Menopause Face: What Changes in Your Skin and What Helps

Menopause face is the drier, thinner, less elastic skin that follows falling estrogen. Gentler cleansing, richer moisture and daily SPF help it look its best.

By the Radiant editorial team9 min readUpdated

Woman with silver hair pressing a rich face cream into her cheek, holding an open unbranded jar

Key takeaways

  • Menopause face describes the drier, thinner, less elastic skin that follows the drop in estrogen around menopause.
  • Skin collagen may fall by up to 30% in the first five years after menopause, then keeps declining more slowly.
  • Skincare can ease dryness and soften the look of fine lines, but it cannot replace lost estrogen or collagen.
  • A gentle routine works best: creamy cleanser, hydrating moisturizer, daily sunscreen, a slow retinoid and a richer night cream.
  • Hormone therapy is not prescribed for skin alone; talk to your doctor about it and about any sudden or painful skin change.
In this guide

Menopause face is the everyday name for how facial skin changes as estrogen falls: it turns drier, thinner and less elastic, and it recovers more slowly. You cannot stop that shift, but a richer, gentler menopause skin care routine helps skin look and feel its best.

The routine centers on a fragrance-free moisturizer such as our BerryPeptide Plumping Moisturizer peptide moisturizer, plus a few minutes with our GlowLift™ Infinity face sculpting device.

What is menopause face?

Menopause face is an informal term for the facial skin changes that follow the drop in estrogen: more dryness, thinner and less elastic skin, more visible fine lines and a softer-looking jawline. It describes a normal transition, not a diagnosis, and each woman's skin moves through it at its own pace.

You reach menopause after 12 months without a period, usually between 45 and 55, after a perimenopause that often begins in your 40s and lasts several years (MedlinePlus, NIH). Many women notice the first skin changes then.

Sun, genetics, smoking and ordinary aging add to the hormonal shift, so two women of the same age can look very different.

What happens to your skin during menopause?

During menopause, skin loses collagen faster, gets thinner, holds less moisture and springs back less readily. Clinic studies measured collagen and thickness falling about 1–2% a year, fastest in the first five years. Dryness, sensitivity and slower recovery often follow.

Collagen, thickness and elasticity

In a 1987 clinic study, postmenopausal women's skin collagen, thickness and bone density all fell by 1–2% a year, in step with one another (Brincat et al., 1987). A later review put collagen loss at "as much as 30% in the first five years after menopause" and elasticity loss at about 1.5% a year in early postmenopause (Thornton, 2013).

These are small, decades-old clinic measurements, so read them as direction, not precise rates. Jowls have their own causes, covered in our guide on how to get rid of jowls at home.

Dryness and the skin barrier

In a US national survey of 3,875 postmenopausal women examined by dermatology residents, 36.2% had dry skin (Dunn et al., 1997).

Estrogen loss is linked with a weaker barrier (Lephart & Naftolin, 2021), and a 2025 expert panel noted that falling testosterone also reduces sebum, the skin's own oil (Fabi et al., 2026).

Which menopause skin changes can skincare help?

Skincare can help the surface signs of menopausal skin: dryness, roughness, dullness and the look of fine lines. It cannot replace lost estrogen or rebuild the collagen that hormones help regulate. The table matches each common change to what a routine can realistically do.

Change What at-home care can do What it cannot do
Dryness and tightness Humectants and richer creams help skin hold water: a 20% glycerin cream beat its placebo for hydration in 10 days (17 volunteers) (Lodén & Wessman, 2001) Restart oil glands
Thinner, less elastic skin A retinoid helps the look of fine wrinkling: 0.4% retinol beat its vehicle after 24 weeks (36 adults, mean age 87) (Kafi et al., 2007) Replace lost collagen
Softer-looking contour Facial muscle work: EMS raised cheek-muscle thickness 18.6% in a 12-week trial of 108 women (Kavanagh et al., 2012) Reverse fat or bone changes
Fine lines and dullness Daily sunscreen, steady hydration and a slow retinoid help skin look smoother Erase set-in lines
Sensitivity and slower recovery Fewer products, fragrance-free formulas and patch testing Diagnose rosacea or dermatitis

These are ingredient and technique studies, not tests of our products, and none of them enrolled only menopausal women. Individual results vary.

How should your skin care change after menopause?

After menopause, most skin does best with fewer, gentler products and more moisture: a creamy cleanser, a richer night cream, a slow retinoid, daily sunscreen and a patch test for anything new. The goal is a comfortable skin barrier first, then targeted care for lines and firmness.

If your skin feels tight, cleanse once a day and just rinse in the morning. Scrubs, strong acids and heavy fragrance can sting a thinner barrier. Sun protection matters more as skin thins; see our guide to SPF and wrinkles.

