SKINCARE

SEPTEMBER 2026

Your Skincare Isn’t Broken. Your Skin Has Changed.

Not sure what your skin needs now?

If the products you’ve used for years suddenly aren’t cutting it, your skin might be trying to tell you something.

Take our Mid-life Skin Check, tell us what you’re noticing and get personalised guidance on what your skin might need now.

It's just playing by different rules now.

So instead of fighting it, let's work out what it actually needs.

Because looking fresh at 45, 50, 60 or beyond isn't about pretending you're 30.

It's about looking bloody good at the age you are and, most importantly, still looking like you.

Don't panic-buy skincare because someone on TikTok has perfect skin.

She may have a filter. She may have a £500 skincare routine. She may have had treatments. She may have fantastic lighting.

She may simply have won the genetic lottery.

Probably best not to base your entire skincare strategy on her.

Instead, start with your own skin. What is actually bothering you? What has changed? What are you already using? And what would you genuinely like to improve?

That's where a proper consultation can be much more useful than another random serum.

Sometimes you need to change your skincare. Sometimes a treatment could help. Sometimes you need a bit of both.

Remember when your skincare routine was basically cleanser, moisturiser and maybe a bit of SPF if you were going somewhere sunny?
And somehow your skin just… behaved?

Those were the days.

Then somewhere around your forties, your face apparently decided to update its operating system without telling you. Suddenly the moisturiser you've used for years isn't doing much. Your skin feels dry. Your makeup sits differently. You’re getting little lines you swear weren't there last Tuesday.

And that glow you used to have?

Currently missing, presumed dead.

Before you throw every product in your bathroom into the bin, there’s something you need to know.

Your skin hasn't necessarily become “bad”. It has changed.

Hormones have entered the chat.

Perimenopause and menopause can have a significant impact on how our skin behaves. As oestrogen levels change, skin can become drier and less elastic, while changes in collagen can affect its firmness and structure.

Which means the routine that worked brilliantly in your thirties may simply not be doing enough for your skin anymore.

And this is where it’s very easy to get caught on the skincare hamster wheel. A new serum. A new cream. A new “miracle” ingredient. Another £90 bottle promising to make you look like you’ve just returned from a week in a Swiss clinic.

Two weeks later?

Same face. Less money.

So what does midlife skin actually need?

Hydration is a good place to start. And we're talking about properly supporting your skin barrier and keeping moisture in, rather than simply slapping on the thickest moisturiser you can find and hoping for the best.

Then there’s protection.

If SPF isn't already a daily habit, now is a very good time to make it one. UV exposure contributes significantly to visible skin ageing and pigmentation, which is why broad-spectrum sun protection is one of the least glamorous but most useful things you can do for your skin.

And then there are ingredients that actually have a job to do.

Depending on your skin and what you want to improve, that might include ingredients such as retinoids, vitamin C, peptides or exfoliating acids. But this is very much a case where more isn't necessarily better.

You do not need seventeen steps. You do not need a bathroom shelf that looks like the skincare aisle at Space NK. And you definitely don't need to use every active ingredient you've seen on Instagram simultaneously.

Your skin may stage a small rebellion.

And then there’s collagen.

This is probably one of the biggest traps to fall into: trying to recreate the skin you had at 28.

But you're not 28.

And frankly, you've got better things to do now.

Your skin has different needs, your priorities might be different and your idea of looking good probably isn't the same either.

Maybe you don't want perfectly smooth skin. Maybe you just want your makeup to sit nicely again. Perhaps pigmentation is bothering you, your face looks tired even when you aren't or your skin feels permanently thirsty.

Maybe you’ve lost weight and suddenly noticed changes in your face that weren't there before.

These are all completely different concerns, which is precisely why buying whatever serum Instagram is currently obsessed with isn't always the answer.

This is the bit that catches many women out.

As we age, collagen levels decline and that affects more than just fine lines. It can contribute to changes in firmness, elasticity, texture and the overall appearance of the skin.

So if you're standing in front of the mirror wondering why your face looks a little less “plump and bouncy” than it used to, you're not imagining it.

And no, unfortunately your moisturiser can't do everything.

This is where treatments designed to improve skin quality or support collagen production can sometimes have a role. Depending on your skin, concerns and overall goals, that might mean considering treatments such as skin boosters, polynucleotides or other collagen-stimulating treatments.

But, and this is important, there isn't one magic treatment that every woman suddenly needs when she hits 40.

Stop chasing younger skin. Start looking after the skin you actually have.

And here's our favourite piece of advice…

Midlife skin isn't the enemy.