The Menopause Show With Sue Moxley – Colette Haydon, Skincare For Menopause

Hi, this is Sue Moxley. This is Women's Radio Station. If you want to follow us on the socials, go to Instagram, YouTube, and Facebook and look for Women's Radio Station, abbreviated STN. This is The Menopause Show, and today my guest is Colette Hayden, and Um, hi Colette, are you there? Hi Sue, I'm here and lovely to be with you. Thank you, and you have a wonderful accent and all my listeners are gonna love it. Ah, it's my French accent. I've been, I've been in England a long, long time. I should think about 40 years. Really? Yeah. Yes, I think, uh, I will be 65 on my next birthday and I think more than 40 years. I must have— I probably was 23, 24, and it's a very funny thing. Some of my friends lost their accent very, very quickly. I think, oh, you do or you don't, Sue. I'm this very, very fluent woman in English, yet I sound like I arrived yesterday on the Eurostar. Actually, you do, you do, but it's lovely. I love it. It sounds— thank you. But you know, but you know, another thing, so people, uh, think that I, I just put it on for effect. Please trust me, I do not. This is the completely natural me. But, but even if you do put it on for effect, I love that because you sound so, well, kind of sexy, really. Very sexy. Yes, I'm the reverse Jane Birkin. Do you know, you must have, uh, you must know, uh, of Jane Birkin, who kept her English accent. I mean, she spent all— basically the reverse, really. She arrived in France very young and never lost her English accent. Ah, okay, yeah. So the Jane Birkin bag. I'm the reverse Jane Birkin. I've never lost my French accent. Well, I love it anyway. And, um, so why did you come over? Was it for a man? It was for a man. How did you know that? How did you guess that? So why would you, why would you leave France and come to rainy England? Well, well, well, so, so basically I, I studied pharmacy. Yes, it was always my plan not to be the pharmacist behind the counter in a pharmacy. I always wanted to do research and development, so I studied what we call initially industrial pharmacy. Then I'm a doctor in dermo-pharmacy, and I specialized in advanced skincare products. And to do this, in, in those days in France, it was very, very important to speak good English. You need to remember that it was a time where languages were still very badly taught at school. I'm going to be a bit controversial, but I'm going to even say that now it is in France, but in England, I would say that there are still progress to be made to teach languages to our English kids. But that's another topic. You know why, don't you? Because everyone speaks English everywhere you go, so it makes it late. But to be speaking another language is opening your brain. It's not just about the language. So anyway, I wanted to improve my English, so I came to England on— I'd been to England before, but it was during the holidays while I was a student, and I met my husband. I didn't stay very long then, but I went back to France, and people were thinking, 'Oh, it's a holiday romance, she'll forget about him very soon,' because I told everybody I've just met my husband. And I have, and we're still together. Oh, that's so lovely. Oh, for something like work or something like that, it was purely your right love. Oh, so do you go back to France, and where in France? Of course, of course. I'm originally from the Jura, I mean from a very rural area, a small town. I don't name the town because people never know it, but it's the Jura. Basically, it's the— if you look at the map, it's the mountains which are actually at the north of the Alps. So how can I explain? It's, if you want, the French side of Geneva. The closest airport is Geneva, but I'm not Swiss, I'm not on the Swiss side but on the French side. Okay, oh, that sounds, that sounds really nice though. It is, it is very nice, it was very nice, but yes, I go back to, I go back to France. Then my parents moved to the south of France, so when I go to France now, I don't go to the Jura, but I'm privileged to go to the south of France. Wow, that's lovely. You said why would a French woman move to England apart from love? I often say if the English didn't exist, they should be invented. I always loved English people. Oh, that's so nice. Before I met my husband. Really, it's just the English are tolerant, They are lovely people. There's, you know, the way we say, oh, the English are reserved. Yes. French, or generally the Mediterranean, the continental, that it's so easy to speak to them, etc. I don't find it true at all. I find that you can, you know, speak to English people, they speak back to you. It's so, it's much easier to make friends. They are much more accepting of everyone. And in fact, the French are— it's much more difficult to make friends. I find that a lot of my friends went back to France, struggled, right? You know, yes. Now I bet your next question is going to be the food. I wasn't going to say that, actually. You are not going to say that? Okay. But what I was going to say was, whereabouts do you live in England? I live, I live in London. I live in northwest London in Queen's