By Angel Turlington, WHNP-BC
When you think about radiant skin and hair, the first associations that come to mind are often topical products, such as moisturizers, sunscreens, shampoos, and conditioners. But beautiful skin and lustrous hair aren’t just about what you apply on the outside. Although quality products and treatments play a part, healthy hormonal balance also has a critical role in achieving a healthy glow from the inside out.
Understanding this internal-external connection can transform your beauty and wellness routine. At Southeast Aesthetic + Wellness, we take a holistic approach to helping you discover your “Best Self”. We offer a suite of aesthetic treatments and hormone balancing services that support the physiology of clear, radiant skin and strong, luxurious hair.
How Do Hormones Affect Skin?
Your skin is your body’s largest organ, and it acts like a mirror that reflects your internal health. The intricate relationships between internal factors, including the interactions of your various hormones, show up on your skin’s canvas.
Hormones are so influential because they are your body’s chemical messengers that convey information from one set of cells to another. They orchestrate countless processes that affect your skin health, including:
- Elasticity and firmness
- Sebum (oil) production
- Cellular turnover
- Inflammation
- Hydration
- Pigmentation
Skin Health & Estrogen
Estrogen may be best known as a reproductive hormone, but it also may be associated with supporting the skin’s barrier function, moisture retention, thickness, and wound healing. This is one reason why you see differences in your skin as you get older and your estrogen levels drop.
Estrogen deficiency may prompt undesirable skin changes, such as dryness, atrophy, impaired wound healing, decreased blood flow, and the loss of elasticity. The breakdown of collagen and elastin fibers can lead to more visible fine lines and wrinkles.
Skin Health & Progesterone
Progesterone is another hormone that may play a supportive role in healthy skin development and composition. Working through specific receptors (PR-A and PR-B), progesterone may influence:
- Keratinocytes — the primary type of cells found in the epidermis
- Fibroblasts — cells important for collagen production, wound healing and connective tissues
- Sebaceous glands — responsible for the skin’s oil production and moisture retention
Skin Health & the Menstrual Cycle
Have you noticed your skin behaves differently throughout the month? There’s a scientific reason for it. Hormonal fluctuations during your menstrual cycle can trigger a variety of skin responses.
Fluctuations in estrogen and progesterone may be associated with perimenstrual cutaneous reactions, such as autoimmune dermatitis, acne, eczema, rosacea, urticaria, and psoriasis. The fluctuations in hormones can cause a melanocyte-stimulating hormone, and excess estrogen may stimulate melanogenesis, which may contribute to premenstrual hyperpigmentation! Who knew?
During the second phase of the menstrual cycle, excess progesterone may contribute to increased vascularity and sebum production, which can lead to what we may call rosacea and the dreaded adult acne (yuck!).
Skin Health & Menopause
The hormonal shifts of menopause bring unique challenges for your skin. As your levels of estrogen and progesterone decline, your skin may lose structural integrity. It may become drier and more susceptible to damage, as well as slower to heal and renew itself.
During menopause, estrogen and progesterone could play a supportive role for healthier skin development and composition by promoting moisture retention and collagen synthesis.
How Do Hormones Affect Hair?
Hormonal balance may also impact hair physiology and health. For example, estrogen may play a key role in the hair cycle by promoting the anagen phase. This is the active stage when hair follicles produce hair fibers and the hair grows. Conversely, androgens (testosterone and dihydrotestosterone) may inhibit scalp hair growth.
Menopause-related hormonal fluctuations may also contribute to a reduction in the hair diameter and a faster transition from the anagen phase to the telogen resting phase, when hair strands remain in their follicles but stop growing. This may lead to a shorter hair-growth period and chronically increased hair loss.
Solutions for Hormone-Related Skin and Hair Changes
If this sounds no fun, we agree and that’s why we are here to help!
Hormone Balancing
Angel Turlington is now offering hormone supportive services to bring your body back into balance. Our bioidentical hormone replacement therapy (BHRT) program restores your natural hormone balance using plant-derived compounds that closely match your body’s own hormones.
Your journey begins with thorough hormone testing through blood, saliva, or urine analysis to measure your current levels. Based on these results, we create a personalized treatment plan that may include:
- Customized topical creams and gels for gradual absorption
- Convenient patches for steady hormone release
- Long-lasting pellet therapy for consistent delivery over several months
We complement your BHRT regimen with lifestyle guidance to optimize your results, focusing on nutrition, exercise, stress management, and sleep quality. Regular follow-up appointments ensure your treatment evolves with your changing needs.
Aesthetic Treatments
While BHRT works from within, our aesthetic treatments enhance your results from the outside. These are a few of the treatments you may wish to consider if you are in perimenopause or menopause:
- Exosome Hair Treatment and Serum — stimulate natural hair growth and thickness using powerful cellular messengers
- BBL Hero and Moxi Treatments — advanced light-based treatments to improve skin texture, tone, and radiance
- Hyperdilute Radiesse — natural-looking volume restoration and collagen growth with a biostimulatory injectable
Recommended Products
Each product in our carefully curated collection works synergistically with our treatments to enhance and maintain your results. Our team can help you select the perfect combination for your needs and treatment goals. A few of our favorite products for hair and skin are:
- Hair and Skin Collagen, available at Southeast
- About Time Progesterone cream with magnesium, vitamin D, available only at Southeast — $65
- Fem-Guard + Balance — $58.99
Take Control of Your Hormone Health
Southeast Aesthetic + Wellness is a premier destination for aesthetic and wellness treatments. Our hormone specialist, Angel Turlington, WHNP-BC, offers personalized consultations to help you navigate these changes and develop a tailored treatment plan.
Ready to discover how balanced hormones can transform your skin and hair? Contact Southeast Aesthetic + Wellness in Clayton, NC, today to schedule your consultation. You can reach our team through our online form, or by phone at (984) 249-2514.
