A Pause for Menopause Skin Problems: Straight Talk With Pause Founder Rochelle Weitzner About Skin Care After 45 & the 3 Stages of Menopause by Belinda Lichty Clarke

Finally, there is a skin-care line that speaks to women over 45 and addresses the phases of menopause. 

"As women, we’ve been bombarded with beauty messages our whole lives, but none of them include menopause. It’s like we turn 45 and suddenly we’re invisible," says Rochelle Weitzner, founder of Pause. "We’re science-backed skin care made for all three stages of menopause. Our products feature the proprietary Pause Complex – a carefully researched fusion of vitamins, antioxidants and peptides to help fuel collagen production." Here is Weitzner's story...

Q. What was the inspiration for developing the line that specifically addresses the issues of menopause?

"The inspiration was my first hot flash. In that flash, it literally dawned on me that there was not a single beauty company focusing on women like me experiencing menopause. I knew that if I wanted products and tools to help me navigate this life state that I would need to create them myself."

Q. So many of us can related to this statement on your website: "At this point, it’s important to know you’re not going crazy. We repeat: YOU ARE NOT GOING CRAZY." Why is it we always lean toward the "crazy" and somehow want to blame ourselves?

"It’s so true! I think we blame ourselves because there is such a lack of education and information about menopause and its many signs and symptoms. It’s so easy to think we’re doing something that is causing the 'craziness' rather than suspect it’s our bodies causing some of this madness. We have to break the taboo of menopause. Menopause should be talked about, understood and even celebrated.

"We also need to educate people that menopause is not a medical condition. It’s not something that requires medication for a cure, it’s not something you can die from (although we may feel like it sometimes) – it’s a life stage, just like puberty. It’s something that every woman, regardless of race, religion, ethnicity, political affiliation, etc., will experience if she’s lucky enough to reach the age of onset. Because of this, it has to be better understood by all." 

Q. How does the skin change during this time? Pre-menopause, during menopause and post menopause? 

"First, it’s important to really understand the three stages: peri-menopause typically occurs around age 45 and lasts on average for seven to 10 years. Menopause is purely that one day in your life when you’ve gone 12 full months without having a period. The very next day is post-menopause and this stage remains for the rest of a woman’s life. 

"The key skin changes are loss of collagen, loss of elasticity, loss of radiance and extreme dryness. The dryness becomes more pronounced in the later stages of menopause, while in the early stage, peri-menopause, we can also be plagued with acne breakouts due to the hormone fluctuations and lack of protection for the sebaceous glands that secrete oils and waxes."

Q. What are some of the ingredients that have proven effective and how do they work? 

"We use a proprietary synergistic blend of ingredients in our Pause Complex, combining vitamins, antioxidants and peptides. To detail a few of the key ingredients: antioxidants niacinamide (vitamin B3) and vitamin C offer multi-functional skin repairing benefits, including improved skin tone, increased collagen production and diminished hyperpigmentation and visible damage cause by UV exposure. 

"Peptides, the building blocks to proteins, including collagen, can signal your body to produce more collagen helping to minimize the appearance of lines and wrinkles and improve firmness. These results have been validated by numerous studies and this is what we look for when formulating our products. The ingredients must be efficacious and provide real results."

Q. How did you develop the line?

"I knew that I wanted to create a complex – a proprietary blend of vitamins, antioxidants and peptides that would work together to combat the loss of elasticity, collagen, radiance and excessive dryness. This complex exists in all our topical products. Additionally, I wanted to focus on skin health and tissue quality from both the outside in (topical products) and from the inside out. 

"I worked alongside a doctor of physical therapy (also a tissue and mobility specialist) to create a fascia-stimulating device. This handheld device is powered by the user and is intended to stimulate the cells that produce collagen and activate them so that they resume their production of collagen. Our device is a patented FDA registered class 1 medical device made of medical grade stainless steel. What’s so unique about our tool is the beveled edge, which allows the user to apply a minimal amount of pressure to achieve the desired results in less than five minutes a day."

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