usually called Footfall), where you can fill out an online query form in detail and this is passed onto the appropriate health professional – this will save you and the reception A LOT of time speak to the receptionist – it’s a good idea to avoid the busy times such as morning and early afternoon consider seeing a doctor who is training; most training practices will have GP trainees. This will be a qualified doctor who is on a 3-year training programme to become a GP. Menopause education is a HOT TOPIC so quite often they will be interested in learning more through patients and will have longer appointment times. Making an appointment? So now that you know who to see, bear these tips in mind when making an appointment: try to get a ROUTINE appointment rather than urgent, either on-line or by phone. try to book a double appointment as this will give the health professional more time to spend with you. be prepared to try a few times as most surgeries release staggered appointments every few weeks to cope with demand. do your research before making a private appointment with a menopause specialist. Taking a look at testimonials, motivations and professional credentials will be reassuring for you and will often work out better in the long run. Homework before an appointment? If you have not already done so, download the FREE Balance App (balance-app.com). It will provide you with a symptom tracker, information and group chats that provide immense support. You can download the Health Report from the app which will be a summary of your symptoms and also your periods (if relevant). Many women find this alone is hugely empowering and gives them control. Preparation in the run-up to your appointment is ESSENTIAL. No one will know your history or health like you. Periods: What are your periods doing? Have you missed any? Are they getting longer or shorter? Do you regularly feel unwell at certain days of the month? Contraception: What contraception are you currently using? Is it making you feel worse? For example, many women on the progesterone-only pill find that vaginal dryness or mood maybe worse. Past medical history: Have you had any fertility care? What hormones have you had in the past either as treatment or contraception? Family history: What is your family history? If you don’t know, ask! It is important as it clears up the unknown. Pay particular attention to any history of heart disease, clots, breast cancer, ovarian cancer or dementia. If you have anyone with a family history of breast cancer, find out three things: the age they were diagnosed, type of breast cancer and their oestrogen receptor status (they can find all of this at the top of a hospital letter, usually in bold) Look at your lifestyle? Your lifestyle has an impact on your entire health – from your mind to your body! Take this opportunity to have a CLEAN UP! do you smoke? do you drink above the recommended amount of 14 units/week (1.5 bottles of wine)? do you exercise regularly? how much caffeine per day? Decaffeinated and green tea still contain caffeine!  Going to the appointment? Go in calmly and, if you have done all the above, you should be brilliantly prepared and the time should be used to focus on YOUR NEEDS. It is not supposed to be a battle but a shared conversation of risk and benefits for your health. For example, if you don’t exercise, drink 3+ coffees and 7 units of alcohol a day, then expect lifestyle changes to be a crucial part of your consultation. However, if you’ve learnt all of this from the Balance App and made changes beforehand, the conversation should be much more comfortably focused on treatment options, including hormone replacement therapy (HRT). Being self-aware about your own health and lifestyle is CRUCIAL and if you make healthy lifestyle changes, they will benefit you in all areas. If you start HRT, don’t forget/be forgotten – make sure you follow up? Once you start to take HRT, it is important to: not miss doses – ensure you have plenty prescribed and ask for a 3-month supply keep a bleeding or side-effect log stick with it! It usually takes around 3 months to get a good idea of how it suits you. have a REVIEW at 3-6 months. Menopause and perimenopause are the consequences of HORMONE DEFICIENCY. We have plenty of evidence that replacing the hormones using body identical HRT (available on the NHS) is SAFE and BENEFITS most women. I hope this information helps you to find and consult the best health professional for you.

