EXCLUSIVE: Menopause Solutions Company Alloy Is Doubling Down on Skin Care With Estrogen-based Products
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.
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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.
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