Menopause marks a time of great change for your entire body. The skin is your body’s largest organ and often shows the most visible reflection of your body’s new hormonal normal. As collagen and moisture levels drop, almost everyone will begin to see more pronounced signs of aging. The key to aging gracefully is to support your skin during these changes so it stays healthy, hydrated and radiant.
How Hormones Affect Skin
During menopause, your body slows its production of estrogen and progesterone. These hormones affect the skin in different ways. Estrogen stimulates collagen, elastin, and hyaluronic acid production that keeps skin plump and firm. Progesterone stimulates the skin’s oil (sebum) production, which keeps skin moisturized.
According to the American Academy of Dermatology, lower estrogen levels cause collagen to drop by 30 percent within the first 5 years of menopause and continue to fall by 2 percent a year for the next 20 years or so. Collagen is what gives your skin its structure, so this dramatic drop in collagen production causes many of the most visible signs of aging that appear during menopause.
In addition, lower estrogen levels mean your skin is producing less hyaluronic acid, which regulates skin hydration. Meanwhile, lower oil production due to falling progesterone means your skin won’t be as good at locking in the hydration that remains.Changes in Skin During Menopause
These changes in the way your skin functions can show up on your skin as:- Skin that appears saggy or deflated
- Fine lines, wrinkles, and crepiness
- Enlarged pores and uneven skin texture
- Dryness and flaking skin
- Redness and irritation
- Acne as skin adjusts to your body’s new hormonal balance
Can You Prevent Skin Changes During Menopause?
While some signs of aging are inevitable, the right skincare formulas can help your skin stay healthy, hydrated, and calm through these hormonal changes. During menopause, your skincare routine should be filled with nourishing ingredients aimed at replacing lost hydration, moisture, and collagen while supporting your skin’s protective moisture barrier.
Key ingredients to look for include:Hyaluronic Acid: This moisture magnet pulls water from the environment and binds it to collagen so it’s trapped within the skin, keeping it plump and hydrated.
Ceramides: These healthy fats support our moisture barrier to lock in hydration while keeping skin supple.
Retinoids: Vitamin A derivatives that speed cell turnover while boosting collagen production.
Ectoin: A protective, water-binding molecule that reduces inflammation, boosts hydration, and improves elasticity.
Peptides: Amino acids that signal your skin to increase collagen production, leading to a healthier skin barrier and plumper, bouncier appearance.
Vitamin C: A powerful antioxidant that can fight free radicals, visibly brighten, reduce the appearance of hyperpigmentation, and boost the skin’s firmness by jumpstarting collagen production.
A Layered Skincare Routine for Menopausal Skin
This menopausal skincare routine is bursting with clinically proven ingredients to support your skin during this time of hormonal change. Follow this routine for healthy, smooth, hydrated skin.Step One: Wash With a Hydrating Cleanser
The best skincare routine during menopause starts with a cleanser that removes dirt and makeup without damaging the skin’s moisture barrier or stripping it of its natural oils. Our Antioxidant Cleansing Oil effortlessly dissolves impurities and makeup while adding a burst of squalane-fueled hydration. Meanwhile, nourishing antioxidants target stress and signs of aging, leaving the skin healthy and radiant.
Massage our Antioxidant Cleansing Oil into a dry face, then rinse with warm water to transform it into a silky, luxurious milky cleanser. Pat with a towel until your skin is almost dry, then follow with step two. Shop Antioxidant Cleansing OilStep Two: Use A Toner With Active, Hydrating Ingredients
When we think of toners, we often envision the harsh astringents we used to target blemishes in our teens. But toner is an essential step that balances your skin’s pH and prepares it to receive the active ingredients in your skincare routineOur Hyaluronic Acid Facial Mist uses two types of hyaluronic acid to visibly plump and support hydration. We recommend spritzing it onto still-damp skin after cleansing. This enables the hyaluronic acid to bond with those water molecules and draw them into the skin, improving hydration and amplifying the toner’s plumping effect.
