Menopause Skin: What Changed in Mine
Menopause skin arrived for me the way menopause did: from one day to the next. My skin went tighter, heavier and duller, and as always my chin sounded the alarm first. As oestrogen falls, skin holds less moisture and loses collagen quickly, so it asks for more nourishment and gentler handling, not a fight. This is what changed in mine, what the science says, and what I do now.
I love Jimmy Carr. He's my superhero realist with a big bite. When I first watched his take on the stages of a woman's life, I knew I was in for a big punch of humorous enlightenment. Comedy and menopause usually means a hot flush joke at a woman's expense. It's never that with Jimmy.
He called menopause a wonderful thing. His point was that we only ever celebrate the maiden. There are three stages in a woman's life: the maiden, out in the world finding her career; the mother; and the crone. A very poorly chosen name, he admits, for the woman who has come through menopause and gives back.
He asks the audience whether they've ever found themselves in tears in a public place. Out of nowhere, a woman who has been through menopause will appear with a cup of tea, a whole lot of support and a "you'll be alright". He calls these women the bedrock of our society. I absolutely loved it.
I get that I'm in my crone era. No, I won't embrace the label, but I will embrace the state of being it defines. Because, in all honesty, this has been the easiest era of my life to find the space to connect with who I really am. My skin, well, that wasn't so simple. As usual, it had a few things to say.
What is menopause face, and how does skin change?
Entering a state of menopause was the most astounding thing. One day I was going about daily life, and the next I felt like I was burning up, on fire. More importantly, my temper escalated exponentially.
Then came my skin. It got tighter and it felt heavier, not as light as I'd always known it. There was a dullness to it that honestly challenged me.
"Menopause face" is the name now given to these changes. I'm not a fan of the term; it sounds a lot like a sulky face. As oestrogen falls, skin tends to get drier, thinner and less firm, and the shift can feel sudden. It's common, too: in a review of menopause and the skin, every woman surveyed at a menopause clinic had at least one skin change, yet almost half had never mentioned it to their doctor.
Where HRT fits in my story
Search "menopause face" and HRT comes up everywhere, so let me be honest about mine. I've always been against taking anything that isn't absolutely necessary. Antibiotics are essential when you really need them, not for a snivel. If you'd told me I'd one day use a hormone cream, I'd have laughed you off.
In Nieu-Bethesda, I got chatting to the organiser of KAMERS/Makers, South Africa's favourite artisan 'up'-market. We were both feeling extra exasperated with our hot flushes: how they are not a private summer, and how challenging they can be. She said bio-identical hormones were her absolute solution. After one hot flush too many, and a temper I genuinely thought could do some serious damage, I charged off to my gynae.
I now use a bio-identical hormone cream, on prescription. I'll admit I'd bought into the idea that bio-identical meant something gentler than HRT. It doesn't. Medically, it's still hormone therapy, and "bio-identical" describes the molecule, not how mild it is. Clever marketing making something sound less serious than it is happens to be one of my biggest pet peeves, and I still fell for it. It's a lesson life keeps teaching me: never say never.
It didn't change my skin much, and I still heat up, even with it. Hormone therapy is a personal choice, and one to make with your own doctor. What I can speak to is what happened to my skin, and what I changed.
Does menopause cause dry skin?
Yes, and for me it was the biggest change by far. Oestrogen plays a part in how well skin holds on to water, so as it falls, more moisture escapes through the skin barrier. A review of the research on menopause and the skin links oestrogen to exactly this water loss.
I've always had one sensitive spot. Mine is my chin. It's my canary in the coal mine, and in menopause it went drier and more irritated than I'd ever known it.
My go-to is always more moisture and more nourishment: more serum, more balm, and more time spent pressing it in. Skipping my moisture, or rushing out the house without giving my face a little time, became a really bad idea. My canary went off, screeching.
If you're dealing with menopausal dry skin on your face, look at heat too. I've written about what hot water does to your skin barrier, and menopause has only made it more personal. These days my face, and most of the time my whole body, simply doesn't enjoy heat. A sauna is my private version of absolute hell, in every sense.
Why does skin itch during menopause?
Itchy skin is one of the most searched menopause skin questions, and it's usually the same story as dryness. With less oestrogen, skin makes less oil, the barrier gets leakier, and dry skin is far more likely to feel prickly and itchy.
What helps dry skin feel comfortable is the same gentle, consistent care: less heat, less stripping, and more nourishment that supports the skin's natural barrier.
An itch that keeps going, spreads, keeps you awake or comes with a rash is worth a visit to your GP or a dermatologist. Itching can have other causes too, so it needs a proper look.
What happens to collagen after menopause?
Collagen is the scaffolding that keeps skin firm, and oestrogen helps keep it topped up. The same review of menopause and the skin found that nearly a third of skin collagen goes in the first five years after menopause. That loss tracks the years since menopause more closely than your actual age.
I'm not a believer in skincare that claims to put collagen back. I've never found a product that does. I've written about whether collagen supplements really work, including what I noticed in my own hair. What I can do for my skin is stop making things harder for it now that it's thinner and drier.
Why gentle beats harsh
Thinner skin won't appreciate aggressive scrubbing or acids every other day. I don't exfoliate at all now, not that I ever really have. What has been a wonder for me is that the dullness I noticed at the start has shifted since I started using PS Serum every night.
If you do want something gentle, this is where raw fermented pawpaw (also known as papaya, one and the same) comes in. The papain enzyme in pawpaw gently loosens dead skin cells, without harsh acids or scrubbing. It's in AYA Balm, SOS Serum and our Cleansing Balm. I've written about fermentation skincare benefits and pawpaw (papaya) benefits for skin if you want the science.
How should you care for menopause skin?
Mine got simpler and gentler, with more nourishment and less heat. This is what I actually do.
At night
AYA PS Serum goes on slightly damp skin, so I can spend time pressing it in rather than rubbing. I'm also playing with a night balm in the AYA room. It's still a work in progress, but a good night balm is where I'm heading, because for my skin now it feels essential.
In the morning
AYA SOS Serum is my daytime serum. That's where I find it works best for me.
What I stopped doing
Turning my face into a hot shower. My face doesn't enjoy it, so I just keep everything very gentle.
Where cold water comes in
When I'm on the edge of heating up, which still happens even with the hormone cream, an ice plunge or a cold swim is a gift from the heavens in every single way. It de-escalates any irrational rage, cools me down so I feel human, and absolutely restores the wellbeing of my skin too.
These days it's more ice baths than sea swims. The salt can be irritating, and when it is, my canary shouts like a hyena.
What I'd tell a woman just starting perimenopause
It's real. It's not a private summer, it's a burning inferno. And there's nothing charming about it. We don't have to dress our discomfort up as something pretty, or glorify it to make other people comfortable. Watch what you put on your skin, respect what you put in your body, because it all makes a difference. And choose the best path for you.
What I won't tell you is that any of this needs reversing. I hate the term anti-ageing, and the way it makes women believe the ageing process needs to be reversed, instead of embraced and revered. I've written about why I stopped caring about anti-ageing at 50, and about ageing gracefully, and occasionally badly.
My skin is definitely not as light and easy as it was in my forties. I'm learning to love it as it is, right now. Belinda in Fleabag said it best over a martini: after years of pain built in, menopause arrives, and it's the moment you're finally free. Menopause is definitely setting me free.
If your menopause skin is asking for more right now, start small. A rice-grain of AYA Balm, our raw fermented pawpaw balm, on whatever your own canary is: chin, lips, the corners of your mouth.