We hear so much about how the menopause is catastrophic for skin - on a number of levels, but rather than accepting that it’s all doom and gloom, we thought we’d take a bit of a dive into what’s happening on a hormonal level, why it has such an impact on skin, and — crucially — what you can do about it... THE HORMONE FACTOR “You have hormonal shifts and fluctuations throughout your life,” explains consultant dermatologist Dr Alexis Granite. “Puberty is one of them; perimenopause is another.” The hormone that we tend to talk about in relation to the menopause is oestrogen. Known as one of the female sex hormones and produced largely by the ovaries, it’s the one that starts to rise when you hit puberty to give you breasts, mature the internal sexual organs and start menstruation. While it does fluctuate across the course of your cycle, it stays relatively constant until we get to the perimenopause. Exactly when that happens will vary from woman to woman, and there are several factors that can have an effect — some forms of chemotherapy, being a heavy smoker and having surgery on your ovaries can predispose you to an earlier menopause — but the most significant factor seems to be the age your mum was when she experienced the menopause. Although we talk about “hitting the menopause” or about “hormone levels falling off a cliff”, this isn’t something that happens overnight, as Alice Smellie, co-author of “Cracking the Menopause: While Keeping Yourself Together”, a new book on the subject due to be published this September, explains. “It’s a really gradual process. The official age of perimenopause is 45, but in fact symptoms may begin in your late 30s or early 40s and last for a few years, as the number of eggs declines, and oestrogen levels start to fluctuate. These can go up as well as down, but the general trend is downwards.” And that, as you’ve probably heard, is not good news for your skin. “Oestrogen and oestrogen receptors are found in all types of skin cell, so it’s likely that oestrogen influences most structures of the skin,” explains Dr Sajjad Rajpar, a dermatologist with a special interest in perimenopausal and menopausal skin. “And the skin is the body’s biggest organ — the skin of an average woman weighs around 15kg! So that’s a lot of oestrogen that’s required to keep it functioning properly.” Depressingly, he points out that, from a purely biological perspective, we weren’t meant to live much beyond our child-bearing years and that it’s only as life expectancy has increased that we’ve started to appreciate the importance of oestrogen. AGE IS MORE THAN JUST A NUMBER We can argue about whether it’s OK to use the term “anti-ageing” or not, but can we agree that using the term “ageing” when it comes to talking about skin is just a convenient shorthand that covers a lot of the ways in which skin changes with the passage of time? It just means that we don’t have to say “wrinkles, changes in skin colouration, sagging skin, loss of volume etc” every time. So, with that in mind, it’s time to break the bad news that the menopause is really ageing. “Essentially you have a few things going on when it comes to skin ageing,” says Dr Rajpar. “There’s chronological ageing that happens in men as well as in women. That happens because, as we age, our cells don’t live as long, so there are fewer cells, and they also function less efficiently. When it comes to skin, you can speed up that process with external lifestyle factors, such as the sun, smoking, stress, and bad diet. But, in addition, there’s the skin ageing that is caused by oestrogen deficiency and, in women, that’s actually more important than the chronological age of the patient.” Research suggests that the number of years women are post-menopause is a better indicator of how aged their skin is likely to appear than their actual chronological age. This doesn’t necessarily apply in women who are taking HRT (see below). But, while the menopause really does stick the boot in on a number of aspects of skin ageing, there are things you can do. TURNING DOWN THE VOLUME Collagen is one of the proteins that give skin that firm, bouncy, juicy, plump appearance and, as one of the roles of oestrogen is to stimulate collagen production, a loss of oestrogen means a loss of collagen. There are some studies that suggest that you can lose around 30 per cent of the collagen in your skin in the first five years after the menopause. And the thickness of the skin also reduces by around two per cent each year. Some of that is down to collagen loss, but other skin structures will also diminish with age. So, not only are you likely to lack volume, but your skin will also be thinner and so may bruise more easily. From a skincare point of view, to tackle issues like this, you want ingredients such as retinoids and peptides, which will stimulate collagen growth. But that’s only part of the issue because, as Dr Rajpar explains, the collagen in your skin seems to be less well organised so the same mass won’t give you the same sort of volume-boosting as it might have done ten years before. “Topical products can help, but they have their limit,” says Dr Alexis Granite. “That’s when clinic treatments can come in. Fillers can help replace lost volume, while radio frequency treatments, such as the Morpheus 8 and Ultherapy, can help boost sagging skin.” HUNG OUT TO DRY “The number one complaint I get from my menopausal patients is about skin dryness,” says