The TheraGenesis Retinol was designed by Founder Trish Green, a homeopathic practitioner, and esthetician. Trish has even created the Pro Aging Retinol Facial based treatment for menopausal women that features four TheraGenesis Retinol products.
We spent several hours chatting with Trish Green to learn more about her, the brand, and about menopausal skin needs. It was fascinating!
If you’re looking for a brand of skincare that will help your clients age well – and that is designed with the fluctuation of hormone levels of menopausal women – you’ll want to learn more about TheraGenesis! The TheraGenesis products have ideal formulations for estheticians to use as an overall approach to treating menopausal clients’ skin.
The TheraGenesis Approach
The TheraGenesis approach is to meet the client’s needs based on their age and lifestyle.
As our clients enjoy life in their 50’s, 60’s, 70’s, and 80’s, it’s important for estheticians to understand that most of these clients are on medications. These same clients can also have deficient nutrition and physical fitness habits.
Loss of Hormones + Telomeres
In chatting with Trish from TheraGenesis, we learned that as women pass through menopause there is a decrease in estrogen and progesterone which leads to a decrease in the production of stem cells. These decreases begin to negatively impact a postmenopausal woman’s ability to recover from aggressive skin care treatments. There is also a shortening of the telomeres on the DNA strands which becomes problematic for menopausal women.
Trish even has a list of treatments to avoid. Instead, she suggests a list of treatments that help these women build their skin. This also makes it hard for menopausal women to tolerate many of the more common active ingredients, like Retinol, that haven’t been formulated for the specific needs of menopausal women.
The Perfect Retinol for 50+ Menopausal Women
During the course of our conversation with Trish – she mentioned to us that TheraGenesis had a Retinol specially designed for the special-needs skin of the 50+ woman.
Trish told us, “Many retinol products are aggressive which in some situations, other than being used on mature skin, can be beneficial and corrective.
One of our recommended products for menopausal skin types is Retinol Renewing Serum, a powerful multi-functional serum capsule containing Retinol and Lipochroman™. This serum does not strip or leave the skin feeling tight or dry. This pro-aging treatment serum refines the overall look of the skin and improves texture. Offering antioxidant benefits along with effective RNS and ROS scavenging properties it provides the most complete protection against free radical damage. Skin cells are therefore protected from damage such as structural alteration of proteins, inhibition of enzymatic activity, and interference of the regulatory cellular function. Retinol 1% is one of the most effective vitamin A serums for aging skin due to its capacity to stimulate collagen production, accelerate cell reproduction, normalize skin keratinization all while leaving the skin healthy, glowing, and hydrated.” Trish Green
ThereGeneis also has the Revitaderm Complex with SYN-COLL, Retinol AntiOx Masque, and the Retinol 3X Serum that are featured in the Pro Aging Retinol Facial.
TheraGenesis Pro Aging Retinol Facial
TheraGeneis offers the Pro Aging Retinol Facial that features their 4 retinol products. Don’t miss your chance to learn the TheraGeneis retinol difference!
Hydrating Menopausal Skin Can Be Challenging
Trish also gave us this nugget of information about hydrating menopausal skin.
“Achieving good levels of hydration in a more mature skin is significantly more difficult. Applying hydrating ingredients that merely sit on the surface of the skin does not provide long-lasting results. In order to reduce the appearance of fine lines and wrinkles, hydration has to happen at a much deeper level to lift and plump from below.
Our hyaluronic acid serum and moisturizer both contain a new generation of ultra-filling spheres. It contains a very low molecular weight hyaluronic acid in the form of dry spheres. Hyaluronic acid can hold up to 1000 times its own weight in water. It is then combined with Konjac Glucomannans, which itself holds up to 200x its own weight in water. Together these two create a powerful ‘water magnet’ that penetrates quickly into the skin. As it is absorbed it gathers moisture and when full, explodes in the deeper layers of the skin creating a water balloon type of effect in the skin, making it ideal for deep-wrinkle treatment and long-term hydration by nourishing and lifting from within.” Trish Green
TheraGenesis Focus on Menopausal Skin?
