What's Really Happening to Your Skin This Summer

You catch yourself in the mirror one morning and something looks different. Not dramatically, just enough that you do a double take. New spots. A patch of pigment that wasn't there last year. Skin that suddenly feels thirsty no matter how much you moisturize.

My patients aren't the only ones who say "Doc, I swear I woke up one day and my skin was not mine."

I have felt that too! More sun spots, saggier skin, DRY skin, more sensitive skin, even ACNE. LIKE WTF? Skin is thankfully nothing I really had to worry about it but in the last few years, I've upped my knowledge on preventative care and treatment for skin related issues during perimenopause.

Here's the biology...

Estrogen receptors are embedded throughout your skin... in the epidermis, dermis, and hair follicles. When estrogen begins its perimenopausal fluctuations, every one of those receptors feels it.

Collagen production drops by approximately 30% in the first five years after menopause begins!

Add declining progesterone (which has anti-inflammatory properties) and you have a recipe for increased skin sensitivity, adult acne along the jawline, and slower healing from breakouts or irritation.

The woman who could skip moisturizer in her 30s is now applying three products and still feeling tight and dry. The woman who never had acne is breaking out along her jaw at 41. The one who used to lay out to tan everyday? She's seeing all of those sunspot become visible NOW.

This is perimenopause. It shows up in your skin before your periods even become irregular. And once you understand the mechanism you can address it at the root instead of chasing symptoms with products that were never designed for this hormonal environment.

Social Media is crowded with skin influencers and it gets confusing on where to start. 

I'll make it easy for you:

Establish care with a board certified dermatologist AND have a trained esthetician in your back pocket. *My friends who have melaninated skin tones, make sure your skincare team has experience in treating your skin tone!

The REwrite is simple but non-negotiable.

SPF every single day, not just at the beach. Mineral sunscreen tends to be better for reactive, hormonal skin than chemical formulas. That being said, use what works best for you and use what you can stick to daily

One small goal this week: put on SPF before you do anything else in the morning, every day, even on cloudy days. That's it. One habit, repeated.

Your skin isn't betraying you. It's responding to a body in transition, and once you know that, you can actually work with it.

I share more on perimenopause skin, hormones, and the daily reality of this phase over on Instagram. Come hang out: @drflorasinha