For many women, the conversation around menopause tends to focus on symptoms like hot flashes, night sweats and mood swings. But something far less discussed is happening quietly on your face. Your skin begins to change, and expression lines start becoming more visible.
The Effects of Menopause No One Warned You About
Most people associate menopause with the end of periods and changes in mood or sleep, but one of its less talked-about effects is the way it changes your skin.
Declining oestrogen levels affect how your skin looks and feels. Dryness, sensitivity, and thinning all start to become more noticeable. Your skin becomes more prone to deeper folds and creasing. This can catch many women off guard, especially if they had previously enjoyed relatively smooth or firm skin.
Oestrogen supports hydration, collagen production and even blood flow to the skin. Once those hormone levels begin to fall, your skin struggles to maintain the same elasticity and plumpness it once had. Wrinkles can start to appear more defined, and the skin may lose some of the smoothness it once had.
The Usual Places Expression Lines Show Up
Expression lines tend to appear in specific regions of the face, such as the corners of your mouth and eyes, your forehead, and between your eyebrows. In younger skin, these lines come and go with each smile or frown. As time goes on, however, those same lines start to linger as lasting reminders of every laugh, squint, or worried expression.
Frown lines between the brows are usually among the first to appear and often the most visible. Though they are common, their presence can feel more pronounced during menopause due to changes in skin structure.
Why They Start to Show More with Age
Expression lines are not simply the result of one too many smiles or furrowed brows. They are shaped by deeper processes within the skin, like reduced collagen, lower hydration, and environmental wear. Genetics, smoking, sun exposure, and even your everyday facial habits can influence how these lines form.
Menopause introduces new factors into the mix. Loss of oestrogen speeds up the breakdown of collagen and moisture retention, making lines appear earlier or deeper than expected. This is where the link between menopause and wrinkles becomes clearer.
Skin Changes Speed Up During the Menopause Years
This phase of life often brings a noticeable shift in how fast your skin appears to age. A condition known as Estrogen Deficient Skin (EDS) develops when hormonal changes cause the skin to lose its strength and suppleness more rapidly than before. What might have been a gradual softening of features becomes a sudden change for many women.
During perimenopause and menopause, the body’s internal balance adjusts, and these changes often show up on your skin before other signs appear. You might also find that your skin becomes more sensitive, drier, and less able to recover from things like sun exposure or minor abrasions.
Why Your Skin Loses Its Bounce
Collagen is one of the skin’s main structural supports. In the first five years after menopause, women may lose up to a third of their skin’s collagen. After that, the decline continues steadily, at about 3% per year. This makes the skin thinner, less resilient, and more prone to wrinkles and sagging.
It is not just collagen that decreases. Hyaluronic acid and elastin also drop, leaving the skin feeling drier and looking less plump. This change can feel both sudden and difficult to manage without support.
At Her Medical, many women come to us not because they want to turn back the clock, but because they want to feel more comfortable in their skin as they age. We understand that healthy ageing means working with your skin, not against it, and supporting its natural processes with the right care, knowledge and preventative steps.
What You Can Do to Soften Expression Lines
Looking after your skin before and after menopause requires a shift in how you care for it. Focus on hydration, nourishment, and protection inside and out.
A diet rich in vitamins, minerals and antioxidants helps support your body’s natural collagen production. Equally important is staying hydrated and limiting alcohol or caffeine, as both can make a visible difference in skin tone and elasticity.
Skincare should be gentle but consistent. Choose moisturisers and serums that support hydration and contain ingredients suitable for sensitive or ageing skin.
Always use sunscreen during the day, preferably one with SPF 30 or higher. For makeup removal, opt for non-soap-based cleansers that do not strip the skin of its natural oils and moisture.
Exercises to Tone Your Muscles and Relax Your Lines
You may be able to slow the deepening of fine lines into menopause wrinkles. While it will not stop the ageing process entirely, this kind of preventative care gives your skin a stronger foundation to age well.
Just like the rest of your body, your face has muscles, and they respond well to exercise. Regular facial movements can help improve tone and may soften the appearance of fine lines, especially around the mouth and eyes.
Start with these simple facial exercises:
- Press the tips of your index fingers gently on either side of your mouth.
- Smile as widely as you can while keeping pressure on those lines.
- Hold for 5 to 10 seconds, relax, and repeat up to 30 times.
Other exercises include smiling with closed teeth or using your thumbs and fingers to stretch and relax the outer corners of your eyes while squeezing them shut.
These movements stimulate circulation and support skin elasticity. A few minutes a day can build a routine that brings gradual, natural improvement over time.
Love the Skin You Are In
Expression lines are not flaws. They are traces of emotion, character and time, but it is still worth giving your skin the care and attention it deserves.
With the right care and knowledge, you can manage the effects of menopause on your skin and feel confident again in your own reflection. By tuning into your body’s needs and embracing small, consistent habits, you can soften lines and feel more at ease in your skin. Menopause often brings a mix of physical and emotional changes, and each woman’s experience is different. If you are seeking guidance that takes all of this into account, speaking with Gold Coast menopause doctors can be a helpful step toward understanding your options and feeling supported.