If you have started noticing that your skin feels different and you cannot quite put your finger on why, you are probably not imagining it. Perimenopause is a real, well-documented biological transition, and your skin is one of its more sensitive registers.
The rest of this article explains what is actually changing, why your old routine has stopped working, what the research suggests may support each piece of the picture, and where the line is between a skincare question and a medical one.
What perimenopause actually is
Perimenopause is the years of hormonal transition before menopause. Menopause itself is defined as twelve months after your final period, a single retrospective marker. Perimenopause is the much longer lead-up to that point.
The Australian Women's Midlife Years Study, published in The Lancet Diabetes and Endocrinology in 2025, surveyed more than 8,000 Australian women across the menopause transition (Davis et al., 2025). The average age of menopause in Australia is around 51, with significant variation. Perimenopause typically begins in the early to mid forties but can start earlier or later.
The biology is mostly about oestrogen. In your reproductive years your ovaries produce oestrogen on a fairly regular cycle. In perimenopause this production becomes erratic: some cycles produce high oestrogen, some produce low, some are anovulatory. Over the years the overall trend is downward, but the early years are characterised by fluctuation more than by simple decline.
This is why skin in perimenopause often feels unpredictable. Reactive one week, comfortable the next. Drier one month, oilier the next. The fluctuation is real and your skin is responding to it. By late perimenopause and into menopause, oestrogen settles into a much lower steady state, and skin changes become more consistent. The transition phase is the harder one to navigate.
What changes in your skin during perimenopause
There are six well-documented changes, all linked back to the oestrogen decline.
Collagen production slows. Research found that women lose approximately 30% of skin collagen in the first five years after menopause, then around 2% per year for the next two decades (Brincat et al., 1987). Perimenopause is where this decline begins. As collagen reduces, the skin has less internal scaffolding, which contributes to the appearance of thinner-looking skin and to the way fine lines start to catch the light differently.
Endogenous hyaluronic acid declines. Your skin makes its own hyaluronic acid. A 2021 review confirmed that this production declines through perimenopause and into menopause (Lephart and Naftolin, 2021), which is one reason skin can feel less plump than it used to, even when your routine has not changed. Supporting your skin's hydration from the outside compensates for what it is producing less of on its own. The Witchy Hyaluronic Acid Serum, applied to damp skin twice a day, is the foundation most women start with when recalibrating for this phase.
The skin barrier becomes more reactive. Lipid production reduces, ceramide profiles change, and transepidermal water loss increases. A 2025 study measured skin barrier function across the menopause transition and found measurable changes in barrier hydration and water loss (Nikoletić et al., 2025). In real life, this can feel like skin that reacts to products it used to tolerate, flushes more easily, or feels tight after cleansing in a way it never did before.
Sebum production changes. As oestrogen and androgens shift in balance, the result is often a confusing combination: drier overall skin with oilier patches, particularly along the jawline. This is one of the drivers behind the perimenopausal acne pattern many women experience for the first time in their forties.
Pigmentation patterns change. Oestrogen influences melanocyte behaviour. Combined with cumulative UV exposure, particularly for Australian skin where lifetime UV burden is high, this can drive the appearance of melasma, sun spots, and uneven tone.
Cell turnover slows. Younger skin renews its top layer roughly every twenty-eight days. By perimenopause that cycle can stretch to forty days or longer. Slower turnover contributes to the appearance of dullness and to texture that does not bounce back as quickly as it used to.
None of this is catastrophe. It is biology. The question is what to do about it.
A 2021 review confirmed that endogenous hyaluronic acid synthesis declines through perimenopause and into menopause, reducing the skin's own capacity to hold water.
Why your old routine has stopped working
A pattern that comes up often in messages to Witchy looks something like this: a woman in her mid forties who has used the same routine for ten years notices her skin no longer responds the way it did. Her retinol that worked beautifully at thirty-two now makes her peel. Her favourite vitamin C serum suddenly stings. The moisturiser she has bought five jars of feels insufficient. She tries adding more and her skin reacts. She tries adding less and her skin feels worse. She begins to feel quietly betrayed by products she has loved for a decade.
The more useful way to understand it: the skin barrier that supported a more active routine in your thirties is more fragile in your forties. Stronger retinoids that worked then may now be too much. The vitamin C concentration that felt fine at thirty-five may now sit too strongly on a more reactive baseline. The exfoliating cleanser you have used since university may have become a quiet contributor to ongoing reactivity.
