Section:GDN 12 PaGe:6 Edition Date:190731 Edition:01 Zone: Sent at 30/7/2019 18:07 cYanmaGentaYellowbla

• The Guardian
  6 Wednesday 31 July 2019
  Style

Period

drama

Alongside

chocolate and bad moods, breakouts

are one of the tired tropes often

associated with periods. But spots

that coincide with the so-called

crimson tide can be one of life’s very

real inconveniences. Hence the rise

of period skincare.

The idea is that your skin

undergoes a series of changes

as your hormones ebb and fl ow

throughout your 28-day cycle, and

therefore your skincare routine

should morph, too.

A glut of brands now cater to

this idea. The US-based Amareta

off ers “hormonal cycle-based clean

skincare”, recommending its Petal

Soft cleansing balm for weeks one

and two (counting from the fi rst

day of your period) and Pure Peace

clarifying serum for weeks three and

four. Veneff ect, another US-based

brand, suggests products high in

salicylic or glycolic acid in the days

leading up to your period – a bid

to control oil production – then

“skin-soothers”, such as serums and

moisturisers, to help you “amp up

the glow” during it.

Charlotte Ferguson set up Disciple

Skincare , her London-based “natural

skincare company for stressed-out

skin”, because of her own adult

acne. For her, menstruation-savvy

skincare might mean using alpha

hydroxy acids in the week before

your period when oestrogen drops

and progesterone and testosterone

surge: “ That’s what can make your

skin particularly oily and your pores

blocked and infl amed.” These acids

are good, she says, for “breaking the

sticky bonds between dead skin cells

and the surface of your skin. They

help to dissolve the oil.” She also

recommends a double, deep pore

cleanse and advises against using

heavy creams. “They are going to

block your pores and you’ll be more

likely to break out.”

For the week of your period and

the week after, she suggests using

a retinol treatment at night and

vitamin C in the day: the former to

“help heal and reduce any scarring

that you might have from breakouts

you’ve had in the week before”,

the latter “because it’s really

brightening. Your skin is more likely

to have a glow because of all the

oestrogen anyway [so] it’s a really

good thing to use at the same time.”

Of course, not all women have

periods. But for those who always

get spotty during them or oily just

beforehand, this will sound familiar.

“When you speak to people about

it, they are like: ‘That totally makes

sense; I’ve just never thought about

it before ,’” says Ferguson.

But does the science back it

up? According to Dr Sweta Rai , a

dermatologist at King’s College

hospital, there are certain skin

conditions that can happen during

your period, such as spots and acne

fl ares, but “periods in themselves

don’t really give you anything to

write home about”. “ In the medical

world,” she says, “we don’t generally

advise diff erent people on [diff erent]

skincare products during their

periods.”

According to Dr Anjoli Mahto ,

Menstruation-

savvy skincare

products: clever

marketing or

proof of an

industr y fi nally

taking women

seriously? By

Ellie Violet

Bramley

a consultant dermatologist at

Chelsea’s Cadogan clinic, there is

a little bit of science to back up the

idea of period-specifi c skincare,

despite the fact that “nobody’s done

any studies on this”. During the

“second half of your cycle, you do

tend to be quite progesterone- and

testosterone-heavy, and that’s why

a lot of people fi nd their skin can

get a bit oilier after ovulation and

more spot-prone in the run up to

their period”. You could therefore

argue that there’s some benefi t to

“ramping up your actives, like your

acids – alpha and beta hydroxy acids

• and your retinols in that time” to
  combat any increased oiliness.
  But, she says, there is no guarantee
  it will work.
  Rather than switching your
  routine for diff erent times of the
  month, Ra i advises using sunscreen
  and a good moisturiser that work
  for you throughout it. For most
  of Mahto’s patients, it is more
  eff ective to have “a consistent
  skincare routine to deliver reliable
  results” rather than “chopping
  and changing”.
  If the medical community is not
  behind the trend, what else might
  be driving it? There is increasing
  chatter around the idea of “cyclical
  living”, with women encouraged to
  harness the power of their monthly
  hormonal fl uctuations rather than
  fi ght against them. Where hormones
  were once a fast lane to “hysteria”,
  they are now things to be listened
  to, a possible tool of personal
  empowerment.
  The burgeoning “femtech”
  market, which includes the rise of
  period trackers and is estimated to
  be worth $50bn (£41bn) by 2025 , is
  feeding into an increasing intimacy
  with hormonal fl uctuations.
  From Clue to Flo , apps are already
  telling their users when they are
  ovulating or when to expect that
  pre-menstrual fug to descend. It
  doesn’t feel like too big a leap to
  apply the tracking mentality of
  apps to skincare.
  Period skincare also slots neatly
  into the trend for targeted beauty
  products. Last year saw a surge
  in “ anti-pollution skincare ”,
  which featured products marketed

A lot of people

fi nd their skin

can get a bit

oilier after

ovulation and

more spot-prone

in the run-up to

their period

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