Perimenopause Skincare: Does Your Routine Need to Change?

If your skin has started behaving differently during perimenopause, your first instinct might be to buy more skincare.

Before you do, take a look at what you already have.

The products that worked beautifully for you five or ten years ago haven’t necessarily stopped working. Your skin may simply need something different from them now.

During perimenopause, fluctuating hormone levels can influence hydration, collagen, elasticity, skin thickness and barrier function. Some women notice that their skin becomes drier, more sensitive or less resilient. Others see changes in pigmentation, texture, breakouts or firmness.

At the same time, natural skin ageing, sun exposure, genetics and lifestyle continue to play their part.

So there isn’t one universal “perimenopause skincare routine” that every woman needs.

The better question is: what has changed in your skin, and does your skincare need to change with it?

If your skin suddenly feels much drier

Dryness is one of the skin changes commonly associated with perimenopause and menopause.

You might notice that the moisturiser you have used for years no longer feels quite rich enough, makeup doesn’t sit as well or your skin feels tight even though you are applying plenty of product.

This is where ingredients that support hydration become particularly useful.

Tebiskin Hyal is an intensive hydrating serum formulated with hyaluronic acid to help increase hydration and improve skin suppleness. It can be a useful addition where dehydration has become more noticeable, without requiring you to completely overhaul the rest of your routine.

But there is an important distinction here.

If your skin is dry, sensitive and increasingly reactive, adding hydration may not be the only thing it needs.

Has your skin become more sensitive too?

One of the easiest mistakes to make when skin starts looking older is to attack it.

More retinol. More acids. More exfoliation. More actives.

But if your skin barrier has become more vulnerable, simply adding stronger ingredients can sometimes leave it feeling even more irritated.

This is where it may be worth taking things back a little.

Tebiskin Cera-Boost combines ceramides with hyaluronic acid to support moisture levels and the skin barrier. For skin that feels dry, uncomfortable or less resilient than it used to, supporting barrier function can be just as important as introducing another anti-ageing active.

It doesn’t mean you can never use retinoids or acids again. It may simply mean reconsidering their strength, frequency and how they sit within your overall routine.

Sometimes your skin doesn’t need more. It needs a little more support.

What about loss of firmness?

This is where skincare expectations need to be realistic.

A face cream cannot replicate the results of an aesthetic treatment, replace lost facial volume or dramatically tighten lax skin. No matter how persuasive the marketing is.

Good skincare can, however, support skin quality and help improve the appearance of some of the visible signs of ageing.

Revision Skincare D·E·J Daily Boosting Serum is one option we particularly like for more established signs of skin ageing. Its formulation combines peptides, antioxidants, postbiotics and hydrating ingredients, with a particular focus on supporting firmness, elasticity, skin barrier function and the dermal epidermal junction, or DEJ.

The DEJ is the area where the epidermis and dermis meet, and it plays an important role in the skin’s structure and function. It is one of the areas affected as skin ages.

For somebody whose concern has moved beyond simply needing more hydration towards fine lines, firmness and overall skin quality, this is where a more targeted age-supporting formulation can make sense.

If your skin looks dull, tired or stressed

Sometimes it isn’t one particular line or wrinkle that bothers you.

The skin simply doesn’t look as bright or healthy as it once did.

This is where antioxidants can earn their place in a routine.

iS Clinical Pro-Heal Serum Advance+ combines antioxidant ingredients including vitamin C and is particularly useful when supporting skin that appears stressed or environmentally challenged.

Vitamin C is well established within skincare for its antioxidant role, and it can also support a routine focused on brightness and the visible signs of photoageing.

Again, this isn’t specifically a “menopause product”.

That is precisely the point.

We would rather choose a product because its formulation addresses what your skin needs than because the word menopause appears on the box.

Do you need regenerative skincare during perimenopause?

Regenerative skincare has become one of the biggest conversations in advanced skincare, with exosomes, growth factors, peptides and other technologies increasingly appearing in both professional treatments and homecare.

They are interesting, but regenerative doesn’t automatically mean better, and entering perimenopause doesn’t mean you suddenly need an exosome serum.

For those interested in this category, EXO|E RE|PAIR is designed to support skin recovery, hydration and overall skin quality using plant-derived exosome technology alongside other supportive ingredients.

We see this as an option within a wider skincare strategy, rather than something every woman needs to add to her bathroom cabinet.

The same principle applies to regenerative skincare as everything else: understand what the product does, look at the formulation and decide whether it has a useful role in your routine.

One thing shouldn’t change: your SPF

We can talk about hyaluronic acid, ceramides, peptides, antioxidants and regenerative skincare, but none of them makes daily sun protection optional.

UV exposure is one of the major external contributors to visible skin ageing and pigmentation, so protecting the skin remains important at every stage of life.

Revision Intellishade TruPhysical SPF45 combines broad-spectrum mineral sun protection with moisturising and age-supporting ingredients, making it a useful everyday option for those who prefer their SPF to do a little more than provide UV protection alone.

And if you already have a broad-spectrum SPF that you like, tolerate well and actually wear every day?

Keep using it.

You don’t need to replace a good product simply because you have entered perimenopause.

Do you need ‘menopause skincare’?

Not necessarily.

As conversations around perimenopause and menopause have become more visible, so too have the number of products specifically marketed towards menopausal women.

Greater awareness of women’s skin health is welcome. But a new marketing category doesn’t automatically mean you need a completely new skincare routine.

Your skin doesn’t suddenly require six new products on the day you enter perimenopause.

It may need more hydration.

It may benefit from greater barrier support.

Perhaps pigmentation or visible sun damage has become more noticeable, or your priorities have shifted towards firmness and overall skin quality.

And sometimes, your existing routine is still doing a perfectly good job.

The important thing is identifying what has actually changed.

Build your routine around your skin, not your age

This is not a six-product “perimenopause skincare routine”, and we certainly wouldn’t suggest buying everything mentioned above.

One woman may benefit from adding a hydrating serum. Another may need to simplify her routine and concentrate on repairing a struggling skin barrier. Someone else may be ready to introduce more targeted age-supporting or regenerative skincare.

That is why we prefer to choose skincare according to skin condition and concern rather than age alone.

Perimenopause may change what your skin needs, but it doesn’t change the fundamental principle of good skincare.

Look at the skin in front of you.

Understand what it needs now.

Keep the products that are still working.

Change the ones that aren’t.

And don’t feel pressured into buying an entirely new routine simply because somebody has put the word “menopause” on the packaging.

Your skincare should evolve because your skin evolves. The goal isn’t more products. It is the right products for your skin now.

Written by the team at Dr Preema London Clinic

Medically Reviewed by Dr Preema Vig, Medical Director