Here at Become, we’ve fused innovative fabric technology with the latest in fashion to create a range of menopause clothing. And we’re proud to be offering a new way for women to manage debilitating menopausal symptoms, from perimenopause through to postmenopause, that really can make their lives easier. We know that some of our claims can seem too good to be true. Helping with hot flushes? Yes. Keeping night sweats at bay? Definitely. But how?

As with any new business, you’re sure to have lots of questions about our products, how exactly they work and what Become’s business mission is. So here, we’ve answered a few of the most common queries from our customers to dispel some of the misapprehension surrounding Become.

Tell me how Become menopause clothing works?
We’ve carefully researched how the body reacts to a hot flush or night sweat to identify how our hi-tech anti-flush clothing can work in four important ways to ease symptoms:

• Cooling the skin
• Wicking moisture
• Releasing heat back onto the body (when post-flush chill sets in)
• Reducing odour

Our clothing essentially transfers heat and moisture away from the body, then cleverly stores the heat to keep you warm when you feel chilly. Find out more about how it works here.

These claims sound too good to be true...
We do understand that there will be some scepticism about whether Become's Anti-Flush Technology™ will really work for everyone. Based on our extensive consumer trials, it has proven to reduce the effect of hot flushes for 87% of women. Many more tests were undertaken with the help of two of the world’s leading apparel research centres (see below). As well as positive results from all of the ladies who tested our clothes, we have had amazing feedback from our customers. If you check out our page on Trustpilot, we’re proud to have over 380 reviews averaging 7.8/10. There has also been a lot of positive feedback from our customers within The Chilled Menopause – our hugely popular Facebook Group – so do have a read for yourself. 

They’re made using nylon. Can’t that make sweating even worse?
We know that synthetic fibres haven’t always had a great reputation for helping us to stay cool, but innovations in fabric technology mean that the new and pioneering nylons being created by teams such as ours are very different to the traditional ones!

Our specially developed anti-flush fabric is lightweight, breathable and cool against your skin. It’s made with a flat thread and knitted on a cross section to produce a bigger surface area to transfer warmth away from the body. Tiny channels in the material drive heat away, thereby promoting cooling. The fabric also benefits from two innovative coatings. The first works in much the same way as your skin. As your body heat begins to rise, it works hard to bring your temperature down by evaporating moisture away from the body. The second absorbs and stores the heat from the surface of the skin during a hot flush or night sweat, then releases it back during the chill that follows. The material also controls odour. Traditionally used for extreme sportswear, an anti-microbial finish creates a barrier between the bacteria and the fabric, so immobilising the odour source and locking it in. There is just no way that a cotton or a natural fibre could work as hard as our anti-flush fabric.  

Did you test your clothes on menopausal women?
We have recently carried out a trial in collaboration with the University of Leicester, which showed that our clothing plays a big part in reducing the severity and frequency of hot flushes. Full findings from the study will be released shortly. Testing has also been carried out by the Hohenstein Institute (a world-leading research centre in the field of clothing and humidity management) and Inside Climate (a consulting and testing company focused on the challenges of body heat and perspiration). As well as this, our products have been put through their paces by over 1,000 women from all walks of life in Sri Lanka, the UK and the USA, including mothers and grandmothers, doctors, businesswomen and teachers to name but a few.

Out of the last 1,000 vests sold, only around 5% have been returned due to them not easing a customer’s symptoms, which we thinks speaks for itself. But we want to continue to use feedback on our products both to inform us and help us formulate an ongoing programme of innovation and insight across 2019 and beyond.

But why can't I just wear sportswear to control a hot flush?
You might well ask, "But what about all the other clothing brands that have wicking capabilities?” Sportswear, however, is not specifically designed to manage hot flush perspiration. The heat and sweat expelled during a hot flush are different to a workout sweat. During a hot flush, a woman might expel a huge amount of heat and sweat in a focused area for a very short period of time (on average, five to seven minutes), whereas a normal workout sweat could last for 30 minutes and the heat would be more evenly distributed. So, it was important to create our clothing with this in mind, to make sure it works hard in all the right areas.

Can I wear the clothes to deal with hot flushes and sweats during illness or surgery? Or those occuring due to prescribed drugs? And what about pregnancy?

The fabric we make our clothes from works by drawing and storing heat from the surface of the skin during a hot flush or night sweat and then releasing the heat back onto the skin during the chill that normally follows. We do know that they have worked for many people who suffer flushes and sweats due to surgery (including surgical menopause, or ‘surmeno’), illness or certain prescribed drugs. Our vests are stretchy and do go up to larger sizes, so could easily be used to minimise sweating and flushes during pregnancy too.

Are your products made by men?
Become has come on a long journey since it was created by our truly inspirational Founder, Gayani Abeyasinghe. But female health should be an area of interest for everyone, everywhere, male or female, to bring the best solutions to the market. Female innovators are the driving force behind our product development, from fabric formulation and design, but the Become team is made up of both women and men, as you can see from our Meet the Team page. It’s worth noting, however, that our parent company MAS is a market-leading apparel manufacturer made up of a 70% female workforce, which takes its social and ethical responsibilities very seriously, promoting many initiatives such as the Lives Made Better programme.

But what if it doesn’t work for me?
Still not convinced? We’re so confident our anti-flush clothing will work, we also offer a no-quibble 60-day money-back guarantee on most of our items* if they don’t help you, plus free UK delivery, to ensure you are able to test them for yourself risk free. There really is nothing to lose. We’re very keen to receive feedback from our customers, good or bad, so if you’d like to contact us to let us know your thoughts, please do so at hello@webecome.co.uk.

And Become's plans for the future?
We know that our products are having a positive impact on the lives of many women of all ages, which was our intention right from the start when we launched Become. So we’re really keen to expand our range and will be bringing lots of new products to market in 2019 – watch this space!

But we're also excited to continue to transform how women today talk about, think about and take on their menopause. We’ve always refused to submit to stereotypes and we’re very passionate about breaking down traditional barriers and taboos. As a business, we pledge to keep pushing boundaries, kickstarting conversations, bringing women together and celebrating all the amazing menopausal ladies out there who don’t let hot flushes and night sweats stand in their way.

And we look forward to you joining us on this journey!

Team Become

*Excluding knickers. UK orders only.