Dr Rajpar. And, he explains, there are several mechanisms at play here. “Oestrogen is required for the quality and quantity of ceramide production — ceramides are your skin’s in-built moisturising system. But they’re not the only ones — there’s also sebum, another form of oil or moisturiser that is also stimulated by oestrogen.” Add in the fact that hyaluronic acid, an ingredient found naturally in the skin that helps the skin hold onto water, is also stimulated by oestrogen and you can see why, if you diminish the supply of oestrogen, you're choking the pipeline of all these essential skin moisturisers. The solution? Look for good moisturisers, that might feel slightly heavier than what those you’ve used in the past, to help replenish levels of oils and ceramides, and layer these on top of a good hyaluronic acid serum. In a clinic, skin boosters, such as Profhilo, that inject lots of hyaluronic acid at a superficial level, can help increase moisture levels and give you back your glow. FEELING IRRITATED? We’re not just talking about your mood. “In healthy skin, ceramides and other fatty acids, coat the skin cells and help to form the skin barrier, but when skin is lacking in those moisturising factors, the barrier is compromised and you’ll find that skin is more sensitive or reactive as a result,” says Dr Rajpar. “Many women might find that products that they’ve happily used in the past suddenly start irritating the skin as. its threshold for injury is much lower.” If this is happening to you, he advocates simplifying your routine and avoiding anything that could be an irritant. “Use gentle cleansers, avoid over exfoliating and scale back the number of products you’re using. More products mean more ingredients, which means more potential for problems.” IT’S IN YOUR BONES You might think that even if your skin is giving up the ghost, at least your bones are underneath it all as a strong foundation. Sadly, that’s not true. You might have worried about post-menopausal bone density and being more prone to breaking a leg or a hip, but it seems you also need to worry about your jaw. “If we look at men and women, the facial skeleton ages at a similar rate until you hit around 50 when we see an accelerated rate of ageing in women in the lower face due to a loss of bone mass,” says Dr Rajpar. “There is more bone loss with low oestrogen after the menopause and some bones — including those in the lower face — seem more prone than others to density loss.” The result can be jowliness and heaviness in the lower face. Judiciously placed filler can help to counteract this, as can other skin-tightening treatments, or procedures such as thread lifts. SPOT THE DIFFERENCE Just as not all teenagers will get acne at puberty, so not all perimenopausal or menopausal women will suffer this condition. But if you do, you’re not alone. The mechanism behind why it happens is not clearly understood, although there is one theory that the drop in oestrogen means that testosterone, one of the hormones associated with acne, is relatively higher. There are several dedicated ranges on the market designed to treat acne (which is normally associated with oily skin) without drying out already dry menopausal skin. But if you’re really struggling, speak to a dermatologist as acne can be very distressing. IS HRT THE SOLUTION? Taking HRT (aka Hormone Replacement Therapy) where, using patches, pills, or gels, to increase your levels of oestrogen to offset the natural drop, could help with pretty much all the above. As yet, there’s not enough research to know, (as I’d like to), whether sticking a 40-year-old woman on HRT and maintaining “youthful” levels of oestrogen for the rest of her life will mean that she will never show any of the symptoms of ageing that are associated with a lack of oestrogen. But, as Dr Rajpar explains, “we know that women who take HRT have better skin than women who aren’t taking it.” Of course, improving — or preserving — your skin quality isn’t the only benefit you’ll get from HRT. It’s also been associated with a reduced risk of dementia, heart disease and fractures. But a lot of people are worried about it because, says Dr Rajpar, “we’ve been subjected to two decades of misinformation, much of which was based on old studies done on synthetic oral oestrogen. “But now, the application of HRT is increasingly likely to be topical (delivered through the skin rather than as a pill) and body-identical (meaning it’s in exactly the same form as the hormones women produce naturally in their bodies) so it’s much safer.” Let’s get things straight, HRT isn’t going to be for everyone. However, according to Dr Rajpar, there are actually very few women who can’t take HRT. “Only one in eight people who are eligible for HRT are on it,” he says. “That’s a lot of women who are missing out.” And, interestingly, he advises it’s never too late to start. “Some women think that if they’re more than ten years post-menopause, there’s no point taking HRT, but actually even at that point, you will get some benefits — for example studies show that you’ll get some bounce back in your levels of collagen.” Ultimately, only a medical professional can help you decide whether HRT is right for you personally and, if you’re not getting the answers that you need from your GP, ask to be referred to a specialist. It’s not a silver bullet for every woman, but it could make a significant difference to the appearance of your skin.