Park. Okay, right. But quite— is it quite busy there? It's not, it's not too busy. My lab is in Willesden Junction, so I'm very privileged that I can, I can go to work, that I don't have a long commute. So it's just wonderful. Because, you know, it's so difficult when you have to travel a long way. But it's not— no, it's a quiet area. Okay, sounds— I don't really know it around there, so I can't comment. But no, I just wondered if you lived in London or if you lived in, you know, in the countryside somewhere. No, I don't live— I have to say, perhaps less so now, but When I first arrived in England, it was— it would probably have been more difficult as a foreigner to live in the countryside. Now it's probably not the case, and I don't know, but in London— London is so cosmopolitan, it's so, you know, there are so many different people that to be a foreigner in London is is really not a problem. Yeah, no, I, yeah, I agree. It's, um, it's a real kind of accepting, uh, place to be, and every— anything goes really in London, doesn't it? So absolutely, absolutely. So tell me about your, um— so you're a skincare specialist, and tell me how that happened and why you went into that? Of course, I mean, that is another very good question, Sue. I think as a child, I— it's a very funny thing, my— the first memories that I have is I spend a lot of time at my grandmother's in a small village And I would miss my mommy. Sometimes I was at my grandma's because my mommy was not very well. And I missed her, that I used to open the bathroom cabinet where there were still products of my mother. And for me, it was an enchanted world. And I started to look at all the they were very old creams and, and things that maybe smelled a bit of my mom. And I, I think it's from then that I developed this passion for cosmetics, really. And I have to say, specifically skincare. I actually do not really have an interest in makeup, would you believe. It's, it's, it's very much all the I would call it the sensorial aspect of skincare. And of course fragrances as well. And then I remember, you know, I remember mixing bits and bobs in my grandmother's garden making face masks. So I think it goes back a long time. And this is when I started to be at the age where I needed to choose what I was going to do. I knew that's what I was going to do, but there's a long things to do before. And it's a common— in France, it's a bit different than in England. We do not study chemistry to work in skincare, but pharmacy is the common route. And this is how I became a doctor in dermopharmacy specializing in skincare. Wow, that sounds like such a nice story. So, um, have you got— do you have your own products? Yes, so I have a laboratory also in Northwest London. I was telling you that I'm privileged not to have very far, that I've had a very, very, very long time developing a lot, a lot of product, advanced skincare products for many brands. One One that is well known is REN Skincare, because I'm often asked— because then 6 years ago I launched Lixir Skin, my brand, and people often ask me why I waited such a long time to launch my own brand. And well, and I answered the sort of It's when I had the money to do it. And basically, I was a minority shareholder and a director of REN Skincare. And when the brand was sold to Unilever, I got a little money and I could start Lixir Skincare. Oh, that's amazing. So it's— so REN, I know, R-E-N, you mean? Yeah, correct. Yes, yes, that's a very many others. Yeah, and what, um, and can you spell yours for our listeners to, in case they haven't heard of it? Right, it's L-I-X-I-R-S-K-I-N, Lixia Skin. Lixia Skin, right, okay. Um, I, I definitely think I know it. So what kind of, what kind of products do you have? How many products have you got in your line? Oh, I think we must have about I think 13, 14. What defines us in a way, it was— Elixir Skin comes from all my lab experience working on other brands, and it's a little bit disruptive and controversial as we are a very minimalist brand. It's very much for busy women. It's very much if you don't want to spend too much time doing it, yet having beautiful products. It's— we're well known for our Good Skin Trio, which are really a combination of only 3 products. You've got your vitamin C base that you use in the morning, Yeah, by Universal Emulsion. And in the evening, you've got Electro Gel Cleanser, which you follow again by Universal Emulsion. And I stress that we call it our Good Skin Trio, our Good Skin System. It is not about age, it is not about skin type, it is to cover the essential need of the skin which we all share. I believe in multitasking products. It really— I don't like layering. It's almost the opposite of Korean skincare where, you know, where you're going to use 15 products in a row. I said it came from my lab experience. It's, it's funny sometimes because people, uh, you know, consumers or, or that are not— I've never been by definition who has gone to a lab, not many people. Do you know, they imagine that maybe we've got a cupboard for products for the eyes, a cupboard for product for the face and for the neck, and etc. And it is not the case. I have the cupboard of