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Midlife Beauty Report

Beauty Skin Menopause

Most read 2026 • 4 min read

I tried 7 fixes for crepey arms after menopause. Only 1 made my arms look like mine again.

I'm 55. Let me save you the $1,200 and the 2 years I wasted.

I've photographed weddings for 22 years. At my last one, I rolled up my sleeves to move a light stand. That night, my second shooter sent me her behind-the-scenes photos.

In every single one, the first thing I saw was my arms.

I'd always looked younger than my age. Then the skin on my arms went loose and crepey in about a month.

Now I checked the sleeve length before I bought anything.

So I did what you'd do.

What I triedCost

✕Crepe body cream$89

✕Retinol body serum$120

✕Dry brush + body oil$65

✕Personal trainer4 arm-toning sessions$299

✕Collagen powder4 months, in my coffee$180

✕Arm lift consultNever booked it$450

Total:$1,203

Same arms. Six failures. One winner.

Here's what I wish someone had told me at 52:

Denise Ryan

Portrait Photographer

1. I lost 30% of my collagen.
My arms showed it first.

The same woman's upper arm at 45, 50, 53 and 56: the skin turns crepey as collagen thins after menopause

📉 The steepest drop is the first 5 years. That's why it felt overnight.¹

1. I lost 30% of my collagen.
My arms showed it first.

Every woman I talk to says the same thing: "It happened overnight." Turns out we're not imagining it.

Estrogen is what tells your skin to keep making collagen. When it drops at menopause, your collagen drops right along with it.

Skin can lose up to 30% of its collagen in the first five years.¹

Collagen is what holds your skin up. Lose almost a third of it that fast and the skin on your arms has nothing left to hold on to. So it crinkles. And it hangs.

I even paid a trainer to tone them. My arms got stronger. The loose skin stayed. Muscle sits under your skin. It can't hold it up for you.

And it doesn't stop there. It keeps dropping about 2% a year after that.¹ So every month I waited, there was less to work with.

I didn't let myself go. My collagen fell off a cliff.

2. My $89 crepe cream
never stood a chance.

Day 1: a full $89 jar of crepe body cream. Day 60: the jar is empty and the arm looks the same

🧴 How many half-used body creams are in your bathroom drawer?

2. My $89 crepe cream
never stood a chance.

You know the routine. Lotion on after your shower. Your arms feel soft for about an hour. Then you reach up to wave at someone, and there it is again.

Here's what nobody tells you. Cream only works on the top layer of your skin. The crepe isn't up there. It's underneath, in the collagen layer menopause drained.

My $89 cream did exactly what it was made to do. It just couldn't reach the problem. That layer only gets fed from the inside, through your blood.

3. My collagen was pouring
into an open drain.

Most collagen drains away: a sink with an open drain, collagen pouring in and running straight out

🚰 The leak nobody prints on the label.

3. My collagen was pouring
into an open drain.

Here's what made me angry. I had tried collagen. It tasted like wet cardboard, and my arms didn't budge.

And here's what nobody told me: after menopause, you don't just make less collagen. You also break down the collagen you have, faster.

Picture a sponge in a sink with the drain wide open. Pour in all you want. It runs right back out.

Go grab your collagen and read the back of the label. Look for grape seed or quercetin. I'll wait.

Mine had neither. It just kept pouring more in. Most collagen does.

★★★★★

"I actually think it's better than collagen powder. I feel so much better since I've been using it!!!"

Ana · Verified buyer

4. So I found one that
plugs the drain.

Kleos bottle: fill with 5 collagen types and vitamin C, plug with grape seed and quercetin, hold with hyaluronic acid

🔁 Look at #2. That's the half your old collagen skipped.

4. So I found one that
plugs the drain.

That's when it finally clicked. I didn't just need more collagen. I needed to put it back and stop losing it, at the same time.

Kleos Deep Refill does both, plus one more thing, in 3 capsules a day:

Fill: 5 types of collagen, plus vitamin C, which your body needs to make its own.

Plug: grape seed and quercetin. They've been studied for slowing down the enzymes that break collagen down. That's the half my powder was missing.

Hold: hyaluronic acid. It holds water in your skin, so it stops feeling thin and tight.

No powder. No funny taste. You just swallow them.

5. My doctor called it hype.
She was half right.

A doctor's note reading 'Collagen = hype. It just gets digested.' with 'into pieces your skin uses' added in pink marker

🩺 Digested, yes. Wasted, no.

5. My doctor called it hype.
She was half right.

She told me collagen just gets digested, so it can't do anything. And she's right that it gets digested. Everything you eat does.

What she didn't mention is what it gets digested into. Collagen breaks down into tiny pieces you only get from collagen, and those pieces travel through your blood.²

Your skin picks them up and uses them two ways: as a nudge to start making collagen again, and as the raw material to make it with.

That's also why nothing happens overnight. The studies check skin at 8 to 12 weeks, not days. And when researchers looked at 113 trials together, they found real skin benefits.³

So yes, it gets digested. That's how it gets where it needs to go.

6. Week 7, my sister asked
what I was putting on my arms.

A smiling woman in a short-sleeve top waves goodbye at the airport, her arm raised and sleeve not pulled down

✨ No more pulling my sleeves down.

6. Week 7, my sister asked
what I was putting on my arms.

Week 3, my nails stopped peeling. That's when I stopped thinking it was all in my head.

Week 7, my sister asked what I was putting on my arms. Nothing. I was swallowing it.

Week 11, I waved goodbye to my grandson at the airport and didn't pull my sleeve down first. (I own 9 cardigans.)