Dr Rajpar is a Consultant Dermatologist and has an interest in skin and hair concerns around the menopause. www.midlandskin.co.uk As a dermatologist, I have been seeing and treating patients with skin problems for over 17 years. I was never taught, nor did I ever fully understand, the importance of oestrogen to the skin until later in my career. It turns out oestrogen is an extremely important hormone for healthy looking and healthy functioning skin. Skin and hair issues are incredibly common around the perimenopause and menopause. Many of the skin problems seen can be significantly improved with Hormone Replacement Therapy (HRT). Oestrogen levels first start dropping during the peri-menopause, which can last for up to 10 years before the onset of the menopause. At first, the changes are quite subtle and are often attributed to stress, ageing, pollution or a change in weather. Here are the most common problems I encounter in my clinical practice. Dry skin and dullness Skin dryness is one of the earliest problems suffered by women in the perimenopause and menopause suffer from. At first, this might only affect arms and legs in the winter months. The skin becomes more prone to itching and looks visibly drier. Eczema and psoriasis sometimes worsen. Facial skin also becomes dry and doesn’t hydrate with moisturisers as well as it used to. For some women, dry skin can be a debilitating symptom, and can even be associated with formication, which is the sensation of insects crawling on the skin. This can interfere with sleep and cause a lot of discomfort. The reason why skin becomes dry when oestrogen levels drop is because the skin’s in-built moisturising system needs oestrogen to work properly. This special system holds water in the skin and stops it from evaporating. Ceramides coat the epidermal skin cells, a bit like mortar around bricks. When ceramide levels drop due to a lack of oestrogen, this special seal around the skin, known as the ‘skin barrier’, doesn’t work as well and water evaporates. It also means that skin is more sensitive and there can be facial burning and stinging caused by soaps, foaming cleansers, acids and even fragrances. Oestrogen also pushes sebum and hyaluronic acid levels up, and without these, the skin cannot hold moisture in. Lack of skin hydration means the skin cells don’t exfoliate properly – enzymes that allow exfoliation to happen just don’t work as well in dry skin. Instead, skin cells form clumps before shedding. These clumps make the skin feel rough and look dull. The clumps can cause skin to flake and scales can be seen. Many people say the skin looks as if it has lost its glow. Fine lines and wrinkles It is common knowledge that bones become thin and brittle after the menopause, but the skin also becomes thinner. One study showed that the skin thins at a rate of 1.1% year-on-year after the menopause. The main reason for this is that oestrogen is required for collagen production in the skin. Collagen is the main protein in the skin that gives it structure and resilience. The collagen levels go down 2.1% per year after the menopause. With less collagen, fine lines and wrinkles start to appear. Later these become deeper lines and folds. Collagen levels in the skin improve with HRT. A good skin care regime that includes a sun screen, antioxidants and peptides can also help reduce ageing of the skin. Sagging and jowling The bones of the face also shrink with age, and research has shown that the jaw bone and chin shrink faster than other areas of the face with the onset of the menopause. Consequently, women become prone to sagging and jowling, with heaviness on the lower face. Delayed wound healing Menopausal skin is more fragile and wounds do not heal as well or as quickly in post-menopausal women who are not on HRT. Acne and rosacea Testosterone is not just a male hormone, as women produce testosterone too. In the early stages of perimenopause and menopause, there may be an imbalance between oestrogen and testosterone. As the oestrogen levels drop, the testosterone levels may remain normal, and stimulate the hair follicles more than they used to. This can lead to very frustrating acne break outs and redness. Rosacea can develop around the menopause as spots on the central face, or as redness on the cheeks with thread veins. Flushing can be a symptom of the menopause but can also be a symptom of rosacea. Skin that has rosacea tendencies is also usually very sensitive and reacts to strong skin care. Hair loss Hair loss can be a devastating symptom of the menopause and affect self-esteem and self-confidence. One study showed that 41% of post-menopausal women experience hair loss. About two thirds lose hair all over their scalp, while one third loses hair in the front and temples. The mechanism for hair loss with the menopause is not fully understood. For some, it may be a sensitivity to testosterone in the same way that acne develops. For others it may that they have genetic hair loss known as female pattern hair loss, which worsens with menopause. Conclusion Skin and hair changes are common with the menopause and can cause significant symptoms and distress. Many symptoms can be improved or completely treated with HRT, especially when this is started early. Others may require a good skin care regime and professional medical treatment.