the good ingredients. I'm a formulator. For me, the base product is crucially important. You know, if a product is badly formulated and doesn't have a good feel you don't use it, it's not pleasant to use, so it surely is not going to help your skin. That's our Good Skin Trio that epitomize our brand, and really these are cult products for all skin types. Like I said, they are for what I call good skin. To me, a good skin is a skin that is healthy. It's not about counting the wrinkles It's about a skin that is functioning well. Now, if we are talking of skin concerns, I have different products. It's a range of what we call our Night Switch. Okay, it's a little joke, you know, on the night switch, because these products, you use them only at night and you use only one at a time. It's what we call the skin switching, and that is completely unique to us. Let me explain that as well. I find that if you use too many products at the time, or if you use products that are— that have too many actives, you confuse the skin. If I If I imagine, Sue, God forbid, that I am your boss. Sorry. I arrive one morning and I— laugh! Please laugh. And I arrive one morning and I give you 10 jobs. Yeah. I come back in the evening and I find that I get cross because I find that you haven't done very much. Yeah, and that is because you've been running like a headless chicken, going straight, going left, going right, depleting your energy and not achieving very much. So I feel that when it comes to nighttime, when the skin choose to repair, it is best to ask the skin to do one thing at a time and do it well. So not to use too many serums, just use one. Not to use a product that force and confuse the skin to do one thing and the other. So this is why we have our Night Switch. So we have, uh, for example, retinol, which is the anti-aging molecule by excellence. So to explain, you would use your retinol which is a retinol at 1%. It is highly concentrated. In the evening, you mix it with Universal Emulsion and you use it for 4— always at night, like I said— and you use it for 4 weeks. Okay. Then you stop and you give your, you give your, your, your skin time to, to, to rest and reset. And then you go to another night switch. Which could be— as we are also going to talk about menopause— which could be our Night Switch Phytoestrogen and Peptide, which is specifically designed for menopausal skin. Okay, you would use, you would use this one for 4 weeks, stop again for a few days, and then you can go back to retinol or to another booster of your choice, or another serum of your choice. And that is also to prevent the plateau effect, right? And the plateau effect is best explained like, you know, if you go to the gym— yeah, I don't, but yeah, okay, okay, I don't go much. I used to, but now, I mean, I, I do things at home or that sort of thing, you know, but You know, if you, if you do always the same exercise, yeah, okay, do you know initially it works very well and then it starts to stop working because your, your muscle cells have reached the plateau effect? Okay, the skin is exactly the same. When it comes to fancy actives, very powerful actives, all our nights which contain very powerful actives at very high concentration. Yeah, you're always stimulating the skin cells with the same active. The skin cells get simply bored, and after a while it doesn't do anything at all. This is why I'm trying— we're trying with Lixir Skin to educate our consumers to skin switching. Always keep it moving in alternance. So use something for a while Stop it, use something else, and go back to it. I love that. That's completely different from, from any other— it is completely different. And don't use too many at the time. Do you know, like, there are some, um, you know, I don't want to mention any name, but cheaper brands than mine, though, at reasonable prices, where you You know, the little booster is cheap, so the woman is going to buy 5 at a time. Yeah. And she receives them or buys them in store, and there's this huge temptation because she's got them all to use them all at the same time. It's hard to resist. Yes. And then not only you're going to confuse your skin, but you're depleting your skin energy. Just like our muscles, just like our brain, when I was telling you that if I give you 10 jobs, your brain is going to get tired and you're not going to achieve anything. We tend to forget that the skin is also an organ which, just like your brain, is going to get tired. So it's good to respect the skin and just give her that job and say, please, Kim, do that job well. And she will. And then we let her rest, and then we give her another job. You know, that's a bit like, say, when you wash your hair, isn't it, in the same shampoo week after week. In the end, your hair doesn't look good. It becomes limp. And then if you change up to a different shampoo Keep it moving. Yeah, I do that. I use different shampoos and, um, yeah, you're absolutely right. And also, often say, I'm not pedantic. I'm, I'm, I'm, I'm trying to educate our consumers to do that. Of course I want to sell my Night Switch, but what I'm saying, you could, for example, use our Night Switch phytoestrogen