The Ageless and Awesome Podcast

Why Perimenopause Changes Your Skin (and What You Can Do About It)

• Susie Garden • Episode 304

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Ever looked in the mirror during perimenopause and wondered why your much loved skincare routine suddenly feels useless? That bewildering shift isn't just ageing—it's a complex hormonal dance affecting your skin at its foundations.

As oestrogen fluctuates and progesterone declines, your skin undergoes profound changes. The plumpness, hydration, and collagen support that oestrogen provided starts to diminish, while the calming effects of progesterone fade away. Add in perimenopause-related stress that spikes cortisol (notorious for breaking down collagen), and suddenly the dry skin, unexpected breakouts, redness, and accelerated fine lines make perfect sense. What worked for decades fails because your body is literally changing its operating system.

The solution isn't necessarily that expensive miracle cream or elaborate 12-step routine. True transformation requires addressing the internal drivers: proper hydration (35ml per kilo of body weight), blood sugar management (always start meals with protein), and prioritising sleep with dimmed lights, reduced screen time, and perhaps supplements like magnesium theanine or glycinate. These simple shifts work from the inside out, often producing results that have friends asking what expensive products you've discovered—when the real magic is happening at a cellular level. Whether you're just noticing the first perimenopausal skin changes or feeling frustrated with treatments that haven't delivered, this episode offers practical, science-backed strategies that treat the cause, not just the symptoms.

Ready to feel comfortable in your skin again? Subscribe to catch next week's episode on the gut-skin connection, and stay tuned for details about my upcoming 8-week program specifically designed for perimenopausal skin health. You deserve to feel good in your skin at every stage of life.

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1. Hit your health and wellbeing goals this year, balance your hormones and lose weight with your own personalised protocol, based on your body's biochemistry. Sounds awesome right!! Book a free 30 minute Peri Weight Loss Assessment with me so we can discuss your health and wellbeing goals and also see how I might be able to support you. ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Book your call here. ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

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3. Join the waitlist for my innovative NEW 8 week group program, In Your Skin™️, for women in perimenopause and post-menopause who want effective solutions to manage skin changes at this time of life.

Speaker 1:

Hi, I'm Susie Garden and this is the Ageless and Awesome podcast. I'm an age-defying naturopath and clinical nutritionist and I'm here to bust myths around women's health and aging so that you can be ageless and awesome in your 40s, 50s and beyond. The Ageless and Awesome podcast is dedicated to helping women through perimenopause and menopause with great health, a positive mindset and outrageous confidence. Hit, subscribe or follow now and let's get started. Hello, gorgeous one, and welcome to this week's episode of the Ageless and Awesome podcast. I'm Susie, and this week I'm talking about one of my favorite topics, which is skin health in peri and post-menopause. I love this topic. Whenever I record an episode on skin health, it does so well, so you guys obviously love it as well, and I'm about to start a four-part if you like series on skin health in perimenopause, because I know you love it, so let's get into it.

Speaker 1:

So why does your skin suddenly feel like it's just gone crazy when you hit perimenopause, and sometimes postmenopause as well Generally more likely to be peri, though, but dryness, breakouts like you're a teenager again, redness, fine lines, itching, eczema. You know all of these things. They're not just about getting older. They're linked to real hormonal changes. So today I'm going to tell you a little bit about my own experience in peri and postmenopause. I'm going to talk about the hormone skin connection. So estrogen, progesterone, cortisol and insulin are the four hormones specifically why creams and procedures don't address the root cause, and three simple things that you can start today to support your skin. So let's get into it.

Speaker 1:

So I'll try and stay away from jargon, but I've spoken about this before that during perimenopause in particular, your estrogen levels fluctuate, sometimes wildly, and progesterone levels really just start to disappear. And the thing is, you may not have been aware of this because most of us, when we think of estrogen and progesterone, we think of it as it pertains to our reproductive system. But we have estrogen receptors all over the body and that's why we suddenly get all of these symptoms that we never, ever thought were linked to our hormones. And estrogen keeps our skin plumped, hydrated, supported with collagen, and as the estrogen dips over time, we can start to notice dryness, thinner skin, more visible lines and, at the same time, progesterone, which is actually also calming for the skin. So when it drops, some women notice more breakouts and sensitivity. And let's not forget cortisol, our stress hormone, which often spikes in perimenopause, and high, cortisol actually breaks down collagen and shows up on our skin as puffiness, redness and maybe some signs of accelerated aging. So it's kind of like your skin has been playing by one set of rules for decades. We've got our routines down pat, we know exactly what to do to make our skin feel nice and look nice, and suddenly these rules get changed overnight and that's why what used to work like you know, your cleanser, your moisturizer, a bit of eye cream maybe, maybe a sunscreen, doesn't seem to cut it anymore.