Rebecca qualified from Guy’s Medical School in London in 1991. She continues to practise as a GP and has developed an interest in the menopause. Rebecca is determined to improve the understanding of the menopause through education and access to accurate, evidence-based medical information.  All ages are affected: A natural menopause occurs when the ovary has run out of eggs and fails to produce the ovarian hormones oestrogen, progesterone and testosterone. It is defined as a year and one day after your last natural period. The average age in the UK for this to happen is 51. However, 1 in a 100 women experience menopause under the age of 40 (called Premature Ovarian Insufficiency), and 1 in a 1000 experience menopause under the age of 30. Also, many women are put into a menopause straight away by having their ovaries surgically removed or their ovaries damaged by medications such as some chemotherapy treatments.  The perimenopause is the time leading up to the menopause when the ovarian function begins to decline and the hormone levels start to drop and fluctuate, causing symptoms. This can be 10 years before the actual menopause when your periods have finally stopped. It is common for the perimenopause to start in women in their 40s. Symptoms of the Menopause: Women experience symptoms of the perimenopause and the menopause due to fluctuating and low levels of oestrogen. All cells around the body and in organs have oestrogen receptors and need oestrogen to function properly. Once the ovary starts to slow down, it does not produce the hormones oestrogen, progesterone and testosterone and symptoms can then occur due to these hormone deficiencies.  It is known that 80% of women will experience symptoms and, for 25% of women, these will be severe. The symptoms are many and varied, and can come and go and fluctuate in intensity and will vary from individual to individual; for example, 20% of women never experience a hot flush or night sweat. Symptoms can be classified as follows: Psychological and Brain Symptoms Poor sleep, increasing anxiety and a low, flat mood are very common and are the symptoms that most women find the most difficult. Some people are even housebound by their anxiety and have to give up work in severe cases. Poor memory and concentration are also very common and worrying, as many women think they are beginning to have early dementia as their memory is so poor and they struggle to find the right words in sentences. Fatigue is an incredibly common symptom as well. In addition, libido often suffers and declines for many women. Physical Symptoms  Hot flushes and night sweats are experienced by many, but not all, women. Sometimes the sweats can be drenching at night so that bed sheets and nightwear have to be changed. Migraines and headaches are common; these often get worse or increase in frequency in the perimenopause. Muscle and joint pains occur and women feel very stiff and achy all over and some can have severe joint pains. Heart palpitations and tinnitus are other common physical symptoms of the menopause. Vaginal and Bladder Symptoms Oestrogen is vital for bladder and vaginal health; without it symptoms can arise such as vaginal dryness and burning, making sex very uncomfortable and painful. Some women have severe vaginal symptoms making it painful even to sit down for prolonged periods or wear jeans or underwear due to discomfort. Bladder symptoms from low oestrogen levels cause urinary frequency, incontinence and recurrent urine infections. If these symptoms are present and are not treated with local oestrogen treatment, they get worse with time. Silent Symptoms affecting future health Losing oestrogen as a result of the menopause causes a hormone deficiency which will last for the rest of a woman’s life. Studies have shown this deficiency can be harmful for a woman’s future health, resulting in increased risk of heart disease, osteoporosis (thin, brittle bones), obesity, depression, type 