Want to know what is the best menopause skincare? Award-winning beauty journalist Alice Hart-Davis is the go-to expert. Noone gets under the skin of the beauty industry and understands the facts – and the fictions – about skincare, as well as Alice does.
Don’t just take our word for it. “Alice is one of the leading and most trusted voices in skincare,” says Liz Earle. While Trinny Woodall, founder of Trinny London, says, “Alice is a fountain of knowledge when it comes to skincare.”
What is good for menopausal skin?
With a keen interest in the fast-moving world of skincare technology, Alice has interviewed leading experts to discover what is important for our skin – and why.
We know from our own midlife beauty survey that there are many skincare issues that come with menopause. Whether it’s a dull complexion, saggy jawline or menopause breakouts, the shifts in our hormone levels can cause beauty havoc. But the more that we understand about these impacts, the more we can choose the right products and treatments to tackle them.
READ MORE The best products for menopause hair loss.
Alice’s findings are all in her brilliant book, The Tweakments Guide: Start With Skincare. “Using great skincare is the key to achieving a fresher-looking face,” says Alice. “Yet so many people don’t take skincare seriously, because they don’t know what the right products could do for them.”
When it comes to the best menopause skincare for midlife skin, Alice says that we have two main choices.
“Most skincare practitioners would suggest you carry on with a regime of effective cosmeceuticals through menopause,” she says. “This means antioxidant/ Vitamin C, moisturiser and sunscreen in the morning, and then retinoid (such as Retinol or a stronger type of Vitamin A derived ingredient) or glycolic plus moisturiser in the evenings.”
READ MORE Why retinol is the best anti ageing skincare ingredient
Alternatively, Alice’s book flags some of the “specially-designed-for-menopause” skincare that claims other benefits.
How can I get glowing skin during menopause?
Alice also believes that HRT will do more for your menopausal skin than any cream or serum. “Oestrogen supplementation of any sort will do more good for your skin than any skincare regime,” she says. “Though skincare always helps.”
READ MORE HRT, is it safe? Everything you need to know.
Having read Alice’s book, and the chapter on best menopause skincare in particular, we are tempted to chuck out the entire contents of our bathroom cabinet and start again. A bit drastic perhaps. But next time you run out of something, read this before you buy.
Here, taken from The Tweakments Guide: Start With Skincare, are a few of Alice’s top products for midlife skin.
What makes a product right for a Hylda woman?
Here’s how we choose products to feature… Our beauty writers, like Alice, are experts in their field and have years of experience writing about the best in beauty. They will only recommend products that they know will make a difference and help with the symptoms caused by the fluctuations of the menopause years. Our reviews are honest – they are not paid for by the brands. We might earn some affiliate commission if you choose to buy the product, but we are not paid by the brands to put them in the article. Never ever. Picked by experts and chosen just for you, that’s our Hylda promise.
Six of Alice’s favourite products for menopause skincare
Best to hydrate: Balance Me Vitamin C Repair Serum, £32. Buy it now.
Best for brightening: Paula’s Choice C-15 Super Booster, £49. Buy it now.
Best for softening lines: No7 Advanced Retinol 1.5% Complex Night Concentrate, £34.15. Buy it now.
Best for a first retinol: Medik8’s Retinol 3TR, £29. Buy it now.
Best to strengthen and hydrate: Teoxane RHA Serum, £55. Buy it now.
Best for a trusted classic: Olay Regenerist 3 Point Lightweight Firming Serum, £15.74. Buy it now.
Best to hydrate: Balance Me Vitamin C Repair Serum, £32
What Alice loves about it: This award-winning brightening serum also offers hyaluronic acid, so it hydrates as well as softening uneven pigmentation.
Best for brightening: Paula’s Choice C-15 Super Booster, £49
What Alice loves about it: A great serum from this brilliant brand, based on 15% L-ascorbic acid (plus ferulic acid and vitamin E) to brighten dull skin, fade dark spots and boost collagen production.
Best for softening lines: No7 Advanced Retinol 1.5% Complex Night Concentrate, £34.15
What Alice loves about it: You know that an ingredient has reached a tipping point in popular awareness when No7 includes it in its signature skincare range.
This product, with 0.3% retinol, has been through enough trials to reassure fans of the brand – and sceptics – that it really does the job it claims to do, and softens wrinkles without being difficult to tolerate.
Best for a first retinol: Medik8’s Retinol 3TR, £29
Best to strengthen and hydrate: Teoxane RHA Serum, £55
What Alice loves about it: A fabulous but expensive hydrating serum. Teoxane is a brand that makes injectable hyaluronic acid gels.
RHA stands for Resilient Hyaluronic Acid. The serum combines this ingredient with antioxidants to strengthen and hydrate the skin.
Best for a trusted classic: Olay Regenerist 3 Point Lightweight Firming Serum, £15.74
What Alice loves about it: The Regenerist range is powered by pentapeptides and an “advanced amino-peptide complex”.
That’s the science; the point is, it is well proven and, thanks to regular tweaks to update the formula, is as popular as ever.
Read more from Alice at Thetweakmentsguide.com, find her on Instagram and Twitter.