and peptide if menopausal skin is your concern. But then you can stop mine, allow your skin to rest, and use perhaps another serum or booster from a different brand, formulated differently with different actives that could also work for you, and it will be better. What I'm trying to say is that if you were to use mine all the time Yeah, any answer, you will reach that plateau effect. And it's good to try and educate women to, to, to really to alter and, you know, to, to just keep it moving and not always use the same thing. Well, that's actually really honest of you to say that, to be honest, because most people would want to just, you know, push their own brand and sell, sell, sell. But Yeah, absolutely. Another interesting thing is just when you are— and I bet you, you, you, you may know that. I realized that for, for two reasons. One, you know, when, um, you, you've bought a serum that you like. Yeah, you've bought one bottle, you use it, it's great. So of course you buy a second bottle, and the second bottle doesn't work so well. Generally, the consumer is very keen to blame the brand. They think, oh well, you know, they must have changed the formula, they must have cheapened the formula because this new bottle doesn't work so well. Yeah, well, some brands are naughty and have cheapened the formula, but let me tell you that more often than not, we don't. It's just simply that you've reached the plateau effect. Yeah, then your second bottle corresponds to that moment where the serum you've used it for— this serum that you've loved, you, you've used it for too long. So leave it, don't bin it, use something else, and then go back to it and you will find its magic again. I love that. That's completely different. It's a different, um, kind of These products, that's another thing, it's very— I'm a bit also at the opposite of the super serum that contain 15 different actives. You know, now you find that there's a trend toward the serum that cost up from £300. You know, I'm talking very, very expensive products. Yes, that are so very expensive because they contain so many, many, many different actives. Yes, it's a bit the same thing as when I was telling you, if I give you 10 jobs and, and you will achieve nothing in the evening, the skin receiving these 15 different actives at the same time, that force the skin to move from one metabolic path to another, it's not going to work. When I give the skin retinol, we, we work with this retinol. We are on the metabolic pathway of retinol. If I give a phytoestrogen and peptide to the skin, we are on a different pathway. What metabolic pathway means is which type of work you're going to ask the skin to do. And really, it should be— you should have few actives, or if you have several actives, they should follow the same pathway, complete each other, complement each other, sorry, but not ask the skin to choose almost a different road. So this is why I say ask the skin to do one job and to do it well. Can you explain to us what, um, what those, those three things that you just mentioned, like retinoid, what that actually does? So that, say that our listeners don't know. Retinol is, it's the active by excellence that controls control the metabolism of the skin. Yeah. And, and that is what is beautiful with retinol, because I, I often say— it's a joke— there's only two skin types to consider: the old and the young. Right. For the, for the old, it will have the benefit to boost production of protein in the fibroblasts. The fibroblasts are the cells that you have in the dermis and that produce proteins such as elastin, collagen. So it will help to re-densify your skin, to plump up your skin, and to reduce wrinkles. Okay, so it's not one that peels, it doesn't make your skin peel? It doesn't make your skin peel, but however, it does also, and it is very good that you would say that, because it also, also improves the metabolism of the, the epidermis and boosts epidermal turnaround. And, and it also smooths the surface but also very much helps problem skin. So there is, you are right, a gentle exfoliation element to retinol. Okay. And, and this is one— it's a funny thing actually, because, because we're talking of menopause, I would just put more emphasis on the product that we have for this age group. But having said that, if you have, for example, problem skin, you could use also retinol for 4 weeks because retinoids, you know, it's vitamin A, very much help problem skin. Again, same thing, don't use it for too long, 4 weeks, and you can here alter for us as Night Switch BHA/AHA. That is a true exfoliant and treatment for problem skin which contains azelaic acid, salicylic acid, and lactic acid. But again, don't use it for too long. So that's stronger kind of peeling, that one. Very, very much so, very much so, and specifically for problem skin. Okay, if you want an exfoliant, so for example, if you have, uh, if you, if you want to use retinol for anti-aging, but on the other hand you are not, you do not feel that you are concerned with menopause, and therefore why would you choose to use our Night Switch Phytoestrogen and Peptide, you can alter your retinol with Night Switch, this