2 diabetes and even dementia. How long do Symptoms last for? Studies have shown that symptoms can settle for some women after 7-8 years and others find that the symptoms become less severe, but many will continue to have symptoms for decades. The long-term hormone deficiency will last forever as the ovaries have stopped functioning, so women will never regain their hormones after the menopause, so the long-term health risks will remain unless the hormones are replaced. How can they be treated? The most effective way of treating every one of these symptoms is by replacing the lost hormones with HRT, which is a very safe treatment for the majority of women and can really make a huge improvement to women’s symptoms. HRT can also improve a woman’s future health as it reduces the risk of heart disease, osteoporosis and type 2 diabetes Alternative treatments can be used such as diet, talking therapy and exercise. Some medications such as antidepressants can improve hot flushes and night sweats, but not the other symptoms. However, alternative treatments are not as effective as HRT. More information The free Balance app has a menopause symptoms questionnaire form, which documents menopausal symptoms and tracks them over time. This can then generate a health report that can be taken to a woman’s health care professional. It also has free, evidence-based information about the menopause and perimenopause and the treatments available. The app and the information and content within it is not funded by any pharmacological company. There is an opportunity to be part of a community on the app to interact with others and read about other people’s experiences, There is also an option to take part in different experiments or challenges to improve an individual’s future health. 

Caroline Hirons was always destined to go into the beauty industry – she just didn’t know it. “My earliest memories are of my nana taking her makeup off,” she says. “Both my mum and my grandmother worked in beauty, but weirdly it never occurred to me that I would. Because I just couldn’t see myself doing it. I didn’t really know what I wanted to do. I wanted to be a teacher, but that went out the window when I saw, as a teenager, how teachers were treated. Then I wanted to be a midwife. Then I had a kid and that went out the window,” she laughs. But after she had children, retail seemed like a good option: “part time, ad hoc, the sort of thing you can’t do with a newborn but when they’re six months and you want to get back to work for a couple of hours on the weekend.” She’d previously done stints in Liberty and Harrods – “all over the shop, including haberdashery. There is nowhere you want to be less than the haberdashery department on stock-take day. I cannot tell you how many buttons I’ve counted in my life” – but beauty appealed. A quick call to a contact in the business landed her with a weekend job on the Aveda counter in Harvey Nichols, and the first Sunday she was working on her own, she took more money than the whole team had taken the day before. “I just felt I knew what I was talking about when it came to skincare, because I’d grown up listening to my mother and grandmother talk about it.” She swiftly moved through the ranks, becoming a manager on the counter, then being poached by Space NK. “I was obsessed with research and I would just read everything – if it was skincare. Colour, I couldn’t care less, I was all about skincare. And I realised that if I was going to do this seriously, I needed to learn more.” And so while juggling three children, pregnancy and a full-time job, Caroline went to night school, studying anatomy and physiology and eventually qualifying as a therapist. A chance meeting with the founder of Chantecaille led to her joining the brand as they were launching skincare, and roles with Liz Earle and Clarins followed until, in 2009, she set up her own consultancy, advising beauty brands. But, if it hadn’t been for Twitter, you probably wouldn’t be reading this now. “I was on Twitter in the early days when you just used to follow your friends. And occasionally people would ask me questions about skincare but you only had 140 characters back then and you can’t tell someone how to wash their face in 140 characters. So when someone said ‘just blog it’, I did. And my very first post was on how to do a cleansing massage – it’s still up there! I remember sitting in front of a table lamp and getting my son to click the camera when my hands were in the right position. And once it was up, I kind of thought ‘Oh this is a nice avenue to put out good information, not rubbish and following the trends’.” Slowly the