Embracing Menopause With Confidence (Win!)

October was Menopause Month, but it’s still crucial to shed light on the challenges women face during this transformative phase of life. Menopause represents a significant milestone for women, spanning one-third of their lives, yet its impact is often overlooked. Vichy Laboratoires aims to revolutionize women’s experiences with the Neovadiol range. We chatted with Shirley Weir, the CEO of Menopause Chicks—a health education platform dedicated to guiding women through perimenopause to postmenopause with confidence—to learn more. —Vita Daily

Please tell us a bit about yourself to start.

Hi My name is Shirley. I’m 56, I reached menopause when I was 49 and I started Menopause Chicks 11 years ago to provide a trust-based place where women could learn how to navigate perimenopause to menopause to postmenopause with confidence and ease.

Why would you say it’s crucial to shed light on the challenges women face during this transformative phase of life?

Although October, aas Menopause Awareness Month, shines a light on women’s midlife health, we need this important health topic to be a priority the other 11 months of the year too. A billion women will have reached menopause worldwide by 2025. However, quality information and education and understanding is at an all-time low. Seventy-seven per cent of women have questions about their health. I always say that 100 per cent of women deserve quality answers. But media, marketers—and to a certain extent, even the medical community continues to make finding those quality answers challenging, confusing and as many of my members complain to me, overwhelming.

Speaking of which, what are some of those challenges? And, for those who don’t know, can you give us a general overview of what menopause is, and who it affects/when?

Happy to! Menopause is one day = it is the 12-month anniversary of your final period (or it could be the day ovaries are surgically removed.) Menopause is a milestone on the reproductive map that marks the end of ovulation, reproduction and menstruation. Perimenopause is a phase of life leading up to menopause; it is defined by age and fluctuating hormones—it is not defined by symptoms (which is a common misconception!) Much like how a girl’s hormones fluctuation in preparation for her first period, perimenopause is the phase where a woman’s body prepares for her last (period.) After menopause is postmenopause. So I am 56 and I reached menopause when I was 49, which means I have been in postmenopause for seven years and I will be in postmenopause for the rest of my life. This is key to understand because another common misconception is that menopause is just something women have to “get through”; what I want everyone to know is that, when our cycles are regular, estrogen and progesterone, for example, have many roles and responsibilities—they take care of a woman’s heart, brain, bones, skin, vulva, vagina, urethra and more! When we no longer have a cycle, we still have a goal of living for another three to five decades! But yet, my generation, without quality health education and health support, is facing overwhelming statistics for heart disease and stroke, osteoporosis, vaginal atrophy and incontinence (to name a few.) Therefore, menopause offers this incredible opportunity to learn and to INVEST in our current and future health!

Why do you think the impact of menopause is often overlooked?

Women’s health has historically been misunderstood, dismissed and ignored. For example, less than 12 per cent of all health research dollars is invested in women’s health (while we make up 51 per cent of the population and account for approximately 90 per cent of all consumer and family health decisions.) Women’s bodies, because we have ovaries, were often regarded as complex and complicated by science. And socially, conversations about menstruation, fertility and reproductive cycles have been met with stigma. The good news is that flexing our curiosity muscles and conversations, like these, will help to move comprehension of perimenopause, menopause and postmenopause forward.

When it comes to care (and self-care) during menopause, what are some of your top tips?

Note: I don’t say “during menopause” because when matched to the true definition (above) it doesn’t make sense. Also, when women hear “during menopause” it falsely creates this notion that anything debilitating that they might experience, “should” just be endured. My tips for every individual is to become hormone literate. When we learn and understand the roles and responsibilities of our hormones when cycles are regular, we are better able to make a health plan for when they are not. This includes learning about progesterone and estrogen for women, but also includes other hormones, such as testosterone, cortisol and thyroid hormone. Education just might be the most powerful self-care strategy we can pass along to future generations too. The next best tip I can offer is invite yourself to have a paradigm shift. For example, ask yourself “Is what I am thinking true?” An example of that might be: PREVIOUS THOUGHT: “Perimenopause, menopause and postmenopause means I will suffer.” NEW THOUGHT: “I am not meant to suffer. In fact, I deserve to feel amazing at every age and stage. What can I learn that will help me put my own name (& health) at the top of the to do list?”

Vichy Laboratoires aims to revolutionize women’s experiences with the Neovadiol range; have you tried these products? What are your thoughts?

I applaud Vichy for its decades-long commitment to women’s skin health research, and especially for their dedication to women’s health education. The Neovadiol line helps women distinguish between skin changes that occur in perimenopause (hyaluronic acid, a naturally occurring molecule, begins to decline in our 30s and 40s, for example) vs. postmenopause (estrogen, our “juicy hormone” goes for a steep decline after we reach menopause and that most often leads to dryness.) I love that Neovadiol uses the proper names “perimenopause” & “postmenopause” on its packaging as it helps to accomplish two things: i) help consumers get curious and learn about these important life stages and ii) ensure that women understand that the skin care routine we used in our 20s and 30s may not be effective in our 40s, 50s and beyond, and that there are other new ingredients for us to look for when selecting skin care. I use the serum, the day cream, night cream and I recently added the eye/lip cream from Neovadiol. My skin loves any product that contains hyaluronic acid. And I am also a big fan of Neovadiol’s Meno 5 bi-serum. Its ingredients address five areas of skin health that members of the Menopause Chicks community talk about the most: wrinkles appear smoother, skin feels nourished and firmer and intensely nourished and it makes skin tone look more even and radiant.

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Win! Vichy’s Neovadiol Range!

Congrats Christina F. of Innisfil, ON, who will receive Vichy’s Neovadiol Skincare Range, valued at $240! Please note: if you are the winner, you will receive a DM (direct message) in Instagram directly from @vitadailymedia. Please be wary of fake accounts, which often use similar handles with an extra or missing letter, number or symbol. We will never ask for a payment or for your credit card number, and we will never ask you to click through a link. If you are unsure whether you have been contacted, via Instagram, by us or a fake account, email us before responding.