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Business of Fashion
3 days ago
- Health
- Business of Fashion
Beauty's Great Menopause Conundrum
In the early to mid 20th century, beauty brands such as Elizabeth Arden and Helena Rubinstein touted an ingredient that later became long-lost: Oestrogen. A 1949 ad for Arden's Joie de Vivre hormone cream warned that '30 is often the critical age for beauty,' telling women just exiting their 20s that they needed the cream's 'abundant supply' of 'natural hormones.' Regulations classifying oestrogen as a drug helped to bring an end to the fad at the beauty counter. But more recently, oestrogen skin creams are back in full force, thanks to telemedicine startups like Alloy and Midi, with more on the way. They join a wider wave of wellness and beauty labels tapping into opportunities in skincare, telemedicine and hormone alternatives such as All Golden, Naomi Watts' Stripes and Womanness. Investors see big profit potential for an underserved consumer, driven by celebrity- and influencer-led visibility and retailer demand. A report by women's health VC firm Amboy St. Ventures valued the US menopause wellness market at $131 billion in 2025, calling the category an overlooked 'ghost market' estimated to include around 63 million US women. In September 2024, Ulta Beauty launched menopause wellness brand Joylux and expanded it to 300 physical stores this month, growing a roster of brands that started with Womaness in 2022. Walgreens released a torrent of advertisements this summer intending to 'reframe' the stage — #MenopauseIsHot — and directing customers to the supplements and medicines stocked in its pharmacy. 'They're really doubling down on women's wellness, and specifically menopause, because that really resonates with their customer base,' said Joylux founder and CEO Colette Courtion. But whether brands can successfully marry menopause with beauty is another question. Some early companies in the space have already shuttered or had to relaunch, and newcomers have honed their messaging and widened their audiences. They also face challenges speaking to customers who have long felt ignored, or overmarketed to. 'There's, unfortunately, a lot of mistrust, gaslighting and dismissal of women in the health care system today, especially when it comes to menopause,' said Ally Tam Tumasova, a former investor who left the VC world to co-found the menopause wellness platform Respin Health with actress Halle Berry. Can Beauty Mix With Menopause? Beauty and wellness have long been intertwined, but menopause is a category where their links are strongest, tying together endocrine system support with claims about looking and feeling better. Demand for these prescriptions has led directly to a boom in hormone telemedicine startups like Alloy and Midi, created in response to women's difficulty in obtaining hormone therapy — and ushering in an oestrogen skincare resurgence. Menopause-focussed company Alloy expanded its two-year-old M4 oestrogen skincare into a multi-product line with serum and eye cream last week. Respin launched hormone telemedicine on July 28 so its audience could access prescription-strength solutions, and later plans to enter skincare with an oestrogen offering in luxe packaging. These join a market of oestrogen skincare offerings from other telemedicine companies like Midi and generalist Musely. 'It was just this really sort of hidden secret that not many people knew about,' said Anne Fulenwider, the co-founder and co-CEO of Alloy Women's Health and former editor in chief of Marie Claire. The 'beautification' of menopause isn't a good idea to everyone. Dr. Jen Gunter, an OB/GYN known for criticisms of Goop's health claims, took aim at the oestrogen face cream market in a February 2025 article for her newsletter 'The Vajenda.' She described the products as 'woefully understudied' and lacking in oversight from the FDA, given the fact that they're made from compounding pharmacies that are frequently used by telemedicine companies. 'It sure seems that for some influencers, the need for women to have quality science is flexible based on what is making money or getting a video to go viral. And right now the gold rush is fueled by [oestrogen] face cream,' she wrote. To address scientific doubts, Alloy commissioned clinical studies in both 2023 and 2025 to back up its claims. The M-Word Beyond telemedicine, early 2020s launches have already resulted in some failures for menopause-centred beauty startups. Glossier's former president Henry Davis created the skincare brand State of Menopause with influencer Stacy London, which closed in 2023, while 'menopause-centric' skincare brand Pause Well-Aging shut down in 2024. Others have undergone revamps. Stripes is still in business after being sold at auction for $500,000 in 2023, while P&G-backed Pepper & Wits was eventually rebranded to Kindra. According to founders who have launched brands for the 40+ shopper since then, the earlier brands were a bit too enthusiastic about using the m-word in their marketing, and are taking a different approach by emphasising positive ageing. 