We asked Trish why she chose to center the TheraGenesis focus around menopausal skin.
Here’s what she had to say.
“As a Homeopathic Practitioner, Cidesco Esthetician, and Educator for over 30 years, women’s health on all of its intriguing levels, to also include the health of their skin has always been my truest passion. As I embraced my own personal journey through the decades, experiencing the psychological changes, combined with my knowledge as an alternate health practitioner and therefore a clear understanding of the science of aging skin, that personal experience and knowledge strongly influenced the choices for this skin care collection.
At the time I embarked upon this project and still today, our industry has had a primary focus on other age group demographics, such as Millennials, leaving Gen X and Baby Boomers feeling almost like a forgotten generation and yet we are a very large and significant group of people still looking to be proactively involved in aging well. Skin care for the golden years is a thing and an important one.
The Problem: Results-driven products containing peptides, retinols, stem cells, etc. that are required to help stimulate, support, and correct aging skin, were and are generally found in more aggressive product lines, too aggressive for menopausal skin.
Solution: So I set to work to create a beautiful combination of organic botanicals, modern scientific ingredients, balanced with powerful antioxidants, and some great industry staples such as retinol but with a modern upgrade in delivery.
There are many aspects to understand in the science of aging, however, one aspect is simple. Combining the science with a true approach to wellness can result in a proactive approach to aging well. Using this concept and caring for the skin with ethically produced quality skin products that are results driven, is strongly reflected in a clear and vibrant skin. We now understand, as new scientific research has demonstrated the early signs of aging can begin as early as age 35. Research has also clearly identified that taking this combined approach to aging is an important part of managing the hormonal journey and therefore the management of aging skin. This is strongly reflected in our product formulas.” Trish Green
Why TheraGenesis Is Ideal for Menopausal Skin?
After Trish explained why she chose to structure TheraGenesis to focus on menopausal skin – we asked her what are some of the brand’s unique identifiers that make it ideal for Menopausal skin.
Here’s what she had to say.
“The product formulas reflect an understanding of what is changing in the body on a physiological level at each step of the hormonal journey and therefore we have ensured that we have the most up-to-date, science-based ingredients providing what the skin needs to hydrate, stimulate, and restore biological pathways at each stage of the journey.
The formulas are also designed to be multitasking meaning that if we encapsulate hyaluronic acid for deep hydration then we also include lift and firm peptides and ingredients that provide skin barrier enhancement to prevent TEWL. This provides balance and good results.
Serums and creams are also designed to pair with each other to really provide a good concentration of these required ingredients to provide the required results. An example would be pairing and layering our Retinol Renewing 1% Serum with our Revitaderm Complex a 1 % Retinol Cream, all encapsulated to ensure delivery into the skin without causing redness or irritation. Many retinol products are too aggressive leaving the skin inappropriately irritated. As we age, our skin does not necessarily have the physiological mechanisms to allow the ability to recover from this level of aggression. We have balanced our high potency retinol products with other ingredients in the formula to hydrate, provide antioxidant protection, boost messaging systems, and reduce inflammation should any occur to leave the skin soft and glowing versus red and dry. Not an option as we age.
In this collection, we have however kept in mind the esthetician, the nurse practitioner, and the personal skin care choices of this age group. We have included products that will support medical skin care protocols, injectables, etc. but if required for others that want to keep it simple these formulas can stand strong by themselves for daily use providing the desired results.” Trish Green
Modalities + Treatments 50+ Menopausal Women
One of the most interesting things that we learned from our conversation with Trish Green was that 50+ women can have a difficult time repairing their skin after aggressive treatments. When Trish mentioned that she had a list of treatments to avoid and a list of treatments that she suggested estheticians focus on – we were all ears!
Avoid These Modalities + Treatments
We asked Trish from TheraGenesis what treatments she feels as though menopausal women should avoid.
