Menopause is Heating Up the Beauty Segment
There is a lot of buzz today around how to care for skin as women hit menopause, everything from celebrity brands like Stripes Beauty by Naomi Watts addressing skin dryness, hot flashes and vaginal care to hair care brands like Better Not Younger focused on “aging” hair, volume loss and greys – menopause is heating up the beauty segment. As beauty professionals, one has to think outside of the box of Brazilian bikini waxing and embrace how else service providers can truly offer clients a treatment designed to cater to women in their perimenopausal years.
The Rise of Vaginal Wellness in Beauty
Vaginal wellness in-store and online are becoming more mainstream – demystifying how to care for what was typically discussed as one’s “privates” and products only found at “sex stores,” now is sold front and center at big box retailers and discussed openly online and in traditional media. When Gwyneth Paltrow sold a candle called “This smells like my vagina” it went viral, but in effect she was normalizing the conversation around vaginal health and wellness.
About the Author
Shiri Sarfati is a beauty and wellness expert as well as licensed esthetician. She is a partner and executive vice president at her family-owned professional skincare company, Repêchage. She is the founder of 23 SKIN, a beauty brand based on natural and clean ingredients that provide spa quality results at home.
She has been quoted and featured in Ocean Drive Magazine, The New York Times, Wall Street Journal, Beauty Independent, and on CNN, CBS, and FOX, and has authored articles for Observer.com and ThriveGlobal.com.
She is a passionate and knowledgeable presenter and has been an invited speaker at esthetics conferences around the world.
Shiri earned a Master’s degree in Cosmetic and Fragrance Marketing and Management from The Fashion Institute of Technology. A native New Yorker, she now lives in Miami with her husband and two children. Follow her on Instagram @ShiriSarfati
V-Steams Are Trending – But There’s a Simpler Option
Ancient traditions like Vaginal (Yoni) steaming clinics are seemingly on the rise as a simple search on Google will populate multiple V-steam locations nationwide. But you don’t need to change your business model or invest in equipment to offer a treatment that caters to vaginal care. Simply add a new service this season that will surely create buzz and excitement for your clients and your business with a Firming, Lifting, and Cooling Vajacial. This treatment is not just to address your pesky ingrown hairs pre or post waxing service, but rather it is to address the needs of women in perimenopause and menopause as part of their self-care and wellness routine. What’s best is that you are introducing a service that is educational and allows you to help your client on a journey to take better care of their whole body while addressing natural changes they are experiencing.
Elevating the Brazilian Wax Experience
It is the perfect treatment coupled with your already popular brazilian bikini waxing service and allows you to upgrade those clients to experience skincare in a new way. As we head into the summer months, this offers you an opportunity to spotlight the service as people are excited to show more skin, go on vacation and hit the beach.
May 2025 L+A Report
Why Feminine Health Matters to Medical + Spa Aesthetic Professionals
For decades, menopause was spoken about in hushed tones—if at all. Referred to simply as “the change,” it often carried a vague, almost mysterious connotation. We grew up hearing about hot flashes on sitcoms, where menopause was portrayed as a punchline or a dreaded life event. I can still remember episodes where characters treated it like the end of youth, the end of beauty, or even the end of relevance.
But things are changing.
Thanks to mainstream advocates—yes, even Oprah—the conversation around menopause and feminine health is shifting into the spotlight. We’re finally seeing more open, honest discussions about how hormonal transitions impact the entire body, not just fertility.
What Is a Menopause-Focused Vajacial?
So how do you add a “Vajacial” to your treatment protocol specifically designed for women experiencing menopause? This targeted vajacial treatment helps restore balance, comfort, and confidence to the intimate area while also providing soothing, cooling and firming skincare benefits.
