The Better Blog

If you have naturally curly hair, you’re probably all too familiar with the love-hate relationship between you and your hair. It can be a struggle that those with straight hair just don’t understand. But whether you’ve been straightening your hair for the last 30 years or not, it’s never too late to embrace your curls.

As you age, your curls can loosen, change their shape or even form new curl patterns due to hormonal and environmental factors. Or maybe you’re experiencing curly hair for the first time in your life as your aging locks change the shape of your hair follicles. No matter the reason, the transition to your new hair shape or texture can feel daunting. Especially if your aging curly hair is also starting to gray because that can affect your hair’s texture as well.

If you don’t know where to start, don’t worry—Better Not Younger is here to help you fall in love with your curls again.

Poor diets or lack of sun can leave us with wispy hair, dry skin and brittle nails. Thankfully, vitamins and minerals are available in pills and delicious gummies to fortify our diets. Supplements formulated to target our hair, skin and nails are especially beneficial for those of us experiencing the effects of aging and menopause.

Because everyone’s underlying physiology is different, and our hair, skin and nails regenerate at varying rates, the timetable for results will differ for everyone. That said, it may take a year or more to see results, but improved moisture, thickness and elasticity are typically the first signs of a turnaround you'll see. 

Deep conditioning hair masks are great for conditioning, soothing and softening our hair. If you love what your deep conditioner does for your hair, you may consider using it overnight. But be mindful that many hair masks are not formulated to use as overnight deep conditioners.

Some deep conditioners have ingredients that can weigh down your tresses, making them dull, limp or gummy if left on too long. However, lightweight masks can take overnight deep conditioning to the next level when used with a hot terry-cloth turban wrap.

Lashes are often considered a universal sign of beauty. They may be associated with higher levels of confidence, attractiveness and well-being. Most of us desire long, thick, dark lashes that make our eyes "pop." However, beyond aesthetics, lashes are a crucial part of your lid margin anatomy (the edge of your eyelids). 

Your lashes provide a barrier between your eye's internal and external environment and are extremely sensitive to threats and irritants. Additionally, they act as sensors to trigger a blink reflex when a foreign object gets close to your eye, preventing injury and safeguarding your eyes from particles. 

Knowing this, we don’t want to be without our lashes for long. So, how long does it take for them to grow back? About six weeks if there was no damage to your eyelid or follicle; longer if you pulled out your eyelash.

Menopause is a challenging life stage for nearly all women, but it doesn’t have to remain a challenge. Ann is clearly one of those women who has cracked the code on how to thrive in midlife. We asked Ann what her secrets are to being her best self every day.

Most women find that their body doesn’t respond the same way it used to, with many experiencing little to no sensations when being intimate with their partners. Dyspareunia (pain during intercourse) is one of the most common reasons women aren’t as interested in sex after menopause, affecting almost 50% of postmenopausal women.

The First 'Rule' of Menopause is We Don’t Talk About Menopause...There’s no shame in not knowing what to expect when you hit menopause - even if you’re already there - because today’s society has made the topic taboo. But it doesn’t have to be. Break All The Rules About Menopause Now >

Women’s health care is more than contraception, pregnancy, Pap smears, menopause, or breast cancer. It’s heart health and diabetes care. It’s sexual health. It’s addressing Alzheimer’s, stroke, and cancer risk, and addressing mental health issues like depression and anxiety (which affect more women than men). It’s improving care of women after cancer. It’s helping women understand the importance of healthy lifestyle, diet, exercise, and weight management and their impact on future disease risk and empowering them to take steps to prioritize their own health habits as they age. It’s helping empower women to use their voice to speak up and actively engage in their own health care.

Every woman will go through the natural biological process of menopause. This stage in our lives is marked by fluctuating hormone levels and the end of menstrual periods. It is often accompanied by other side effects, including hot flashes, insomnia, mood swings, and maybe the worst one for many women — hair loss!

During our reproductive years, estrogen exists in our bodies at much higher levels. Our estrogen levels taper off throughout perimenopause and into menopause, causing dry skin, shrunken follicles, and tresses that seem to stop growing no matter what we do. Research has shown that estrogen can significantly impact skin physiology, including the sebaceous gland and hair follicle. Notably, aging effects can be delayed considerably by administering estrogen. This seems to indicate that estrogen helps hair growth. However, too much estrogen may hinder hair growth.

On average, women reach menopause at 51, and the years leading up to this milestone are known as perimenopause. Hormonal imbalances and other natural processes that we experience during perimenopause trigger a multitude of changes in our bodies: metabolism grows sluggish, wrinkles deepen, and our hair thins, dries up, and falls out!