time BHA/AHA, which is a gentle exfoliating and antioxidant blend, again with lactic acid, lactobionic acid, and phytic acid. So very much for radiance, lack of radiance, particularly in in, in our cities is, is, you know, apart from aging and problem skin, is another common skin concern. But I always recommend to start with our Good Skin Trio, which is the, the core to everything, with the, the Vitamin C Paste in the morning is brilliant for radiance. Okay, so I just asked, just because you are a skin expert and a farmer and a pharmacist, I am quite interested myself myself, right, in this question. What do you think— and I know this isn't to do with your products— but what do you think of like really strong skin peels? What I do think is that, again, Sue, it's a terribly interesting but also important question. Yeah, we have— we do have regulations Yes. In fact, our regulation tells us that we cannot use more than 10% of a combination of acid in a product, and we cannot have a product that is at a pH that is lower than 3.5. Okay. pH of a product is, is what measures the acidity, to keep it simple, so the acidity of a product. So another important thing to remember is that within the regulation I'm talking of now, I can't talk of, you know, we've had Brexit, so England is not in the EU anymore, but I will say in the EU in the context because really the UK regulations still follow the EU. There isn't the concept of a professional product and a normal retail product. Yeah. If you're told by a brand, oh, I'm using a peel that is much more concentrated, oh, because it's a professional product, it's a cosmeceutical. This is something by our regulation that doesn't actually exist. And if a product is well formulated, let me tell you that 10% does the job perfectly well. Apart from our Night Switch BHA, our Night Switch PHA, which you— they're leave-on products, you mix them again with Universal Emulsion at night and you use them at night. We have a peel that we call Peel Express. It's a mask that you can use once or twice twice a week. And again, this one, respect the regulation, no more than 10%, no lower than 3.5%. The skill is— and it's the love and the passion of my life— it is in— it's the skill of the formulation. There is no need to use 30% and make people actually peel. You can have a very good result with with 10%. So I suppose to conclude, I would, I would say do not use this strong product. Really talking about— sorry, I've got a lot of feedback going on here. Um, I'll cut that out. I mean, I mean, would— when people actually go to a clinic and have a really strong peel, do you think that's kind of bad in a way? Because I don't think I'd ever do that. It Right, again, we have to distinguish. These in that case would not be cosmetic products. No. If they are not— if they are done by a doctor, yes, who is not trying to sell them as a cosmetic product but as a practitioner treatment. Yes, that's what I meant. In some circumstances it is okay. My problem is that they are— some of these products are purchased by beauty therapists who actually, to me, should not use these products, and I would not recommend it. Yes, okay. But do you think it's okay to have a really strong peel like that though, if you— if it's done by a doctor? You don't think it's done by a doctor and you've had very, very severe acne, but don't— you know, you know, we were describing that the epidermis is a wall of cells. Yes. Don't exfoliate more, don't exfoliate more than you have bricks on your wall. Yes. You know, and you can, you can, you, if you're not careful and you don't know what you're doing, you, you can, you can actually exfoliate too deep and then make the skin really vulnerable, you know, the skin very raw and vulnerable and damage the skin barrier. Yeah, always respect the skin. Yeah. Okay, I just wondered what you thought about skin peels because, um, I, um, yeah, I— they scare me a little bit. Yes. Yeah. So, um, but it's so interesting. So, um, when did you become a pharmacist then? Did you— so did you know that you would always go into skin, do you think? Absolutely. As I was telling you, really, the, the— from early on, as we were discussing. Yeah. With palms. Right. So really not, not interested in drugs so much. Yeah. And honestly, within cosmetics, it's very much the skincare element. I've always— I think it's everything, as I was telling you. It's the sensorial element of skincare to me, to the perfumes, the— and, and have no, no interest because You know, makeup is, is part of the same profession. And really, Sue, I am useless at makeup. Do not ask my advice on makeup. I know nothing. I know nothing. I know nothing. I'm really the, the re— really the skincare expert. And to me, what's important is The, the skin, you know, there's, there's that expression to be comfortable in your skin. And as I said, it's not— of course, you know, I was describing our retinol that is anti-aging, our Night Switch phytoestrogen and peptide, which is to, to help the, the, the density of, of skin, you know, because A particular problem of perimenopausal skin, menopausal skin, and postmenopausal skin is— and that's a word, Sue, with my