Here’s what she had to say.
“Generally anything that is causing excess heat and damage to the skin we would prefer to avoid in trying to achieve optimal skin health, particularly as we age. Certain types of laser and aggressive peels with total acid volume of more than 30% and pH lower than 3.0. Additionally, inflammation is a major contributor to aging the skin. If we fall into the cycle of constantly damaging, stripping, and overheating our skin which can easily happen especially with overuse of medical esthetic technology, can cause long-term damage even though the initial results look promising.
The reasoning behind this, in part, is how our skin functions change as we age, determined by the decline in our hormones. Of course, just as in puberty, in menopause, we all change at different rates. This goes for both treatment modalities and product use- if we don’t have the hormone reserves in our body and the proper hormone balances needed to build critical structures, as estheticians we cannot obtain the results required. Aggressive treatments should not be used without knowing the skin has the ability to repair, recover, restore, and rebuild. In other words, the hormonal levels that are required to trigger stem cell repair, peptide messaging systems, etc. We also require these systems to be functioning to stimulate collagen, hydration, barrier function, and of course firming.
We need to look within and focus on our clients as individuals with different needs at different times. No one treatment fits all clients.” Trish Green
Suggested Treatments To Include in Treatment Plans
The first thing to remember is that as we progress throughout our hormonal journey we take longer to recover from aggressive treatments. We have fewer hormones, lowered cellular activity, and a lowered ability to recover, repair, and restore.
In terms of medical esthetics, microneedling to help advanced product penetration and promote the skin’s natural wound healing response is great when done right. There is no heat applied and the inflammation occurring in this process helps support the skin’s natural wound-healing process which declines with age to help support the growth and development of new healthy, radiant skin.
We can also choose additional modalities such as ultrasound, microcurrent, aromatherapy, LED light therapy, and skin peels that advocate a layered approach with a less aggressive pH and lower total acid percentage such as 30% versus 50 or 60%.
It is highly recommended that hormone levels be addressed at this age. Looking into BIO Identical hormones that are plant-based are very effective. Step 1 is to find an experienced Naturopath that you can recommend to your clients to get tested. This will provide a customized and specific treatment for your unique hormonal homeostasis. Testing is done differently. Anything HRT (medical) is highly inflammatory and can create health concerns.
The Degradation of Telomeres + The TheraGenesis Solution
In our conversation with Trish, she mentioned that the skin in menopausal women is also impacted by the degradation of telomeres and we asked her to elaborate on that.
Here’s what she had to say.
“When it comes to telomeres they are like protective caps on the ends of our chromosomal structures. Every time the cell goes through replication via the stages of mitosis, an enzyme called helicase splits the helix structure. This then leaves 2 single strands (often referred to as a replication fork) where they are used like an instruction manual so that another enzyme called polymerase can replicate the DNA, thus creating a new duplicated DNA strand.
The issue arises at the end of the chromosome strand where the replication process cannot fully complete properly. Telomeres then shorten each time this happens, and eventually, the cell gets to a point where it can no longer divide due to how short the telomeres have become. This build-up of senescent skin cells then rapidly increases the appearance of aging skin.
One of our popular creams within the TheraGenesis line is the Hydralift Intensive Complex. This remarkable “Fountain of Youth” moisturizer stimulates elastin, smooths fine lines, tightens, firms, and fortifies. Linoleic and Linolenic acid-rich Inca Inchi™ Lipactive promotes epidermal barrier formation.
The magic bullet is Renovage™ or teprenone, this targets and stabilizes telomeres, extending the cell life and resisting the natural aging process.
In addition, Ultra Filling Spheres, containing Hyaluronic acid and Konjac Spheres, penetrate the upper layers of the epidermis, rapidly tightening the skin and smoothing out wrinkles. Skin is left with a supple, smooth appearance and an elastic skin surface with long-lasting hydration.” Trish Green
Thanks to TheraGenesis for sponsoring this content so we could share the information on menopausal skin with our community!
