This post is sponsored by Revela but all of the opinions within are those of The The Everymom editorial board.
"The “elder” Millennials—those of us who are part of the massive generation of 80s and 90s kids—are starting to turn 40. Marketers know this—that’s why they’re selling Polly Pockets at Target, streaming Full House remakes on Netflix, and Top Gun: Maverick is killing it at the box office. If you’re among this group, 40 doesn’t necessarily feel old. But things certainly start to feel different as you move into your fourth decade.
Social media is full of memes for 40-somethings about back pain, gardening, and remembering times when we used to be cool. But what about the things we don’t talk about as much? Like perimenopause and weird health issues? Or even the increased wisdom and confidence that comes from life experience gained over four decades? Here, we wanted to share five things about turning 40 that nobody talks about—but should!
1. Your Skin and Hair Changes
It’s no secret that fine lines and wrinkles start to mark our faces as we get older. And aren’t smile lines one of the cruelest ironies of aging? Are we to remove reminders of joy literally etched into our skin with Botox and fillers? I’m still deciding, but I have upped my use of SPF and skincare products. I’ve also noticed more and more springy strands of gray hair popping up, but one thing I hadn’t anticipated as I neared 40 was gaining more hairs on my chin while losing hair on my head. I recently started to notice areas around my hairline that were (they can’t be, can they?) receding.
I recalled how a hairdresser once told me to mix up the side of my hair part because she had older female clients who’d kept the same hairstyle all their lives and were starting to bald where they’d parted their hair. I’d taken the advice to heart and mixed up my part. But after checking back in pictures, sure enough, my forehead and hairline definitely look different than a few years back. And unlike my chin hairs, regrowing hair on my head is not something I can easily address by carrying tweezers in my handbag.
Combatting Hair Loss as We Age
While hair loss tends to be talked about a lot as a men’s aging issue, women can experience hair loss too—from mothers experiencing postpartum hair loss, to the hair thinning that comes with aging, to people experiencing traction alopecia (hair loss along the hairline from wearing tight hairstyles) usually around temples. Fortunately, there are treatments, like Revela’s Hair Revival Serum.
What makes the Hair Revival Serum different from other hair loss alternatives is that the lead ingredient, ProCelinyl, works directly at the problem by absorbing into your hair follicles and basically telling dormant follicles “it’s time to wake up.” As a company, Revela is comprised of Harvard scientists that use AI to search for unique and completely new molecules that hit at the root of the hair loss problem. After sifting through millions of compounds, the Revela team has been able to discover completely new ingredients that have been clinically tested to safely and effectively stimulate the actual hair follicle site and regenerate hair growth.
Revela
A truly remarkable product to combat hair loss for both men and women, this Hair Revival Serum targets the dormant hair follicles and gives them a "wake up call" to support thicker and fuller hair. It's lightweight, easy to incorporate into your beauty routine, and free of toxins and harmful side effects.
Source: Kathy Sisson
Using Revela Hair Revival Serum
With a once-daily treatment—meaning application to your scalp in an easy-to-use dropper—most people see results in 6-8 weeks. I’m on my fifth week and love how lightweight the Revela treatment serum is—I tend to use it right before bed as part of my nighttime routine (my mornings are too chaotic getting little ones ready for the day). But on the few days when I’ve forgotten my nighttime application, I just use it in the morning and style my hair as I normally would.
Source: Kathy Sisson
You can’t tell you have the serum on at all because there is no odor, and it absorbs into your scalp with some light massaging. I also love that it’s not a forever daily product—once you get results you’re happy with (usually after three months), you can pull back your application to a few times per week. I’ve been taking better care of my skin as I get older, so adding care for my hair has been an easy addition to my routine.
Revela
A truly remarkable product to combat hair loss for both men and women, this Hair Revival Serum targets the dormant hair follicles and gives them a "wake up call" to support thicker and fuller hair. It's lightweight, easy to incorporate into your beauty routine, and free of toxins and harmful side effects.
Source: Kathy Sisson
2. Our Periods Get Weird… Again
Women’s bodies go through so much, don’t they? From puberty to pregnancy to postpartum. Then around 40, perimenopause symptoms may begin, and we have to get used to changing cycles all over again.
What exactly is perimenopause? It literally means “around menopause.” Much like getting used to our cycle when we started our periods all those years ago, things can get unpredictable in our 40s. For women with regular cycles, periods may come earlier or later or perhaps not at all for months. When periods do occur, the amount of flow also varies from on-and-off spotting to a sudden heavy flow. In your 40s, you might want to keep period products always on hand, just like you did as a teen keeping pads or tampons in your backpack. And be sure to track any changes to discuss with your OB-GYN.
3. But Sex Is Surprisingly Better Than Ever
Some body changes are more welcomed than others. I’ll never forget what a friend, and mom of two toddlers, said during a girls’ getaway a few years back, “I can’t wait to be 40, it means I’ll finally start having good sex again.”
Often, we hear that men hit their sexual peak in their 20s and women much later. Research backs it up. According to a 2012 study published in the American Journal of Medicine, sexual satisfaction increases as women age. Another study showed that women between 27 and 45 had more frequent and more intense sexual fantasies than younger or older women. Whether it’s having a longtime partner you trust, feeling more comfortable with pleasure, or owning your body again after babies, turning 40 is certainly not the beginning of the end of your sex life.
Source: Social Squares
4. We Know Who We Are, Inside and Out
Ahh, the wisdom that comes with aging. No longer are we the insecure teenagers or 20-somethings just trying to figure out friendships, relationships, and adult life. And after so many years in our own skin, we finally feel comfortable in it.
That’s not to say we never have self-doubt. But we care much less about what other people think. Maybe that looks like choosing clothes that make us feel comfortable and confident—rather than chasing the latest fad. Maybe it looks like setting boundaries at work for our mental health or finally chasing that long-lain dormant career dream. It might look like finding a deeper connection with ourselves and in our relationships through more thoughtful, honest conversation and listening to other perspectives. We acknowledge ourselves as a constant work in progress, but we’re happy with how far we’ve come.
5. It’s Easier to Stay Present
So much of our 20s and 30s may have been spent looking ahead to the next life milestone; career climbs, marriage, kids, buying a home, etc. If we’re lucky, life settles a bit around 40 and we can bask in it. Or, at the minimum, we can appreciate the little moments as they happen. For example, my babies are kids now, and sometimes I ache to feel their tiny bodies curled against my chest or resting on my hip. So when my 6-year-old crawls into my bed at 2 a.m., I wrap my arms around her while she’ll let me, rather than send her back to her room.
I now fully appreciate that bit of nostalgic wisdom from the 1980s movie Ferris Bueller: “Life moves pretty fast. If you don’t stop and look around once in a while, you could miss it.” As I move into my forties, I’m getting so much better at soaking life in.
This post was in partnership with Revela but all of the opinions within are those of The Everymom editorial board. We only recommend products we genuinely love.