Stephanie Davis Smith Stephanie Davis Smith | September 10, 2019 | Style & Beauty,
And guess what? It’s basically the only one on the market.
Pause Well-Aging Collection, $192
It was actually in Los Angeles that New York-based beauty industry exec Rochelle Weitzner came up with the game-changing idea to launch a menopause-focused luxury skincare line. In the spring and summer of 2017, Weitzner, who at the time was CEO of Erno Laszlo—and before that chief financial officer at Laura Mercier Cosmetics and RéVive Skincare—was living in a Beverly Hills bungalow and working in West Hollywood.
“I had just helped to sell Laszlo to a Chinese private equity firm and was consulting with Portia de Rossi to help her bring her company, General Public, to life,” says Weitzner. “While there, I was inspired to create Pause Well-Aging—while on a drive to Santa Monica, when I experienced my first hot flash.”
Pause, a first-of-its-kind, science-based skincare line, hit the market in June and is focused on supporting skin for women going through “the big change.” After Weitzner’s hot flash, she searched for products that could combat the effects of menopause and found there were none. “Menopause is like a dirty word, and no one even talks about it,” says Weitzner, “yet it’s inevitable and we’re all going to go through it.” An untapped beauty category for women of an age range that has been underserved? That’s the holy grail.
Weitzner did her research and launched this summer with three core products, which tackle the physiology of menopausal skin: a hot flash cooling mist, collagen-boosting moisturizer and fascia-stimulating tool. Every menopausal woman experiencing L.A.’s unpredictable heat waves should have the fine mist at the ready in their handbag. It minimizes flushing and provides instant relief during a hot flash so you’re not sweating all over your caftan at the next backyard soiree. The moisturizer is another miracle product, with a deeply hydrating formula that can tighten facial contours, increase skin density and improve elasticity to estrogen-deprived skin—think of it as combating that cheek sag we all get as time marches on. The final product is the fascia-stimulating tool, which is an FDA-cleared Class I medical device developed with a doctor of physical therapy. You use it to “help stimulate collagen production, improve tone and texture, and enhance subdermal tissue health,” says Weitzner, rubbing it back and forth under her cheekbone to demonstrate. Since perimenopause—the first stage out of the three—can begin as early as a woman’s 30s, even younger women should give the line a second look.
All of Weitzner’s formulations reflect the vegan, gluten free, cruelty-free and Leaping Bunny-certified standard she’s created for the brand—all thoughtful choices we can appreciate at any age. $39-$115
Photography by: brand