"I've used the same serum for five years and now it burns."
I hear some version of this in the studio almost every week. Usually from women in their 40s, usually with a slightly baffled look on their face.
If that sounds familiar, you're not imagining it, and you're definitely not alone. Perimenopause can change how your skin reacts, sometimes quite suddenly. I'm going through it too, so this one's personal.
What's going on?
During perimenopause, oestrogen levels start to rise and fall unpredictably, before dropping overall. Oestrogen plays a big role in skin health. It helps skin hold onto moisture, supports collagen and helps keep the skin barrier strong.
As levels change, many women notice their skin becomes:
Drier and tighter.
Thinner and more delicate.
Quicker to go red or flushed.
More reactive to products, especially fragrance and strong actives.
Slower to recover from irritation.
Your skin barrier is a bit like a brick wall. When it's strong, it keeps moisture in and irritants out. When it's weakened, things get through more easily, and that's when stinging and redness happen.
Signs your barrier needs some love
Products sting or burn when you apply them.
Skin feels tight, even after moisturising.
Patchy redness or a rough texture.
Breakouts and dryness at the same time.
Make-up suddenly sits badly.
Gentle changes that help
Simplify your routine. This is the big one. Strip back to a gentle cleanser, a soothing moisturiser and SPF for a couple of weeks. Let skin calm down.
Check for fragrance. Skin that coped with fragrance for years might not now. Fragrance-free can make a real difference.
Be careful with actives. Retinoids and exfoliating acids are brilliant, but you may need to use them less often, at a lower strength, or buffer them with moisturiser. Bring them back slowly once skin is calm.
Look for barrier-loving ingredients. Ceramides, niacinamide, glycerin, squalane and panthenol are all lovely for stressed skin.
Patch test new products. Always, but especially now.
Be kind with temperature. Hot showers, saunas and very warm rooms can make flushing worse.
Can treatments help?
Sometimes, yes, but the order matters.
If your skin is very reactive, I'll usually focus on calming it first before suggesting anything more active. Once your barrier is happier, treatments like skin boosters or polynucleotides can be a really nice way to support hydration and skin quality. Gentle, hydrating facials can be lovely too.
Every skin is different, which is why a proper consultation matters. I'll also always ask about medications and health history, and suggest you speak to your GP about any symptoms that worry you.
A simple calming routine to try
If your skin is feeling sore and reactive, here's the stripped-back routine I often suggest for a couple of weeks:
Morning: splash with lukewarm water or use a gentle cream cleanser, then a soothing moisturiser and a broad-spectrum SPF.
Evening: a gentle cleanser to remove SPF and make-up, then a richer, fragrance-free moisturiser.
Once or twice a week: a hydrating, calming mask instead of anything exfoliating.
That's it. It feels almost too simple, but giving skin a break is often the quickest way to get it back on track. Once things have settled, we can look at adding your favourite actives back in, one at a time, so you can see what your skin is happy with.
I do this when my skin decides to go mental on me with breakouts, and it really does work.
You're not doing it wrong
It's so easy to feel frustrated when your skin changes and the products you trusted stop working. But this isn't about doing something wrong. Your skin is going through a big change, and it needs a slightly different kind of care now.
Perimenopausal and menopausal skin is at the heart of what I do at Novauria. If you'd like some honest, practical advice, I'd love to see you at my studio in Ashford, Kent. You can book a consultation through the website, or DM me "GLOW" on Instagram for a chat.
Liz x
Featured image: Aleksandrs Karevs on Unsplash