Two moisturizers for menopausal skin

For day and night, BerryPeptide Plumping Moisturizer is a fragrance-free peptide moisturizer with a copper peptide complex and glycerin. It hydrates for a plumper, smoother look and sits well under sunscreen.

For very dry evenings, Dewy Renewal Tallow Cream, our grass-fed tallow face cream, is a water-free blend of tallow, jojoba and olive oils. Tallow's triglycerides and fatty acids belong to the lipid class that makes up 57.5% of human sebum, though they are not identical molecules (Picardo et al., 2009).

It is scented with orange and bergamot essential oils: patch test on the inner arm for 48 hours first.

What does a menopause skin care routine look like?

A menopause skin care routine takes about ten minutes a day. Mornings are a gentle cleanse, a hydrating moisturizer and sunscreen, while evenings add a retinoid on some nights, a richer cream and a short sculpting ritual. Consistency over months matters more than any single product.

  1. Morning: cleanse gently. Rinse with lukewarm water, or use a creamy cleanser after a rich night cream. Leave skin slightly damp.
  2. Morning: moisturize, then protect. Press a dime-sized amount of BerryPeptide Plumping Moisturizer over face and neck, let it settle for a minute, then apply broad-spectrum sunscreen.
  3. Evening: a retinoid, two or three nights a week. Smooth a pea-sized amount onto clean, dry skin. If it stings, buffer it with moisturizer first or skip a night.
  4. Evening: seal with a richer cream. Press a pea-sized amount of Dewy Renewal Tallow Cream into slightly damp skin, after the retinoid has absorbed on retinoid nights.
  5. Evening: warm, then cold, with GlowLift™. Glide GlowLift™ in warm mode over your cream along the jawline, cheekbones and sides of the neck for 2–3 minutes, then switch to cold mode for 1–2 minutes.
  6. Evening: finish with EMS. On Level 1, follow your contours upward and outward along the jaw and cheeks for 2–3 minutes. Use GlowLift™ five to seven times a week.
  7. Weekly: check in and adjust. If skin feels tight, add moisture; if it stings, drop a retinoid night. Change one thing at a time.

If warmth sets off flushing, keep the warm pass short. The EMS trial in the table tested a different device in longer, 20-minute sessions, so read it as evidence for the technique, not for any single product.

GlowLift™ Infinity is FDA-cleared. Do not use an EMS device if you are pregnant or have a pacemaker, implanted defibrillator or other active electronic implant, or on broken, irritated or infected skin. If you have epilepsy or a diagnosed skin condition, check with your doctor first.

Does hormone therapy help menopausal skin?

Hormone therapy has been linked with better skin hydration, thickness and collagen in several studies, but it is not prescribed for skin alone: a 2025 review found that guidelines do not support using it only for estrogen-deficient skin. Whether it suits you is a medical decision for you and your doctor.

Small 1980s clinic studies measured higher skin collagen after estrogen therapy (Brincat, Versi et al., 1987). In the US survey above, estrogen users were less likely to have dry skin (odds ratio 0.76) or wrinkled skin (0.68) than non-users (Dunn et al., 1997).

That is an observational association, not proof of cause, and results on wrinkling and oil glands have been mixed (Brincat et al., 2005).

That 2025 review cited "a lack of robust clinical trials on skin-specific therapy" (Viscomi et al., 2025). We don't give hormone advice, but if you discuss hormone therapy for hot flashes or poor sleep, mention your skin too.

When should you talk to a doctor about menopause skin?

See a doctor or board-certified dermatologist if skin changes are sudden, painful, one-sided or getting worse despite gentle care, or for a new or changing mole, persistent itching, a rash or a sore that does not heal. Questions about hormone therapy, including prescription topical estrogen, belong with your doctor or gynecologist.

Book a visit, too, for persistent redness or flushing, painful breakouts, sudden hair thinning or a lot of new facial hair, and skin that bruises or tears easily.

A dermatologist can check for conditions such as rosacea or dermatitis and discuss prescription retinoids or in-office options. For questions about our products, reach our team through the contact form.

The bottom line

Menopause face is a normal shift: as estrogen falls, skin makes less collagen, holds less moisture and recovers more slowly. Skincare cannot replace hormones, but it can keep skin comfortable, hydrated and protected.

Start with one change this week: a fragrance-free moisturizer such as BerryPeptide Plumping Moisturizer, morning and night. Then add sunscreen, a slow retinoid and a short sculpting ritual, in line with our approach to skin longevity.

