With its attendant symptoms, menopause isn’t exactly a glamorous period of life. However, driven by an American market developing at breakneck speed, it is gradually becoming an object of interest for brands and companies. Symbols of these changes, stars like Gwyneth Paltrow and Naomi Watts have decided to invest in this market, bringing a plethora of investors in their wake. Of New York Times At FinancialTimesthe Anglo-Saxon press is categorical: the United States and the United Kingdom are between of one menopause gold rush. In France, brands and start-ups are also beginning to position themselves on the subject. But interest in this fledgling sector is hampered by a still very present taboo.
A long taboo subject
If half of humanity has been going through this period of life since almost the dawn of time, the term appears just over 200 years ago. In 1821, Charles de Gardenne, a French doctor, used it in a book instead of “critical age”, the usual expression of the time. “The term remains relatively young, as does its study”, observes Véronique Moulinié, research director at the CNRS, author of The surgery of the ages: body, sexuality and representations of blood. Until recently, few brands dared to display the word “menopause” on their packaging. “For several decades, Abbé Soury’s Youth potion, for example, has helped to treat heavy legs, but also hot flashes, a symptom closely associated with menopause, remarks Véronique Moulinié. However, the word is not not mentioned on the box”.
In the United States, these hormonal developments are no longer kept secret. In Hollywood, middle-aged women are investing in companies that provide access to medical treatments to relieve menopausal symptoms. The telemedicine company Evernow, which puts patients and practitioners in touch with each other so that they can prescribe them the right hormonal treatment, is arousing a lot of interest, for example. Drew Barrymore, Cameron Diaz and Gwyneth Paltrow helped raise $28.6 million for its development.
A juicy market
Beyond purely medical initiatives, other companies intend to enable women to “live better” through their menopause. Gwyneth Paltrow, again, offers food supplements through her Goop brand, for example. Judy Greer does the same, selling herbal supplements and creams with “Wile”. In October 2022, finally, Naomi Watts launched “Stripes”, a range of cosmetics. The latter must help to take care “from the scalp to the vagina, to participate in the eradication of the shame and anxiety associated with menopause”. Each time, these celebrities display the same mantra: to facilitate the lives of women who, until now, lived their symptoms in silence.
For a company, the fifties present a double interest: they represent a growing demographic portion of the population and are more and more comfortable financially. According to the World Health Organization, in 2021, the number of women over the age of 50 represented 26% of girls and women in the world, compared to 22% ten years ago. The global market for menopause-related products is benefiting from this increase: according to Grand View Research, it is expected to grow from $15.4 billion in 2021 to $24.4 billion in 2030 – largely driven by growth in supplements food.
The growing interest of brands
“With the lengthening of the lifespan, we will pass to almost 40% of our existence close to or in a state of menopause, notes Adelaïde Lohio, founder of the cabinet L’Observatoire Beauté. The brands obviously see an interest in it ” . The consultant will address the subject during a conference at Make Up Paris, a show bringing together exhibitors from the cosmetics sector in the capital next June. A further sign that investment opportunities are present here too. Between twelve and fourteen million women are affected by menopause in France. “There is a huge market opportunity, believes Sophie Dancourt, whose media I have swimming pool with Simone intends to “give visibility” to women in their fifties. If it is not yet as developed as in the United States, many companies are looking into it”.
More and more brands are actually deciding to use the term “menopause” which once scared them so much. Forerunners in this field, Vichy laboratories have even dedicated a range of cosmetics to menopause “for more than thirty years, alongside health professionals and in partnership with the Study Group on Menopause and Hormonal Aging (GEMVI)” , explains the marketing director of the brand, Hélène Giuliano. Over the past two years, the brand has also decided to strengthen its communication, for example launching round tables and petitions on the subject. A way to talk more about menopause… And to continue to be visible in this segment, while other laboratories, such as Lierac or Ricaud, are looking into it in turn. “Things are changing: when you look at the dermo-cosmetics market, more and more brands are entering this segment, and highlighting menopause, observes Hélène Giuliano. We all have a role to play because solutions exist.”
Chilliness of the fifties
“With the growing awareness that we are experiencing today, brands have understood that they have to address us differently, remarks Sophie Kune, author of Menopause and Free and creator of the Instagram account Menopause stories. But these products have always more or less existed. “Mature skin” or “anti-aging” products are gradually becoming “menopause” creams.” This change is obviously not innocent. It reveals an awareness among women: this Wednesday, January 8, a study OpinionWay produced for the Second Opinion medical site and unveiled by The Parisian shows that for 78% of the population, the subject would no longer be taboo. 81% of respondents even say that it would be “better accepted by women today”.
Sophie Kune has witnessed this enthusiasm herself, her Instagram account growing in less than three years from a thousand subscribers to 14,000. “More and more brands are asking me – and other influencers – to talk menopause, underlines Sophie Kune. They can sell cosmetics, underwear, food supplements… And they understood that it was necessary to contact us”. Faced with this interest, Sophie Kune’s subscribers remain skeptical. “When I was able to mention on my account certain products helping to better live your menopause, I quickly had dissatisfied comments of the type: ‘that’s it, the brands have understood that it was a lucrative business!'”, she says.
A plethora of offers
Make-up, personal development books – nearly 300 works on the subject jostle on the shelves of Fnac -, creams of all kinds… “As in Anglo-Saxon countries, many food supplements exist, notes Juliette Mauro, president of the Femtech France association. We are only at the beginning in France, but new start-ups are coming”. Among them, Omena or Menorebelle, applications that intend to support its users “to help them feel better” during their menopause. Or Athana, which sells boxes imitating cryotherapy, in order to relieve hot flashes. “However, these devices only help to manage the symptoms of menopause, and are not treatments, warns Juliette Mauro. We still lack research on the subject”.
Despite the budding interest in the sector, the first interested parties are often ill-informed, unconvinced of the importance of their own illness. “Hot flushes but also depressive syndrome, weight gain, sleep disorders, memory difficulties, joint pain… Symptoms that affect 3 out of four women, including 1 in a disabling way”, lists Dr. Brigitte Letombe, gynecologist and member of the Gemvi. However, menopause stretches out over time. During quarantine, the production of ovaries and estrogen – the female hormones – drop. This first stage, the “perimenopause” (or “premenopause”), generally lasts between two and four years, and is accompanied by the first hot flashes, or even night sweats. Then comes the menopause, and its host of symptoms – insomnia, fatigue, irritability or even depression… The period lasts about a year after the last menstrual period. Finally comes post-menopause, where the risk of osteoporosis, cardiovascular disease, or increased cholesterol increases. “Despite all these symptoms (of menopause), half of postmenopausal women say: ‘I have problems, yes, but I can manage on my own'”, sighs the gynecologist.
At present, only 6% of women are treated for their menopause and benefit from appropriate medical monitoring. According to the practitioner, this percentage should actually be 25%. “However, today’s fifty-somethings are far from being recluses. They are often at the top socially and professionally. When they realize that they are no longer performing because they no longer sleep or ‘they can no longer concentrate, they try to find solutions where they can’. Including outside the medical field. “But the solutions offered today are only accompaniments, insists the gynecologist. The only things that are effective today on disabling symptoms are hormonal treatments. And they are only prescribed by the medical profession”. The gold rush will wait.