French accent that I struggle to pronounce— is the thinning of the skin and crepey skin. So, you know, it's not so much deep wrinkle that you can get much younger, but it's, it's that crepey skin where you knew that the— it's almost like the top layer of your skin, the epidermis, is almost detached, not properly linked up to the dermis anymore. And yes, I understand what you mean, because you have to see that. Every, every woman who's more in this age group understands. And it's just this, um, almost these little waves you know, and the sagging that goes with it. And this is when your skin lacks density. It's the pleasure, and that's, I suppose, is very French, is the pleasure to look after yourself. To me, using my ElectroGel Cleanser at night and then applying my Universal Emulsion is the pleasure to look after myself. It's the pleasure of massage. And to me, that's so important as well. You've just made— you've just made taking, taking off my makeup and putting my moisturizer on really sexy. Absolutely. But it should be. But applying your vitamin C paste in the morning and rinsing it and then again applying your cream, it's You know, it's that moment with yourself. It should be, it should be part of, um, it's almost a little, a little, uh, mini meditation moment. Yeah, yeah. So I, I mean, I've, I like, I've always been good with my skincare, I have to admit, you know. Um, don't know if I've always used the right products, but I have always cleansed and moisturized there's been a few nights when I might have had a few too many to drink where I might have— and you went straight to bed, went straight to bed. Never after— it's another interesting thing that I, we can be— I often describe Lixia Skin as an advanced yet a relaxed approach to skincare. To, to me, you know, as I said, we are very minimalist brand with not too many products. And I hate the idea of perfection, you know. It's the— if you forget to use your serum one night, if you forget to use your mask one week, if you forget to remove your makeup one night, sky is not going to fall over Earth, you know. It's, it's, um, and I think that sometimes we can be Really, the whole thing needs to be pleasurable and not a burden. Yeah, yeah, no, I, I agree. Um, so, and I know what you mean, I mean, about when you have like a product that got you— it's on your face and it feels lovely and silky and you feel like you're doing something really good for yourself. And you, yeah, it's like you're really looking after yourself. I'm the complete opposite. I used to have my own makeup brand. So I get kind of excited at anything makeup that's new. I like— I love it so much I don't even want to open the packaging. Does that make sense? Yes, it does. It's like, yeah, it's important. Where often we have these, um, lovely— our Good Skin Trio in, in those lovely, um It's pink and black. Of course, it's radio, I can't describe, but the color has been inspired by, do you know what I mean, by this slightly vintage lingerie, this sort of— Okay, yeah. Flesh pink that is not quite pink, more fleshy. And And also for me, I love the ballet that is inspired by the, you know, the Repetto shoes, the tights. And I think that we are extremely sensitive to packaging. I mean, I am. And our consumers love the packaging. And I know it's truly, you are right, because I think it's terribly, terribly important. Yes, I do. I think it's just lovely to have something that looks really lovely and, you know, on your table, in your bedroom. Our consumers know instinctively that the packaging is sustainable. And I think that, I dare say, that's what I am told we've achieved with Lixir Skin. So it looks sophisticated, yet with simplicity. Yes. Hmm. Like classy, like French women are usually very classy, aren't they? You know, with their lovely suits. And like you say, French women— well, in England, French women, we look up to French women because they look after themselves. You know, you're saying about English people are very nice and easy to talk to and, and we're known as being reserved. French women are known to be— to look amazing. And, you know, really describe with French women is, um, more effortless, you know, perhaps not, um— I think that's the thing, we, we perhaps, uh, don't necessarily look for perfection, but more for what I call the a general view, you know. For me, it's not necessarily important, you know, as I was saying, to count the wrinkles, but really it's on the overall look. Yeah, it's just, it's your posture, the way you— it's your skin, it's your hair, it's your clothes, but it's also your posture, your movement, the way you are. Yeah, I get that totally, and I agree. Yes, I agree with you. Yeah, because you can have like really amazing clothes on, have beautiful hair, lovely skin, and then if you don't stand up straight, it just ruins the whole thing, doesn't it? Exactly. Oh, it's women that are, you know, wearing high heels but can't walk in high heels, you know. You don't want— you need to wear the clothes, not the clothes wear you. I don't know the English expression, you know, but you, you know, if you're going, you, you need to carry it through basically. And to me that