Safety, Sanitation + Product Recommendations
It’s important to utilize ingredients and products that are effective and safe for this area. I recommend products that are not dispensed from open jars to ensure there is never cross contamination. It is also important to make sure your client does not have any open sores, lesions or STDs if performing this treatment. Always use gloves to protect yourself as well as your client and be sure to ask if your client has a latex allergy to ensure you are working with gloves that will not cause any reaction.
The Vajacial Protocol: Step-by-Step
First prep the skin: To do this, the area is first depilated with hard or soft wax. Look for a wax that is specifically designed for sensitive skin to prevent redness and has hydrating benefits with ingredients including seaweed, aloe vera, safflower oil, and zinc oxide.
Next, calm and soothe the skin with an application of small, frozen cubes of a soothing gel with aloe, hyaluronic acid, and cucumber to the waxed area. The freezing of the gel makes the application extra cooling and soothing which is key when working with addressing menopausal skin – instantly cooling the skin post the warm wax treatment will feel refreshing and pleasant for this clientele. Immediately after application of the cooling gel layer, the area is treated with an anti-inflammatory and anti-oxidant rich peel off mask with hydrating, firming and lifting ingredients. This form of alginate based mask will form over the area and will be easily removed without causing irritation or picking at the skin. Providing lifting, firming and cooling results with a treatment designed for the intimate area will have your clients not only feeling clean but also renewed, tighter and more confident. Finish with an application of light moisturizer or gel. The reaction? One recipient commented, “I love that this treatment is performed right after the bikini waxing, and that it didn’t take long. It instantly soothes and restores the area with the Gel cube and Alginate Mask, and doesn’t feel as intrusive or intimate as the other vagina facials.”
Real-World Success Stories
This “vajacial” treatment transforms an ordinary waxing treatment into a full spa ritual where clients can relax and enjoy their treatment has helped spas and salons transform their traditional waxing menu offerings and address the needs of women in perimenopause. One salon, Salon CoCo Bond of Shrewsbury, NJ, has had success so far in featuring this new treatment on their spa menu. Christie Citsay of Salon CoCo Bond says clients are loving this new treatment, stating “Adding the Seaweed Mask to our bikini wax treatments has been such a success! Clients love how instantly soothed and cool their skin feels. The seaweed mask hydrates and conditions the delicate skin of the bikini leaving the area feeling calm, refreshed and clean! As an added bonus, the spa-like feel of the service gives us the opportunity to introduce our clients to skincare products as well as other services!”
How Exactly Does the Treatment Work?
Here is a full step-by-step of the treatment:
Benefits
● Soothing, cooling, and hydrating for the skin
● Helps to prevent inflammation and redness
● Helps to prevent ingrown hairs
● Helps to firm the skin around the vagina region
Before the client arrives, prepare the bed with proper linens, a disposable sheet, and towels.
- Using a clean spatula, apply wax to the skin in the direction of the hair growth using one long, smooth movement. Always use a clean spatula. NO DOUBLE DIPPING! Utilize this wax on the pubic bone area, inner thighs, and buttocks area.
- Take a small amount of Hard Wax and apply on both labia majora areas. Pull back the wax strips using your fingers. Apply light pressure on the area.
- Have the client bend the legs towards the head and wax the area around anus.
- Continue with the waxing process on the rest of the area to be treated.
- After the waxing process is completed apply Astringent or alcohol and blot with soft tissue.
- Apply frozen Soothing Gel on the areas waxed to sooth and cool.
TIP: Freeze a small portion of Soothing Gel in a small plastic cup or ice cube tray and apply it cold to the skin. - Apply Seaweed Mask
– Mix Seaweed Powder and Gel in a rubber bowl and begin application starting at the top of the pubic area, then the inner thighs, and down over the labia.
– Leave the mask on for 10 – 15 minutes. While mask is on, offer the client a hand massage.
– Peel off mask by loosening the edges of the mask with the fingers and gently peeling the mask off. Remove excess residue with damp cotton squares.
– Apply a small amount of Moisturizer. - Complete the treatment by recommending at-home care products and schedule the client’s next appointment.