Then I ran out for a month. By the end of it, I was reaching for a cardigan again.

I haven't missed a refill since.†

Weeks 3–4Nails first, then softer skin

Weeks 5–8Smoother-looking, and someone asks

Weeks 9–12Holding its shape†

Illustration of a 12-week timeline. Individual results vary.†

★★★★★

"My skin is softer and people been asking me what I been doing because it is working… it doesn't happen over night. I think it was maybe two months when I started to see the difference."

Julie · Verified buyer

7. 90 days to see a change.
Or every penny back.

Three Kleos bottles labelled days 1-30, 31-60 and 61-90, the third free, all covered by the 90-day money-back guarantee

🛡️ Most women quit at week 4. This covers you to day 90.

7. 90 days to see a change.
Or every penny back.

Most women I know give up on collagen around week 4. That's right before your skin catches up. I almost quit too.

Kleos gives you a full 90 days to see it for yourself. If your skin doesn't feel firmer and look smoother, just email them within 90 days and you get a full refund. No questions asked.

That's why I tell every friend to start with Buy 2, Get 1 Free. Three bottles last 90 days. That's exactly how long the guarantee runs, and about how long your skin needs.

15,000+ women have
already switched.

These aren't influencers. They're women like us, with a drawer full of half-used body creams and a tub of powder they gave up on. They just tried the one thing that does both halves.

They weren't easier to convince than you. They just tried it.

	Crepe cream	Collagen powder	Kleos
Reaches the layer that sags	✕	✓	✓
Refills collagen	✕	✓	✓
Plugs the drain	✕	✕	✓
No taste, no mixing	✓	✕	✓
Easy to take every day for 90 days	✓	✕	✓

★★★★★

"After a little while of taking it daily my skin was softer and no longer itchy, my hair was also a lot smoother. Love this product!!!"

Diana R. · Verified buyer

Buy 2, Get 1 Free

Bottle 1

+

Bottle 2

+

FREE

Bottle 3

I was skeptical too.
But with a 90-day money-back guarantee, the only thing I risked was another cardigan.

Try it risk-free →

Firmer-feeling, smoother-looking skin in 90 days, or your money back.

The questions I had before I tried it

I'm years past menopause. Is it too late?

Not at all. I was four years past it when I started. In the research, results actually showed up most in women after menopause.³ The drain opened. It's not too late to plug it.

I already tried collagen and nothing happened. Why would this be different?

Same here. I did four months of powder. Turns out most collagen only fills. After menopause your body also breaks collagen down faster, so it pours right back out. Kleos fills and plugs the drain at the same time.

How long before I notice anything?

My nails were first, around week 3. My arms took longer, about 8 to 12 weeks, which is when the studies check too. That's why I'd start with three bottles.†

Will it work on my arms, or just my face?

That's the best part of a capsule. A cream only works where you rub it. Kleos feeds your skin from the inside, so it gets to all of it. My arms were the reason I started.

What if it doesn't work for me?

Just email them within 90 days and you get a full refund. No questions asked.

Kleos™ Deep Refill Collagen, for skin that went crepey overnight.

Look like me again →

Advertisement. This page is an advertisement for Kleos™ Deep Refill Collagen. It is not a news article or an independent review.

Denise Ryan is a composite character based on real Kleos customer reviews. Her name, story and photo are illustrative. All images on this page are illustrations and do not show actual customer results. Quoted reviews are from verified Kleos buyers and have been shortened for length.

† Individual results vary. The timeline shown is based on customer reports and is not a guarantee of results.

These statements have not been evaluated by the Food and Drug Administration. This product is not intended to diagnose, treat, cure or prevent any disease. Consult your doctor before use if you are pregnant, nursing, taking medication or have a medical condition.

90-day money-back guarantee: see our Refund Policy for details.

¹ Brincat et al., Obstet Gynecol, 1987. ² Iwai et al., J Agric Food Chem, 2005. ³ Anglia Ruskin umbrella review (16 systematic reviews, 113 trials), ASJ Open Forum, 2026.

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Look like me again →

I tried 7 fixes for crepey arms after menopause. Only 1 made my arms look like mine again.

1. I lost 30% of my collagen. My arms showed it first.

1. I lost 30% of my collagen. My arms showed it first.

2. My $89 crepe cream never stood a chance.

2. My $89 crepe cream never stood a chance.

3. My collagen was pouring into an open drain.

3. My collagen was pouring into an open drain.

4. So I found one that plugs the drain.

4. So I found one that plugs the drain.

5. My doctor called it hype. She was half right.

5. My doctor called it hype. She was half right.

6. Week 7, my sister asked what I was putting on my arms.

6. Week 7, my sister asked what I was putting on my arms.

7. 90 days to see a change. Or every penny back.

7. 90 days to see a change. Or every penny back.

15,000+ women have already switched.

The questions I had before I tried it

1. I lost 30% of my collagen.
My arms showed it first.

1. I lost 30% of my collagen.
My arms showed it first.

2. My $89 crepe cream
never stood a chance.

2. My $89 crepe cream
never stood a chance.

3. My collagen was pouring
into an open drain.

3. My collagen was pouring
into an open drain.

4. So I found one that
plugs the drain.

4. So I found one that
plugs the drain.

5. My doctor called it hype.
She was half right.

5. My doctor called it hype.
She was half right.

6. Week 7, my sister asked
what I was putting on my arms.

6. Week 7, my sister asked
what I was putting on my arms.

7. 90 days to see a change.
Or every penny back.

7. 90 days to see a change.
Or every penny back.

15,000+ women have
already switched.