matters more than the small little details. Yes, I get you. Yeah, I totally get you. So yeah, when I was— when I was— we are older, you know. Yeah, I know. When I was 16, um, I went to a modeling school, believe it or not, but it was a very old-fashioned finishing school for girls. Like, it was called Lucy Clayton. And you know, I'm from Essex, and you know, like the Essex girls. And there was all these kind of girls from Switzerland, and their daddies had sent them there to, you know, learn how to lay the table properly and all of that. I only went there because I was trying to get into their modeling agency. But do you know thing that it taught me more than anything was posture. Yes, because I was quite tall, um, and when I was at school, the boys used to call me Jeremy Giraffe because I had a long neck and I was taller than them. And I— it's good to have a long neck, I know, but I didn't know that then. Um, and I used to slouch to try and be smaller and they would make you walk up and down with mirrors all around you and see how bad you looked when you slouched. So I do hold myself really well because of going to school at 16 and learning about posture. Yeah, that's absolutely right. Another advice that, um, so for, for example, you know, for me So for example, you know, we're doing this interview and it's the radio, so people are not— our listeners are not going to see us. Yeah. For me, I would not do it in my pyjamas. Me neither. I feel, you know, even though it's not TV, but I've dressed up, I've put my little makeup, I've done my hair. I feel that my, my voice and my confidence and my enthusiasm is going to project differently if I'm not in my pajamas. And I feel that I respect our listeners if I'm not doing it in my pajamas. And I think that to me, that's another I find that in this age where we're all behind our Google Meet, our Zoom, that sort of thing, I just do think it's important, you know, even a phone call. Sometimes if I want my— if I have something important to say, I will choose to stand up because I do feel that it helps. And so I so agree with you that the posture is so important. Yes, very important, very important. So yeah, I'm the same actually, like I— so I do quite a few of these shows, but I always put on my clothes and, you know, my shoes and sit here because I feel better. Of course, yeah, that's the point, yes. Yeah, I just feel better, and therefore I think you sound better. Yes, this is why I say, you know, going back to the French woman, I don't— I think it's every bit matter, but it's the overall that matters. And I think again, to try and give confidence to women, I mean, would it be older women or young women, I often say, you know, this little detail, this little thing that you don't like, Does it really matter? Do you know, it's, um, let's focus on, on, on the overall. Yes, and your confidence as well. Absolutely, absolutely. You're very negative, it shows, doesn't it? So you need to be confident. So can you tell our listeners, like, so anyone that's listening in and they, they have, uh, you know, their skin has become maybe troublesome since menopause and like you say, it's drier, maybe sometimes it gets more sensitive, the skin, what your advice to them is? I know that your products— Well, I would say, you know, to me, I do not think that you need to stop everything you're using to go to a completely different skincare routine. It is not necessary. Really, you should carry on with, um, I mean, for us, the Good Skin Trio, which is the core of your routine, is for all ages. But I think it is good enough to introduce a specific, a specific product for menopausal skin. The one we have, so I said it's our Night Switch Phytoestrogen. And peptide that really work to improve the barrier of the skin, to the density of the skin, to really treat creepy skin. Okay, but you mentioned— you're mentioning— but, but, um, it is not a specific product for dry skin. Okay, if you feel that your skin is, is drier, which absolutely it can also happen Then I would recommend this, our Night Switch Essential Lipids, which is a combination of lipids. It's the phospholipids, the omega, the phytosterols to really, really boost the ceramide. Sorry, I forget the ceramide. They're so important to really boost the barrier and reduce dry skin because the dry skin in itself will damage the barrier, which in turn will age the skin. So if you feel your skin is drier, always treat dryness. Yeah, okay. How about if someone's become a little bit spotty or something, or, you know, they're having problems in that way? Absolutely. I mean, this is a common problem. Here I of course recommend retinol, as we were saying. In fact, the perfect combination for menopausal skin is 4 weeks with Night Switch Retinol and 4 weeks with Night Switch Phytoestrogen and Peptide in alternance, because retinol is very good for the odd spots as well. Okay. And it is a common problem. That must help with pigmentation as well. Of course. Yeah, they are, they are women who complain that, who, you know, that, um, in fact, a specific type of acne that they develop during menopause. Yeah, it's, it's not, it's not, it's not as common as the