blog grew, but it wasn’t until industry friends told her that her recommendations drove sales that she realised quite how successful it had become. “I remember when I was in Space NK and Nigella Lawson had a beauty column for The Times. And if you were on shift on a Saturday, the first thing you did was get the magazine to see what she’d recommended and if you had enough stock, because you knew it would sell out. So when I started to get that kind of feedback from brands, I realised what I had on my hands.” As a result of the blog, Caroline was asked to put together boxes with other brands, and the hugely popular seasonal kits – collections of products on sale at a far lower price than the individual components – came from there. “I knew how the system worked, I knew how to put it together. I already knew warehouses and packaging people and graphic designers from working in the industry with brands. I thought, ‘Why don’t I just do it myself?’.” Because Skin Rocks started with the monthly boxes, it would be easy to see it as being an extension of the kits, but Caroline is adamant that it’s not “a kit brand.” “Purely and simply, it started with the boxes because the website wasn’t ready and the boxes were.” But while the kits are “a great offer”, the boxes are designed to be educational. “They’re not for everyone: they’re target-driven, they’re treatment-driven. So I hope it’s really clear that the very first one was about acids, and the idea was that: ‘You need acids in your skincare routine if your skin is like this, you don’t want acids in your skincare routine if your skin is like that, and if you do want to start using acids in your skincare routine, here’s not just an acid product, but an entire regimen to complement it’.” And that sense of education is really the cornerstone of Skin Rocks. “Skin Rocks came from wanting to get across a message about skincare in a way that wasn’t about me. I’m still going to have my blog, I’ll still be reviewing products, but I want Skin Rocks to be a resource. There is so much fear-mongering misinformation that, in recent years, has been left unchallenged and allowed to gather momentum as fact, and I wanted something that would be the counterpoint of that. I want it to be somewhere where people can learn about skin, about what they need for their skin and, more importantly, about what they don’t need.” And for Caroline, it was important that that message came from a range of voices. “Not everyone is going to like me. Why would they? I don’t like everyone. So if someone who doesn’t like me sees me talking about the importance of SPF, they may take absolutely no notice. But if 15 different derms are saying it on Skin Rocks, I’d hope that they’d pay more attention to it.” So, on the Skin Rocks site, you’ll find the same core values that the blog has always had, fact-led, no-nonsense skincare advice, but with a range of experts delivering authority, authenticity and science. And for Caroline, that collectivity was important. “If you’re a single person, you’re easily dismissed, but if you’re a website or a movement, you hold more sway. I want to have people on board who, if a story comes out or if there’s an ingredient everyone’s raving about, or if, for example, the Gwyneth SPF situation happens, we can react to that. I would like it to be a place where people go to find out ‘What does Skin Rocks have to say about this? What do the professionals have to say about this?’” She also wants to reinforce how professional the beauty industry can be. “Everyone who answers a skincare question on the Skin Rocks Instagram page is a qualified facialist. There’s a customer service team, but if it’s a skincare question, it goes to a professional. “I want people to know that beauty isn’t a game, people aren’t just after your money. It’s not all about marketing. My friends in the industry have no interest in putting people down, especially women. They have no interest in making you look or feel older, but it is dictated to and the language is still largely dictated by sales and corporate retail. And that is what I would hope to leave some dent in. I would like to just dent their bumper. You know, I’m not for a second thinking I’m going to change the way of the world, but I would like to be an irritating mosquito in the ear of big corporate.” I can pretty much guarantee a number of big corporates will confirm that she’s already succeeded in that, but the boxes and the website are just the beginning… “I don’t want to be one of those people who says ‘I can’t say any more…’ but basically until it’s ready, I’m not going to say any more. But there’s more to come, much more.”