Shop Hyaluronic Acid Facial MistStep Three: Nourish Your Delicate Undereye Area
The skin beneath our eyes is naturally thinner than on the rest of our faces. It’s also the first place we’re likely to see the effects of age-related dehydration, which often shows up as crepiness and sagging.Smooth and visibly lift undereye skin with our Marine Algae Eye Cream. Our award-winning formula visibly lifts on the first application thanks to paracress extract, a medicinal floral extract proven to lift and firm. Meanwhile, peptides signal the skin to produce more collagen, working together with marine algae to visibly improve fine lines and wrinkles and give skin a healthier, bouncier appearance.
Shop Marine Algae Eye CreamStep Four: Target Signs of Aging with Dermatologist-Approved Actives
A targeted treatment serum containing science-supported active ingredients is essential when assembling a menopausal skincare routine. Build your regimen around the gold standard of anti-aging ingredients, retinol. This dermatologist-beloved ingredient speeds cell turnover to increase collagen production and reduce the appearance of fine lines, wrinkles, and dark spots. Unfortunately, more rapid cell turnover can sometimes cause irritation if you don’t have the right formula.Our Retinol Night Serum uses two kinds of encapsulated retinoids to avoid irritation while delivering the most powerful retinoids you can get without a prescription. These proven-effective retinoid actives are gently released into your skin over the course of 8 hours alongside nourishing antioxidants and hydrating sugarcane-derived squalane. The result: all the skin-smoothing, dark-spot-improving benefits of retinoids with a boost of squalane-powered hydration.
During your nighttime routine, massage our Retinol Night Serum into completely dry skin and be sure to use sunscreen the next day.Shop Retinol Night SerumIn the morning, follow your toner with a few drops of our Copper Peptide Rapid Plumping Serum. Fans of our bestselling serum call it “nature’s Botox” for its ability to instantly plump and quench thanks in part to the water-binding properties of ectoin. We’ve paired this powerful, protective hydrator with our rapid plumping complex to deliver instant, long-lasting hydration alongside a dramatic improvement in elasticity thanks to copper peptides. Our groundbreaking super ingredient, squalane delivers skin-plumping, elasticity-boosting ingredients 40x deeper for increased and lasting efficacy.
Shop Copper Peptide Rapid Plumping SerumStep Five: Deeply Moisturize
Moisturizer provides deep hydration and nourishment to the upper layers of skin while shielding it from environmental stressors. The best moisturizers for menopausal skin are rich in nourishing ingredients like ceramides and fatty acids. These moisturizing ingredients help compensate for your skin’s decreasing oil production and protect against transdermal water loss.
Our Omega Repair Cream is rich in omega fatty acids and ceramides—both of which are found naturally found in your skin’s moisture barrier. These ingredients work together with acai berry sterols to replenish your skin’s barrier. Our formula also includes hyaluronic acid to pull water into the skin, providing deep hydration while visibly plumping fine lines and wrinkles.
Shop Omega Repair CreamPeople with dry and menopausal skin are also especially vulnerable to overnight water loss, as the skin’s permeability increases overnight due to additional blood flow naturally supplied by the body. Protect your skin from dehydration by strengthening its barrier and helping to repair daytime damage with our most intensive renewal cream, Ectoin Overnight Rescue.
Clinically-proven stress-busting ectoin binds with moisture and seals it into skin, pairing with squalane to leave the skin feeling stronger and more supple after a single overnight treatment. Sleep-promoting magnesium and peptides help calm stress-inducing neurotransmitters to optimize skin’s capacity for repair. You’ll awaken to deeply hydrated, less sensitive skin that’s smoother with fewer fine linesShop Ectoin Overnight RescueStep Six: Lock In Active Ingredients
Pairing your moisturizer with non-comedogenic facial oil (such as our sugarcane-derived squalane) ensures that your skin stays hydrated and nourished all day long. This fortifies the moisture barrier, helping ward off the damaging effects of environmental stressors such as bacteria and pollution.
Our multi-award-winning Vitamin C Rose Oil is renowned for its powerful ability to instantly brighten while firming the skin. Our uniquely stable, oil-soluble vitamin C deeply nourishes and provides antioxidant support to visibly improve skin elasticity and boost radiance while chios crystal oil adds bounce. Meanwhile, our superhero squalane provides crucial moisture while driving actives deeper into the skin, making them work harder.
Shop Vitamin C Rose Oil 