'There are a bunch of brands that really jumped in the market very focussed on menopause, which on the one hand, was great that it wasn't stigmatised and people were talking about it, but on the other hand, it was like, 'Okay, now am I just about my menopause?'' said Sarah Kugelman, who launched skincare brand All Golden for the 45-plus age group in December 2024. (Kugelman previously founded the brand Skyn Iceland, which was acquired by the Amerikas in 2024.) She uses the word menopause 'a little bit' in marketing language, instead focusing on 'well ageing' and product innovation. She's doubled down on TikTok traction for All Golden's full-eye wraparound mask. Others like Jones Road, Sarah Creal Beauty and Yse Beauty have avoided the word, instead positioning themselves as brands for Gen X or 'mature skin.' As Yse Beauty founder Molly Sims told InStyle earlier this year, 'I don't want to talk about beauty during menopause or being someone's grandmother.' Still, the conversation is flourishing as beauty businesses approach the category. Mainstream brands are starting to co-opt the terminology, targeting elder Millennials with discussion of perimenopause: Paula's Choice's offers a Phytoestrogen Elasticity Renewal Serum and L'Oréal-owned Vichy has a Neovadiol Peri-Menopause Day Cream. As celebrity founders and influencers are also helping to drive chatter, some hope that stigmas around talking about menopause are finally waning. 'I didn't even use the word menopause ever on the air as a journalist; we never talked about this,' said Tamsen Fadal, a former broadcast journalist and the author of the book 'How to Menopause,' who discusses menopause with her 1.6 million followers. She's planning on launching her own menopause brand, which she said will be squarely in the wellness arena rather than beauty. 'We just didn't even have the conversations, more or less, the opportunity to use the words.' Sign up to The Business of Beauty newsletter, your complimentary, must-read source for the day's most important beauty and wellness news and analysis.
Business Wire
22-07-2025
- Business
- Business Wire
Alloy Therapeutics and Kansai Startup Academia Coalition (KSAC) Announce Strategic Collaboration to Accelerate Global Growth of Japanese Life Science Startups
BOSTON & TOKYO--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Alloy Therapeutics Co. Ltd. ('Alloy Japan') today announced the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with the Kansai Startup Academia Coalition ('KSAC'), represented by Kyoto University, to foster the global expansion of university-affiliated life science startups across Japan. This strategic collaboration is designed to accelerate research and development (R&D) activities by providing critical support and connecting academic innovations with the global biopharmaceutical industry. KSAC is a coalition of more than 90 academic institutions located in western Japan, formed under the leadership of Kyoto University and with support from Japan's Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology (MEXT). KSAC's mission is to bridge academia and industry by managing GAP funds for research, delivering entrepreneurship education, supporting digital workshop networks, and showcasing early-stage technologies through events and exhibitions both domestically and internationally. Alloy Therapeutics Inc. ('Alloy') is a Boston-based biotechnology ecosystem company that democratizes access to foundational biologics discovery technologies. Through its suite of platform technologies and discovery services as well as its venture studio, 82VS, Alloy enables scientists and entrepreneurs around the world to accelerate the discovery of medicines. Alloy recently launched its Japan subsidiary, Alloy Japan, which is focused on iPS cell therapy development and is continuing to broaden its offerings by supporting ecosystem growth throughout Japan and greater Asia. Through this MOU, Alloy Japan and KSAC will collaborate to connect promising academic seeds from Japan to global Biopharma markets, while also bringing valuable insights from the global community back to strengthen Japan's startup ecosystem. Together, they aim to enrich critical capabilities across Japan's academic and entrepreneurial communities to foster the development of globally competitive life science startups. 'Alloy's capabilities and global network bring a highly complementary strength to our mission of empowering academic startups to compete internationally. Alloy Japan offers a highly distinct and complementary contribution to our activities with Global Incubators and Venture Capital firms,' said Koji Murota, Director-General of the Office of Institutional Advancement and Communications at Kyoto University, representing KSAC. 'By collaborating with ecosystem builders like Alloy Japan, we can provide our researchers and entrepreneurs with access to additional scientific resources, global Biopharma insights, and opportunities to scale their innovations beyond Japan.' As a first step, Alloy Japan will support KSAC's GAP Fund program, which provides funding to selected academic projects within the KSAC network. Over the three-year term of the MOU, the collaboration is expected to expand to additional KSAC initiatives aimed at building a globally integrated and innovation-driven biotech community. 