Speaker 1:

And let's talk about skincare. So you know why creams maybe aren't the full answer. You know because most of us and before I knew more about this, I did exactly the same thing you go straight to the skincare counter, maybe go and see a beautician, start looking at different types of products. And when we know now, particularly with looking at different types of products, and when we know now, particularly with um, tiktok and Instagram to a lesser extent you get these elaborate skincare routines that, frankly, most of us don't really have time for, and these sort of creams and things that you're putting on your face. Some of them are fantastic by the way, I'm certainly not dissing them but you don't need to spend hundreds and hundreds of dollars on skincare. There's some very good products and we'll talk about that in later episodes that are really amazing, that don't cost the earth, but a lot of the time when you're looking at skincare or even considering things like injectables, they're treating the surface and the symptom, but they're not addressing what's actually driving the changes, which are your hormones, your stress levels and your ability to manage stress, your gut health and your sleep. They're the big and unless you work from the inside out, the results you see by putting creams on or injectables will be short-term or even disappointing.

Speaker 1:

So let's get practical. I want to leave you with kind of three simple things that you can start doing right now to support your skin through perimenopause, and this is really just scratching the surface. There's three things I just want to tell you about today because you know, with all of the things that we have to think about during peri and post menopause, you know you don't I don't need to give you a checklist of 10 things to do to also support your skin, right? But frankly, these tips, even though I'm telling them to you in the context of skin health, what they're actually doing is starting to address some of these underlying drivers of the symptoms that you're seeing in your skin. Underlying drivers of the symptoms that you're seeing in your skin. So getting practical, number one will always be hydration Hydration from the inside out, not just moisturizer on the surface.

Speaker 1:

So you may have heard my little formula before 35 mils of water per kilo of body weight, up to a cap of around four liters, so you can get that in water. Maybe you can pop a little bit of sparkling water in there. But also include hydrating foods. So some of the more hydrating foods are things like cucumber, watermelon, chia seeds. If you're having large numbers of water numbers yeah, large liters of water, large numbers of liters of water adding a pinch of sea salt can be nice just to make sure your electrolytes remain balanced, particularly if you're also sweating a lot. We're in winter in the Southern Hemisphere, but I live in Queensland, which gets very hot in summer, so definitely you need to replace those fluids that you're losing and then have the additional water. So adding some sea salt can really help you not get too depleted of electrolytes. So hydration, number one.

Speaker 1:

Balancing blood sugar, number two and I need to dive deeper into that over the coming weeks but balancing out your blood sugar, because blood sugar number two and I need to dive deeper into that over the coming weeks but balancing out your blood sugar, because blood sugar spikes drive inflammation, so it'll be redness potentially, particularly if you have something like rosacea, like I do, and also the blood sugar can drive breakouts. So it's super important. And also blood sugar is just so important for weight management, for energy management, so many things. So a couple of tips. Start with protein at breakfast. So from the time you're first putting food in your mouth in the morning, you want protein. So, whether that's eggs, whether that's a protein smoothie, whether that's yogurt, whether that's nuts and seeds or some sort of granola, that's preferably one you make yourself, so it's not loaded with sugar, because, remember, we want to balance our blood sugar. That is key. And starting with one or two bites of protein as well does really help to balance our blood sugar because it tricks your body into thinking that it's going to have a high protein meal. So we want to start not only our day with protein, but each meal. Start with protein. Just one or two bites of protein first and then keep going, and if you don't know what the protein is on your plate, then you really need to re-look at what you're eating. The protein should be pretty obvious, and it should be a pretty decent amount as well.

Speaker 1:

The third hot tip that I'm going to give you today is to prioritize sleep. Sleep is a massive issue with many of the women that I work with in my program, and prioritizing sleep and enough. I've been very open about my own struggles with sleep. Prioritizing sleep is hugely important for many, many reasons. One of those reasons is skin health and the appearance of your skin. Your skin repairs itself at night. In fact, many different parts of your body repair themselves at night when you're in deep sleep. So helping your body actually achieve deep sleep is important.

Speaker 1:

So, whether it's creating calm around the lead up to bedtime, we use a term called sleep hygiene. I don't see sleep. I need to go and have a look and see if that's something that's still being used. I'm not seeing it a lot like I used to. We tend to more say bedtime routine now because, let's face it, if you say sleep hygiene, it sounds like you need to have a shower or wash your face or something like that. But no, sleep hygiene, aka a sleep routine, is really important, particularly for women in their 40s and 50s and beyond, and particularly if you are struggling with sleep. So it's not just at the time you're going to bed, it's in the lead up, like you know, taking the lights down as soon as you can. So after dinner, once you've cleaned up, lights go down. I don't have any overhead lights on. After about seven o'clock at night it's all lamps, candlelight, low lights, because that helps with starting that production of melatonin. To help you sleep.