Your routine has not failed you. Your skin has changed. The recalibration most women need is generally a shorter, gentler routine, not a stronger one.
What the research suggests may support skin in perimenopause
These are the three core supports, in the order most women add them.
Hydration: replacing the water your skin is holding onto less well
Hyaluronic acid is the most studied humectant in skincare. Topical hyaluronic acid binds water in the upper layer of skin and supports the appearance of hydrated, plumper-looking skin. In perimenopausal skin where endogenous hyaluronic acid production is declining (Lephart and Naftolin, 2021), topical hyaluronic acid is supporting a job your skin is doing less of on its own.
Witchy's Hyaluronic Acid Serum is a three-ingredient formula: purified water, plant-based hyaluronic acid, and a touch of natural preservation. No fragrance, no essential oils, no actives beyond the hyaluronic acid. Applied to damp skin within sixty seconds of cleansing, twice a day. It is the foundation the rest of the routine sits on.
Calming support: managing a more reactive baseline
A facial oil with the right botanical profile contains fatty acids that support the skin's lipid layer and antioxidant compounds that work against environmental stressors. Witchy's Blue Tansy Calming Facial Oil contains blue tansy essential oil, which includes chamazulene. Chamazulene has been studied in laboratory settings for its antioxidant properties (Slon et al., 2024). The oil is layered over the hyaluronic acid serum to seal the water in and support a calmer baseline.
For perimenopausal skin that has become more reactive, the calming layer is what makes the rest of the routine possible. Without it, even a well-tolerated humectant can leave skin feeling exposed.
Renewal support: gentler vitamin A, used less often
Vitamin A is one of the most studied skincare ingredients in dermatology. Research has shown that retinoids, after conversion to retinoic acid in the skin, influence cell renewal pathways and the appearance of skin that has been through photoageing (Sorg et al., 2006; Mukherjee et al., 2006).
In perimenopausal skin, the form of vitamin A that worked in your thirties may not suit your skin now. Stronger retinoids produce more reactivity, which a more fragile skin barrier has less tolerance for. Witchy's Retinyl Renewal Oil uses retinyl palmitate, the gentlest cosmetic form of vitamin A, formulated to support the appearance of skin texture and tone through consistent, low-irritation use over months.
A retinoid you use three or four nights a week for a year does more for the appearance of fine lines, texture, and tone than a stronger retinoid used seven nights a week for three weeks before reacting and stopping.
A note on simplification
The instinct in perimenopause is often to add more: more products, more actives, more steps, more hope. The honest pattern from customer letters is that what helps is usually fewer products done better.
Three good ingredients applied consistently, with a calming layer holding the routine together, will do more for the appearance of skin in perimenopause than ten products applied haphazardly. If your bathroom shelf has fifteen things on it, the most helpful thing you can do this week is probably to pause most of them. Run the calming routine alone for two weeks: hyaluronic acid serum on damp skin, calming facial oil over the top, mineral sunscreen in the morning. Once your skin has settled, you have a clean baseline to add anything back, one at a time. The Retinyl Renewal Oil is the next step most women add, once the calming baseline is comfortable.
The three Witchy Skin products are designed to be the whole routine. They are not designed to be added to a larger routine. They are designed to replace it.
The Witchy three-product routine, in practice
Every morning:
- Gentle cleanse or rinse with cool to lukewarm water.
- Pat skin damp, not dry.
- Within sixty seconds, press in a few drops of Hyaluronic Acid Serum.
- Wait about thirty seconds.
- Press in a few drops of Blue Tansy Calming Facial Oil.
- Mineral sunscreen as the final step.
Retinoid evenings (two to four per week, building slowly):
- Cleanse gently.
- Pat damp.
- Hyaluronic Acid Serum within sixty seconds.
- Wait thirty seconds.
- Two to three drops of Retinyl Renewal Oil on top.
- Nothing else.
Calming evenings (the rest of the week):
- Cleanse gently.
- Pat damp.
- Hyaluronic Acid Serum within sixty seconds.
- Wait thirty seconds.
- Three to four drops of Blue Tansy Calming Facial Oil on top.
That is the complete routine. Three products. Different jobs. Same skin.
Common questions
At what age does perimenopause skin start to change?
