How ESPA is helping women navigate menopause

ESPA is a brand that needs no introduction. The darling of the skincare world since it launched in 1992, it's been front and centre of pioneering changes, driven by a passion for holistic wellbeing, pure naturals and luxurious treatments. Now, they're at the forefront of education and meaningful support once again, with a new collection of menopause-friendly products and services in partnership with GenM.

About GenM

For those who don't know, GenM is a powerful collective of brands committed to supporting women in menopause in multiple different ways.

A body that operates as a brand partner for businesses of all sizes, they seek to deliver on the unmet needs of the 15.5m women currently in menopause in the UK and one billion globally, by working with retailers and brands to address the specific needs of this demographic. They do this by helping organisations to make the menopause experience better for their customers through their products and approach, with those meeting the requirements proudly sporting the 'MTick' - an icon which now features on 37 ESPA products

Sam Simister, Co-Founder of GenM, said: “GenM is proud to partner with ESPA - a leading spa and wellness brand committed to supporting women in their menopause journey through their products, spa services and impeccable training. We are thrilled to implement the MTick – the universal symbol for menopause-friendly solutions – to ESPA’s wide range of innovative products to deliver further trust and choice for women to manage their menopause.”

Making menopause better

ESPA is working in partnership with Emma Neville, who unknowingly began her own menopause journey at the age of 38 and attributed a catalogue of symptoms to parenthood, work and general life.

After a period of confusion and delayed support, Emma set out on her own journey to improve the experience for other women. She became a Counsellor and Accredited Menopause Coach, founding her platform This is Me, carrying a message of understanding, nurturing and empowerment that aligned with what ESPA wanted to achieve.

Together they launched ESPA's menopause campaign at The Corinthia hotel in London last month. It was a monumental moment, which seeks to fill a gap for consumers as part of their mission to be a 360 degree wellness brand that supports its customers throughout their lives.

A holistic approach

Carefully curated to help women feel empowered and confident through every step of their menopause journey, ESPA's approach is a combination of products, therapist training and educational resources to give women the information they need to start making their own choices about how to approach this new phase of life. Addressing all stages of menopause, they take a holistic approach, using clinically proven formulas and thoughtfully designed moments of self-care that can bring comfort and help to manage menopause concerns.

Products and treatments work together to provide nourishing therapies with cooling, luxurious formulas, hinging on an age-defying, clinically proven Tri-ActiveTM collection to strengthen, clear, renew and lift the skin. Crucially, they recognise that there's no one 'solution' for all women, but rather a need for a variety of options alongside information that signposts them towards understanding their bodies better and exploring things that may suit them.

Therefore, their products and treatments address a variety of things from lines and wrinkles to muscle aches, hot flushes, anxiety, low moods, skin's firmness and more. However, the education and conversation aspect of their approach is not to be underestimated either, noting that menopause is a life stage rather than a problem, the objective is awareness, support, community and enjoyment of health and wellbeing through hormonal change.

ESPA Head of Spa and Digital Marketing, Gemma Bosanko, says: "In the last couple of years there's been more conversation around menopause, but for lots of women the signs, symptoms and options that they have for feeling their best are still pretty unknown. We knew that there was an important space for us to help, not by providing all the answers but by creating a space for understanding and knowledge within our field, and by offering pathways to conversations so people can find what's best for them. We've had such a wonderful response so far and Emma has been an incredible, empathetic ambassador, who just wants to make sure other women have a better understanding of what's happening to them than she did."