Funny thing about women of a “certain” age: They haven’t always been included when considering the full lifecycle of female health and sexuality. Words like “menopause” have been used in hushed tones, if spoken at all.
More recently, those approaching or on the other side of “the change,” entering “second spring” or the “big M” — or even those simply enduring “private summers” — are finding new boldness and opportunity. Products, communities, conferences and retail campaigns are popping up for this age group, with celebrity faces helping lead the way. Consider 57-year-old actress Halle Berry shouting “I’m in menopause!” on Capitol Hill while fighting for legislation and destigmatization. Naomi Watts, 55, founded the Stripes brand of menopause solutions. Drew Barrymore, Gwyneth Paltrow and Cameron Diaz have backed the Evernow subscription-based platform for menopause care, and Niecy Nash, 54, has partnered with digital menopause platform Versalie.
There’s a push for recognition, honest discussion, anatomically correct terminology and increased options. Brands and retailers are following suit. There are now apparel lines, sheets and wearable devices for those having hot flashes; fragrance sprays to combat unpleasant odors from hormonal changes; absorbent “anti-flush” underwear; and skincare, supplements and moisturizers.
Read about the influential women in retail driving the industry forward.
Pamela Danziger, market researcher, author, consultant and founder of Unity Marketing, believes increasingly open conversations about sexuality in recent years have cracked the door for discussion here. Even so, some reticence remains. Perimenopause — and, for many, its related symptoms — typically starts around age 40, and can last for eight to 10 years as the lead-up to menopause. In a culture still obsessed with youth, these years can be challenging, especially if mixed with shame or embarrassment.
“I think about how many women in business have to deal with a hot flash in a meeting,” she says. “You have to be able to be able to talk about it” — and to find solutions readily accessible.
Adapting to the changing needs of women of all ages
Retailers are already a place women go for menstrual products, Danziger says. “It seems to me that expanding that category to include women on the other side of the menstrual cycle would make all the sense in the world.”
Retailers might take note from the journey of plus-size displays in apparel, she says. “They were usually relegated to the back of the store, with ugly design. They were definitely segregated from the cool stuff at the front. We should learn from that. We need to be serving women of all ages, and this should be given a prominent place. There are tremendous opportunities here, but they need to be inclusive.”
Ulta Beauty, among others, has stepped up to the plate. Penny Coy, senior vice president of merchandising, says the company believes wellness is a “state of being that means something different to everyone, throughout all stages of life.”
“As guests have become increasingly more open and connected to their internal wellbeing, sexual health and intimate wellness, we saw a unique opportunity to help fuel these conversations and encourage exploration for new solutions by ensuring our assortment reflected these essential wellness needs,” Coy says. Ulta Beauty launched The Wellness Shop in 2021, and offerings have gradually expanded to include a dedicated category for intimate wellness, in addition to adjacent categories like “Down There Care” and supplements. These support women across multiple generations, she says, including “period care to perimenopause, menopause and so much more. Offerings like pro-aging skincare, acne solutions, hormonal and mood-boosting supplements, and haircare and scalp care are also integrated throughout our assortment in store and on Ulta.com.”
Select products are found in-store, but most intimate wellness products are available online only. Ulta Beauty is proud of the assortment cultivated, she says, and has been so encouraged by how guests have embraced The Wellness Shop that it expanded to all Ulta Beauty stores nationwide last fall.
“In the coming years, we predict that there will be continued conversations around menopositivity, and we’re focused on expanding our assortment with solutions for women in this stage of life with products that support physical changes and empower them to celebrate themselves throughout their journey,” Coy says. Due to demand, Ulta Beauty doubled its in-store assortment of Womaness, a “high-performance collection of modern menopause products created by women for women, to provide more access to solutions for the 50 million women in the U.S. going through menopause.”
More products to support the full lifecycle of women’s health
At Walgreens, meanwhile, Heather Hughes, group vice president and general merchandise manager of health, wellness, beauty and personal care, says the company supports the full lifecycle of women’s health from pre-period to post-menopause with products, services and community programs. For perimenopausal and post-menopausal women, this includes skincare solutions, vitamins and supplements to help ease symptoms, over-the-counter tests that help indicate likely menopause stages, and more. Sexual wellness includes categories such as family planning, intimate wellness and pleasure wellness. In a broader sense, the company approaches the full lifecycle through virtual healthcare, a dedicated women’s health page on the Walgreens Find Care digital platform, partnership with Vitamin Angels and support of Susan G. Komen.
The company also recently launched a line of Walgreens brand women’s health and wellness products across vitamins and probiotics, Hughes says. “These items were specially designed to support women throughout various life stages like menopause and menstruation, in addition to everyday women’s wellness.” There’s lactation support, supplements that support menopause symptom relief, and general women’s wellness supplements that support skin health and hair growth.
“Walgreens is committed to women’s personal health needs throughout all their life stages,” she says. “We would like to establish Walgreens as their trusted, go-to retailer to manage their women’s wellness-related needs, whether they are looking for products or health services.”
Putting women’s wellness needs in the open
Nicole Leinbach, retail industry veteran and founder/president of RetailMinded.com, caught wind of the coming change with data from the pandemic: sales of adult novelty and sexual wellness skyrocketed. “As a self-proclaimed retail geek, I found that fascinating,” she says. On closer look, she discovered a huge void in connections between leaders, retailers and brands in that category compared to other areas of retail. She founded the B2B sexual wellness trade show STIMULATE as a result, with a debut event in 2023. She defines sexual wellness through STIMULATE as “head to toe, young to mature, purpose to pleasure.” The August 2024 event will highlight increased education, including “ask the doctors” content with gynecologists, urologists and more.
The physicians tell her that the conversations patients are having today are much more open and bold than in the past — and sometimes cover ground they didn’t explore in medical school. “They’re having to come and discover things for themselves, too,” she says. “There’s a lot of push for change, because consumers and patients want to see change.” She credits magazines like Cosmopolitan, Men’s Health and Women’s Health for starting conversations. Leinbach aims to continue those conversations by giving space to brands — including those backed by science — that solve needs.
One such brand is VuVa pelvic therapy dilators. Tara Langdale-Schmidt, founder of parent company VuVatech, says 80 percent of women suffer painful intercourse at some point in life, whether related to the birth of a baby, menopause or trauma. Chemotherapy can also impact sexual wellness, and dilators are often recommended to treat pain and atrophy in cancer survivors. Yet, this is still not something widely discussed or necessarily understood. Langdale-Schmidt – whose own doctors recommended wine and Advil for the treatment of debilitating pelvic pain – says her ads are often hidden and/or ridiculed on social media, due to lack of knowledge and awareness.
She longs for the day that consumers might find dilators in pharmacy chains, and that the life-changing benefits would be more widely understood. In the meantime, Leinbach believes we’ll soon see a category launch of “medtail,” with consumers able to purchase products like this in the patient environment. Langdale-Schmidt is working on that, too.
As far as we’ve come in openness, the experts believe we’ve barely scratched the surface. Just as perimenopause can be a rough transition, there will likely be bumps, challenges and lessons learned on the way to the other side.
“But there is something really marvelous about getting to a certain age,” Danziger says. “The things that mattered in your 20s, 30s and 40s just aren’t important anymore. There’s great freedom in that, and I think that should be celebrated. That’s the positivity.”
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