'Our collaboration with KSAC builds on Alloy Japan's commitment to deep, sovereign partnerships that nurture innovation at the academic and early translational stages,' said Victor Stone (Yoshihide Ishii), CEO of Alloy Japan. 'By working alongside KSAC and its network of universities, we aim to strengthen the bridge between Japanese academic excellence and the Biopharma ecosystem, accelerating the global growth of life science startups.' About Alloy Therapeutics Inc. Alloy Therapeutics is a biotechnology ecosystem company empowering the global scientific community to make better medicines together. Through a community of partners across academia, biotech, and the largest biopharma, Alloy democratizes access to pre-competitive tools, technologies, services, and company creation capabilities that are foundational for discovering and developing therapeutic biologics across six modalities: antibodies, TCRs, genetic medicines, peptides, cell therapies, and drug delivery. As a reflection of Alloy's relentless commitment to the scientific community, Alloy reinvests 100% of its revenue in innovation and access to innovation. Headquartered in Boston, MA, Alloy operates globally with discovery laboratories in multiple locations, including Japan. Its Japanese subsidiary, Alloy Japan, located at Shonan Health Innovation Park in Kanagawa Prefecture and led by Victor Stone (Yoshihide Ishii), supports cell therapy initiatives and broader ecosystem activities in the region. Join the Alloy Therapeutics ® community by visiting and following Alloy on LinkedIn. About KSAC & Kyoto University The Kansai Startup Academia Coalition (KSAC), led by leading research institution Kyoto University, is a nationwide initiative dedicated to promoting the internationalization and growth of startups originating from Japanese universities.
Yahoo
17-07-2025
- Health
- Yahoo
Feeling Dismissed About Your Perimenopause Symptoms? Here's Where To Actually Find Good Care.
"Hearst Magazines and Yahoo may earn commission or revenue on some items through these links." Welcome to the Perimenopause Playbook—your guide to navigating the most overlooked and misunderstood phase of the menopausal transition. Read the rest of the stories, from how to get a diagnosis to treatment options to where to actually find good care, here. The key to optimizing your health in perimenopause and beyond is to find a Menopause Society certified practitioner (MSCP) who has received additional training in menopause care, won't dismiss your symptoms, and offers you research-backed hormonal and non-hormonal solutions. Start with these resources, available in all 50 states plus D.C., below. Alloy provides virtual support and treatment of common menopause symptoms from menopause-trained doctors. The telehealth platform doesn't take insurance, but it does accept FSA/HSA payment options. Midi Health is a virtual care clinic focused on hormone health, peri- and menopause management, longevity, and aging well. Midi takes insurance, as well as HSA/FSA payment options. Similar to Alloy and Midi, Evernow is an online platform that offers comprehensive menopause care. Evernow takes insurance for all video visits. If you choose to go the membership route, though, those are only HSA/FSA-eligible. If telehealth isn't your thing, The Menopause Society has a 'Find a Healthcare Practitioner' tab, where you can search for certified menopause practitioners in your state. This story appears in the Summer 2025 issue of Women's Health. You Might Also Like Jennifer Garner Swears By This Retinol Eye Cream These New Kicks Will Help You Smash Your Cross-Training Goals
Yahoo
17-07-2025
- Health
- Yahoo
EXCLUSIVE: Menopause Solutions Company Alloy Is Doubling Down on Skin Care With Estrogen-based Products
Alloy is betting big on estrogen-based skin care. The science-backed menopause solutions company, which has raised $16.3 million in funding to date, on Thursday will expand its skin care offering with its M4 Lift & Renew Rx Eye Cream and M4 Smooth & Firm Rx Priming Serum, which are available on Alloy's website via a prescription from a menopause expert. Both products feature the hero ingredient estriol, a form of estrogen, as well as a peptide to enhance the firming and smoothing effects. More from WWD Bob Marley's Family Is Ready to Expand His Brand Into Wellness and Skin Care EXCLUSIVE: Supplement Company Cymbiotika Opens First Wellness Café at Fontainebleau Las Vegas How Rising Temperatures Are Raising the Bar for Beauty and Wellness This news follows the success of the brand's M4 Collagen Builder Rx Face Cream, which launched more than two years ago and quickly became a bestseller for the prescription solution company, growing 241 percent year-over-year. The brand also conducted a 12-week, double-blind, placebo-controlled clinical study, which showed significant improvement in skin health. Now, skin care is one of the company's fastest-growing categories. 