crepey skin and, uh, and the lack of density. But it definitely, it's definitely a concern. Yes. And that helps, your product helps with that? Absolutely, absolutely. Yeah, and you do hear of people getting kind of pigmentation and strange things happening as well. I mean, I don't know about you, but I suspect you're a stay out of the sun lady. It's better not to— it's better to avoid— I love the sun. What I say is just I love to look at the sun, if that may make sense, from the shade. I just never sunbathe. You can— I so enjoy a sunny day. But you, you do not need to be in, in the sun to enjoy a sunny day. Yes, I agree. I don't actually like, um, the feeling of being really hot and bothered and lying in the sun anyway, to be honest. But yeah, I'm, I'm like you, sit in the shade and look out. Absolutely, and you still enjoy it. Yeah. Oh, so any other, any other tips for us? Us ladies that are going through menopause. Because you was going to talk to me about diet, actually. You said about the French, the French diet. Are you good at— good with what you eat? And I just think that— oh no, no, I'm not. I'm— I cook a lot, like Paps. I cook. I love cooking. I struggle to— I prefer cooking for lots of people than just my husband and I. I have a tendency with— if I do something, that they are for 3 days, but that's good because we can re-eat it. But I do see, of course, diet is important, exercising is important. My last advice is that, you know, we're very, very focused on the physical side of menopause. And I, I, I'm very keen to say that is the, the mental health side of menopause is also very, very important. The, there's the physical side, but the anxiety that it can cause. Yeah, sometimes, you know, we think, we think HRT, we think which drug we should take for menopause, and we, we forget to treat the mental health element. Yeah, I think I've had therapy during menopause, and I don't think we can separate the physical from the mental. I think you're absolutely right. I think they go hand in hand. I mean, even if your symptoms are not causing anxiety or you know, some of the many things that it does cause, that just the fact that you've gone into that phase of your life is sometimes a bit, a bit hard to take. Absolutely, absolutely. It's just, I think that any transitions are difficult. Yeah, puberty is difficult, it's a transition. Motherhood is difficult, It's also a transition, and, and, and then menopause is a transition. I, I think that there are, of course, the physical symptoms, but the, the anxiety caused by this transition is equally important and can itself cause symptoms. The physical symptoms can cause anxiety the anxiety can cause physical symptoms and it feeds on each other. Yeah, they do. So my, my, my, my important tip, I would say, is, is to, to, to really not focus entirely on the physical. Yeah, include the, uh, include the mental health part of it as well. Absolutely, absolutely, with equal importance. Yeah, okay. Well, that's really, really good advice. And we've been chatting for a whole hour and it's gone really quick, don't you think? Very, very quick. So yeah, it's very interesting, really interesting to listen to you. So I'm gonna kind of— we're gonna stop in a bit, but could you read— could you tell our listeners again where they can get your products from, or where they can, you know, are you on— are you on Instagram? And Facebook. They can purchase them on our website at lixersteel.co.uk. Yeah, but of course, uh, from our lovely retailers. Victoria Hills, uh, is one of our favorite retailers. Harrods, Liberty, John Lewis. Yes, well done you, fantastic. Very much. Do I get some to try? That's what I want to know. You certainly will. You certainly will. A big package is going to be sent to you. Oh, thank you. I'm excited about that because now you've made me definitely want to switch skincare. You have. You've made me want to switch. And I'm glad I have. Yeah, but as I said, I always used to do that anyway, but now I know that I'm doing the right thing. So, um, thank you for that information. Well, it's been lovely to talk to you. And you need to speak to you too soon. Oh, it's very interesting. I've enjoyed it and it's gone really, really quickly. So yes, so thank you for listening in everyone. This is The Menopause Show. I'm Sue Moxley and this is women's radio station. If you want to, yeah, look up Colette, her brand, and I'm sure you won't go wrong. And I'll see you all soon. Thank you, goodbye. Hi Colette, I can speak now? Yeah, you can speak now. Yeah, okay, outro. I made sure that I didn't interrupt just like you told me. Yeah, good girl. It's been really nice talking to you, very interesting. My pleasure. I think I'll get your address to send the product via Christina. Ah, yes, thank you. And also I'm going to need an image of you, please. Okay, Christina also has got all that. Okay, my darling, thank you. And yeah, I'd love to try your products and, you know, I can put them in, um, the magazine. Sorry, I didn't catch that. Sorry, try the products and I can put them in the magazine. Oh, lovely, thank you very much. Okay. It's lovely to talk to you. Speak soon, Sue. Bye-bye. Bye-bye.