Skin deep
A constellation of adolescent acne across your jawline. While not quite the skin you were shooting for when stocking your bathroom cabinet with everything from vitamin A to collagen supplements, it’s an extremely common symptom that, along with brain fog and aching joints, can be explained by menopause.
While not officially arriving until your period has been in absentia for at least 12 months, menopause makes itself known years earlier, during the phase known as perimenopause – a life stage dominated by the fluctuation and gradual decline of reproductive hormones. Diminishing levels of oestrogen and the dominance of testosterone account for an increase in oil production in your skin. When you factor in falling levels of naturally occurring and hydrating hyaluronic acid, along with the thinning of your skin, it’s a perfect storm for breakouts. And while the calling card of pubescent acne is a spotty T-zone – the area above your eyebrows and down your nose – menopausal acne appears in the lower half of your face, typically along your jawline.
Here’s the good news: with time, hormonal acne should improve on its own. But you can speed up the process by incorporating active ingredients into your routine. Salicylic acid is a beta hydroxy acid that’s proven to prompt the skin to exfoliate itself while burrowing into the pores to dissolve oil and debris. As for that vitamin A, it takes pride of pla