'We've heard more about what she wants. People are asking for all sorts of estriol [the form of estrogen Alloy uses] products, not just face cream,' said Alloy cofounder Anne Fulenwider. 'In listening to her, we really are creating what she wants, and in doing so we're doing what we want. We're the guinea pigs.' For Alloy's skin care range, in particular, cofounder Monica Molenaar was the first 'guinea pig' and her personal experience led to the initial launch of the M4 Collagen Builder Rx Face Cream. 'After having taken systemic estrogen for eight years, I took half my normal dose for three months, purely by accident, and started peeing in my pants, like lost all control of my bladder, because your bladder is so estrogen dependent,' said Molenaar, who had entered surgical menopause. Living in the Netherlands, Molenaar was able to quickly get a vaginal estrogen prescription in the form of estriol quickly and within two weeks her symptoms were completely gone. Having been on estrogen for years, she was familiar with how the ingredient worked and how crucial it was for women in menopause — the dramatic decline of estrogen is what causes the majority of symptoms associated with menopause. 'Estrogen is the main hormone that affects every single cell of our bodies, with skin actually being the biggest organ that we have,' Molenaar said. Fulenwider added: '[Estrogen] creates elasticity in the skin, and it hydrates the cells.' Furthermore, estrogen had been used in skin care for years by brands like Elizabeth Arden and Helena Rubinstein, until it became regulated and required a prescription. Knowing all of this, Molenaar had a lightbulb moment and questioned what estrogen could do for her skin. She began applying the estriol prescription to her face daily and experienced a major difference, most notably an 'unbelievable smoothness.' She continued: 'People don't believe that I'm 51. I was getting tons of compliments on the street from random people like, 'Oh my God, you look amazing.'' After launching the original M4 Collagen Builder Rx Face Cream, thanks to Molenaar's experience, the Alloy team discovered that its customers were experiencing similar results and were asking for more estriol-based products, resulting in the latest line expansion. 'We've been missing the boat with an antiaging cream and products for women for the last 20 years,' Molenaar said. 'The time is now. We know the science. We can create the products.' In addition to these estrogen-based products, Alloy has an Anti-Aging Rx Tretinoin and will be launching a rosacea cream. In an effort to further address its users' concerns, Alloy now also offers weight loss medications. As Alloy looks to expand its products, both across skin care and other solutions, the focus is on prescription offerings. 'We want to bring the solutions that really work, and most of those are prescription, to women, and make it really convenient for her to get them,' Fulenwider said. Best of WWD Sesame Oil Skin Care: The Secret to Hydrated Skin or a Recipe for Clogged Pores? How Grooming Is Introducing Men to Self-care and Redefining Masculinity Clean Beauty Brand Ignae Makes Big U.S. Push With a New Look
Finextra
25-06-2025
- Business
- Finextra
Imprint adds cash flow analytics from Nova Credit for thin file borrowers
Imprint, the leading provider of modern co-branded credit cards, today announced a partnership with leading credit infrastructure and analytics company Nova Credit to introduce cash flow analytics to its suite of underwriting capabilities, unlocking a more real-time and granular view of consumer financial health, and expanding consumer access to credit. 0 To launch this functionality, Imprint will integrate the Nova Credit Platform capabilities into Imprint's existing decisioning workflows, powered by leading identity and fraud prevention platform, Alloy. Many Americans struggle with obtaining access to credit because they have a thin credit file, or are recovering from a financial setback that has negatively impacted their credit report. Imprint's partnership with Nova Credit, utilizing pre-built integrations through Alloy, will provide more holistic insights to help Imprint make better lending decisions. This allows the company to expand credit access to even more consumers, and to offer deferred interest plans and low-interest installment plans to an entirely new set of consumers. 'At Imprint, we are always looking to deliver the best results for our partner brands and their customers,' said Daragh Murphy, CEO of Imprint.'This partnership with Nova Credit strengthens our underwriting approach without sacrificing speed, leading to better-informed credit decisions.' 'At Nova Credit, we've always believed that financial access shouldn't be limited by the traditional credit system,' said Misha Esipov, Co-founder and CEO of Nova Credit. 'By integrating our cash flow analytics directly into Alloy's centralized identity and fraud prevention platform, we're streamlining underwriting decisions for Imprint's partners and creating new pathways for people to access the financial products they deserve.'
