Aging & Skin - A Series
Exploring menopause, skin shifts, and slow beauty
Menopause often feels like a word wrapped in mysterious finality, like the quiet closing of a chapter we were never really taught to read. Even curating images for this post revealed something telling: a Google search for “menopause women” returns mostly photos of grey-haired women with eyes closed, hand to forehead, or a look of visible discomfort. The tone leans clinical or distressed, emphasizing symptoms like hot flashes or mood swings. In contrast, a search for “aging men” brings up calm, confident portraits - men with salt-and-pepper hair, soft smiles, and a matter-of-fact presence. Their wrinkles are framed as signs of character, not struggle. It’s a subtle but powerful visual difference, and it shapes how we’re taught to see aging skin.
I realized recently that I’m the first woman in my family to go through menopause naturally. I lost my mom when I was in my mid-30s as she was just starting her aging journey. And while I was bracing for the hot flashes and brain fog that she’d talk about, what caught me off guard more than anything was how much my skin changed. No one told me that my face would get drier, that the cute freckles I thought I had were actually spots from sun damage, that the few skin products I used would now sometimes sting, that my neck would be so… waggly and turtley… or that my arms would be crazy dry and itch for no reason.
I accepted the changes for a while until a visit to the dermatologist for sun damage made me realize it was time to learn how to care for my changing skin more intentionally. When I looked for solutions, they were hard to find. Either the information was too clinical to connect with, options with active ingredients were overwhelming, or felt like I just didn’t relate. Information was more aimed at younger people with still-glowing skin. So I started learning, one ingredient and one purpose at a time.
Ideally, I looked for natural ingredients, but if not completely natural and from the earth, then a balanced mix of nature and nurture through safe science.
So - welcome to the AliBee series about menopause and the effects on our skin.
For the next few posts, we’ll focus on how perimenopause and menopause affect skin:
What changes first (and why)
How to tell what your skin really needs now
How to care for not just your face, but your whole body
Why aging skin isn’t something to “fix,” but something to understand
At the end of each day through the end of June, I’ll post a little reflection or insight on Instagram—and at the end of the week, we’ll wrap it all up here in one place.
We’ll move to weekly themes for the next month, building on what we’ve learned. These will include:
How sun exposure affects aging skin
Ingredients that support mature skin (without the hype)
Simple, intentional routines that actually stick
This whole season in our lives is about being honest with ourselves and our skin and unlearning what aging should look like, tuning into what it actually feels like. Whether you’re in the thick of hot flashes, night sweats, heightened anxiety, brain fog, or just general hormone shifts, or wondering if you’re starting to notice changes in your journey in perimenopause, or loving your skin exactly as it is, I’m so glad you’re here. <3