For most Australian women, the first noticeable skin changes begin in the early to mid forties, though some women notice changes in their late thirties. The Australian Women's Midlife Years Study (Davis et al., 2025) found that the average age of menopause in Australia is around 51, with perimenopause typically beginning four to eight years before that. Early changes often include skin that feels drier, more reactive, and slower to recover from environmental stressors than it did in your thirties.
What is the difference between perimenopause and menopause skin?
Perimenopause is the transition period when oestrogen production becomes erratic, then gradually declines. Skin in perimenopause is often unpredictable: drier one month, oilier the next, reactive at unexpected moments. Menopause is defined as twelve months after your final period, after which oestrogen levels settle into a lower steady state. Postmenopausal skin tends to be more consistently dry, thinner, and slower to renew, but more predictable than perimenopausal skin.
Why has my skincare routine suddenly stopped working in my forties?
The routine that suited your skin in your thirties may no longer suit it because your skin has changed. Reduced oestrogen affects collagen production, endogenous hyaluronic acid, sebum balance, and barrier function (Lephart and Naftolin, 2021). The retinol that worked at thirty-two often becomes too strong at forty-five. The cleanser that suited oily skin may now strip a drier baseline. The recalibration most women need is generally a shorter, gentler routine, not a stronger one.
Do I need different skincare for perimenopause?
Not necessarily different brands, but usually a different routine. The three jobs perimenopausal skin most often needs more support with are hydration (because endogenous hyaluronic acid production declines), calming support (because the skin barrier is more reactive), and gentler renewal support (because stronger retinoids often become intolerable). Many women find that simplifying to a three-product routine works better than adding more products.
Is the Witchy Skin range safe to use during perimenopause?
Yes. All three Witchy Skin products are designed for skin in transition. The Hyaluronic Acid Serum is a three-ingredient formula with no fragrance, no essential oils, and no actives beyond the hyaluronic acid. The Blue Tansy Calming Facial Oil supports a more reactive baseline. The Retinyl Renewal Oil uses retinyl palmitate, the gentlest cosmetic form of vitamin A, and the form most often tolerated by perimenopausal skin that has reacted to stronger retinoids. As with any new product, start one at a time and build slowly.
Should I see a doctor about my perimenopause skin changes?
For skin changes alone, a calm skincare routine is usually the right starting point. For perimenopause symptoms beyond skin (sleep, mood, hot flushes, cycle changes, joint changes, fatigue, brain fog), please speak with your GP. The Australian Menopause Society (menopause.org.au) has a find-a-doctor tool. Jean Hailes (jeanhailes.org.au) is the leading Australian women's health resource. If you have a skin condition that is not responding to a gentle routine, see a GP or dermatologist.
Can I use retinol during perimenopause?
You can, but the form that worked in your thirties may not be right for your skin now. Stronger retinoids often become intolerable because the perimenopausal skin barrier is more reactive. Retinyl palmitate, the gentlest cosmetic form of vitamin A, is most often what works for perimenopausal skin. Start twice a week, evening only, on damp skin under a hyaluronic acid serum. Build very slowly. Many women settle at three or four nights a week.
What ingredients should I avoid in perimenopause?
There is no fixed list. Many women find they need to avoid stronger retinoids if those have not been tolerated, high concentrations of glycolic or salicylic acid, foaming or stripping cleansers, heavily fragranced products, and the cumulative load of too many actives at once. The principle is fewer products, gentler ingredients, applied consistently.
Where to next
References
- Davis, S.R., et al. (2025). The Australian Women's Midlife Years Study. The Lancet Diabetes and Endocrinology.
- Brincat, M., et al. (1987). A study of the decrease of skin collagen content, skin thickness, and bone mass in the postmenopausal woman. Obstetrics and Gynecology, 70(6), 840–845.
- Lephart, E.D., and Naftolin, F. (2021). Menopause and the skin: old favourites and new innovations in cosmeceuticals for oestrogen-deficient skin. Dermatology and Therapy, 11(1), 53–69.
- Nikoletić, K., et al. (2025). Skin barrier function across the menopause transition. Skin Research and Technology.
- Slon, K., et al. (2024). Chamazulene: antioxidant and biological activity. Molecules.
- Sorg, O., et al. (2006). Retinoids in cosmetics and dermatology. Dermatologic Therapy, 19(5), 289–296.
- Mukherjee, S., et al. (2006). Retinoids in the treatment of skin ageing: an overview of clinical efficacy and safety. Clinical Interventions in Aging, 1(4), 327–348.