Speaker 1:

Having some decent magnesium and magnesium form matters, and there are some particular magnesiums that are way more supportive of sleep than others. In particular, one I'm really enjoying at the moment is magnesium theanine. I'm not sure if you can get that over the counter. I'm using a prescription one because obviously I have access to that, but I'm finding that a bit of a game changer. There's also magnesium glycinate, which is also a really good one that you can get over the counter. They'd be my top two at the moment. Really reducing screen use, ideally after, again, about six or seven o'clock at night. That would be ideal.

Speaker 1:

I know it's not always possible. If it's not possible, then investing in some blue blocking glasses. I have them in my prescription glasses. If you don't wear prescription glasses. You can just purchase blue blocker glasses and they used to just all be like those plastic safety glasses. But now you can actually buy some really stylish looking blue blocker glasses that don't have any prescription. They just have the ability to filter out that blue light that our devices emit that can mess with our melatonin production. So those sort of calming things having a bath, if you have a bathtub, if you don't, maybe having a shower and putting a few drops of lavender essential oil just at the base not near the drain, but just near the base of the shower that once that hot water hits it, it'll steam up and you'll get that beautiful lavender which is, we know from research, is very calming and helps promote good sleep.

Speaker 1:

I've seen a few supplements that include magnesium, these hot chocolate magnesiums. Now, obviously, if you're wanting to maintain a healthy weight, you want to be a bit careful about what the ingredients are in some of those. I don't recommend having food before you go to bed, even if it's something like that, because it will mess with your blood sugar and that will impact your sleep as well. So ideally, that magnesium that you have before bed would be more of a supplementation form that doesn't have a flavor that's not going to nudge your blood sugar, and also having like a simple skincare routine that seals in hydration at night before you go to bed, and I really love using oils such as argan oil. Rosehip oil are two particularly good ones for calming redness, for promoting hydration, and even using things like a silk pillowcase is beautiful for your skin. I also use a silk eye mask to block out light, and that those two things have been a real game changer for me in terms of the skin benefits that I've seen.

Speaker 1:

But you know, even just changing one of those things, or implementing rather one of those tips this week, just one, could make a noticeable difference. Most women I speak to when I ask them how much water they're drinking, they almost always will say not enough. So even if you just started hydrating and that's all you did this week was focus on that, that would be amazing and you may even start to see a difference. As you know, I have a program called the Glow Protocol and one of the key things the reason actually that I called it the Glow Protocol is women, when they started doing the program, would say to me within weeks, my work colleagues are saying my skin is glowing. Or my friends are saying what are you putting on your skin? Your skin is glowing. They're like I haven't changed anything and it's all of the hydration and often the nutrients. But I'm going to talk more about nutrients over the coming weeks. So, yeah, I'm just trying to think if there's anything else I want to say.

Speaker 1:

I think I just want to give you the three tips this week, just so I don't overwhelm you, because I'm going to be building on that in the coming episodes and you know, if you really are interested in learning more about skin and skin health, I am actually working on a program that I'm really quite excited about. That's going to be a eight-week group program. I have a name. I'm not going to say it yet because I want to just tie down a few more things with regard to this program before I launch it, but it is an eight week group program. It's designed specifically for women in peri and post-menopause targeting skin. So I'm very excited. I will give you some more information over the coming episodes, when I'm a little bit more organized as to how that's going to work. So that is it for today.

Speaker 1:

A bit of a short and sweet episode today, so I guess I just wanted to reiterate your skin changes in perimenopause are real. They're not your fault. With the right support, they don't have to control you, and if this episode was helpful, share it with a friend who might also be navigating skin changes right now. She'll thank you for it. And don't forget to subscribe to the pod so you don't miss the next episode, where we'll be talking about the surprising link between your gut and your skin. Until then, take care. Remember. You deserve to feel good in your skin. Thanks so much for joining me on the Ageless and Awesome podcast. If you liked this episode, please make sure you click the little plus button if you're on Apple Podcasts, or the follow button if you're on Spotify, so that you get each new episode delivered to you every single week. If you feel like writing me a five-star review, you would absolutely make my day. If you found this episode resonated with you, head over to my Instagram and DM me at theperimenopausepark. I would love to connect with you.

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Susie Garden

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