Ask a Dermatologist: "How can I maintain my skin's youthful glow?"

By Womaness Editors   3-Minute Read

Welcome to ASK AN EXPERT, a series where we pose your real questions to our menopause experts for the answers you need. Have a question? Post it on The After Party, our private Facebook Group.

Your Question:

“What can I do to maintain my skin's youthful glow as I head into menopause?”

The Answer:

From Dr. Sapna Westley, a board-certified dermatologist in New York City specializing in medical and cosmetic dermatology: 

“I think it's a combination of internal and external things. I always talk about the importance of sun protection. A good healthy diet; a high-antioxidant diet is really important with aging. Fish oil, an omega-3-rich diet, is also good for helping with that natural glow and [adding] moisture to the skin.

And don't smoke—that's a big no-no for the skin, especially with aging.

Then it's about adding in appropriate ingredients. Glycolic acid is a nice ingredient; ceramides, too. Hyaluronic acid, because of the hydration that it's adding to the skin… it really helps people feel like they're getting a nice glow to their skin as well. And retinol is such a big ingredient because it really does have the most data for waking up collagen, texture, tone, and helping with fine lines and wrinkles."