Sources

  1. MedlinePlus. Menopause. U.S. National Library of Medicine. Accessed 2026-10-05. medlineplus.gov/menopause.html
  2. Thornton MJ. Estrogens and aging skin. Dermatoendocrinol. 2013;5(2):264–270. doi:10.4161/derm.23872. PubMed 24194966
  3. Brincat M, Kabalan S, Studd JW, Moniz CF, de Trafford J, Montgomery J. A study of the decrease of skin collagen content, skin thickness, and bone mass in the postmenopausal woman. Obstet Gynecol. 1987;70(6):840–845. PubMed 3120067
  4. Dunn LB, Damesyn M, Moore AA, Reuben DB, Greendale GA. Does estrogen prevent skin aging? Results from the First National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES I). Arch Dermatol. 1997;133(3):339–342. doi:10.1001/archderm.133.3.339. PubMed 9080894
  5. Lephart ED, Naftolin F. Menopause and the skin: old favorites and new innovations in cosmeceuticals for estrogen-deficient skin. Dermatol Ther (Heidelb). 2021;11(1):53–69. doi:10.1007/s13555-020-00468-7. PubMed 33242128
  6. Fabi SG, Firsowicz M, Kamrani P, Draelos ZD, Dayan SH. Round table discussion: aesthetic treatment considerations for the perimenopausal and menopausal patient. J Cosmet Dermatol. 2026;25(1):e70626. doi:10.1111/jocd.70626. PubMed 41461019
  7. Lodén M, Wessman W. The influence of a cream containing 20% glycerin and its vehicle on skin barrier properties. Int J Cosmet Sci. 2001;23(2):115–119. doi:10.1046/j.1467-2494.2001.00060.x. PubMed 18498456
  8. Kafi R, Kwak HSR, Schumacher WE, et al. Improvement of naturally aged skin with vitamin A (retinol). Arch Dermatol. 2007;143(5):606–612. doi:10.1001/archderm.143.5.606. PubMed 17515510
  9. Kavanagh S, Newell J, Hennessy M, Sadick N. Use of a neuromuscular electrical stimulation device for facial muscle toning: a randomized, controlled trial. J Cosmet Dermatol. 2012;11(4):261–266. doi:10.1111/jocd.12007. PubMed 23174048
  10. Picardo M, Ottaviani M, Camera E, Mastrofrancesco A. Sebaceous gland lipids. Dermatoendocrinol. 2009;1(2):68–71. doi:10.4161/derm.1.2.8472. PubMed 20224686
  11. Brincat M, Versi E, Moniz CF, Magos A, de Trafford J, Studd JW. Skin collagen changes in postmenopausal women receiving different regimens of estrogen therapy. Obstet Gynecol. 1987;70(1):123–127. PubMed 3601260
  12. Brincat MP, Baron YM, Galea R. Estrogens and the skin. Climacteric. 2005;8(2):110–123. doi:10.1080/13697130500118100. PubMed 16096167
  13. Viscomi B, Muniz M, Sattler S. Managing menopausal skin changes: a narrative review of skin quality changes, their aesthetic impact, and the actual role of hormone replacement therapy in improvement. J Cosmet Dermatol. 2025;24(Suppl 4):e70393. doi:10.1111/jocd.70393. PubMed 40847905

Frequently asked questions

Menopause can make the face look less firm. Falling estrogen speeds collagen loss and thins the skin, so it holds its shape less well, while age-related changes in fat pads, muscle and bone add to a softer-looking jawline. Daily sunscreen, a retinoid, steady hydration and facial muscle work such as EMS can support a firmer, more defined look over time.

Lower estrogen weakens the skin barrier, and falling hormone levels also reduce sebum, the skin's own oil, so water escapes more easily. Dryness is common: trained examiners found dry skin in 36.2% of 3,875 postmenopausal women in a US national survey (Dunn et al., 1997). A humectant moisturizer on damp skin, plus a richer cream at night, usually helps.

Yes, some women notice breakouts in perimenopause or after menopause, sometimes while the rest of the face feels dry. Choose gentle, non-stripping cleansers, keep rich creams to the driest areas and avoid harsh scrubs. See a board-certified dermatologist if breakouts are painful, deep or cystic, leave marks, or arrive with sudden new facial hair.

Skin keeps changing for years. Clinic studies measured skin collagen and thickness falling by about 1–2% for every year after menopause (Brincat et al., 1987), with the steepest loss, possibly up to 30% of collagen, in the first five years (Thornton, 2013). Sun protection and a consistent routine matter at every stage, not only right after menopause.

A tallow cream can suit dry, mature skin because it is rich in lipids that help seal moisture in. Dewy Renewal Tallow Cream is water-free and made with grass-fed tallow, jojoba and olive oils. It is scented with essential oils, so patch test for 48 hours first, and start slowly if you are breakout-prone.

Yes. Menopause itself is not a reason to skip GlowLift™ Infinity. Start each mode on Level 1 over a serum or cream, and keep the warm pass short if heat triggers flushing. Do not use it with a pacemaker or other active electronic implant, or on broken or irritated skin. With a diagnosed skin condition, check with your doctor first.

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This guide is for general education and isn't medical advice. If you have a skin condition or a health question, please speak with a dermatologist or your doctor.

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