In over two decades as a beauty journalist I don’t think I’ve seen a trend gather as much pace as menopausal skincare. Shelves are saturated with products that imply they are a balm to hot flushes, thanks to ‘cool’ in the name or that claim benefits for perimenopause and menopause on the bottle.

This trend, however, irks me in a way that ‘clean beauty’ or those products that crossed-over into the holistic, wellbeing space did not. Women experiencing menopausal symptoms, which can present for around a decade before actual menopause, can creep up in a way that makes them think they are slowly losing the plot. You don’t just one day choose to want menopausal skincare in the way you might decide that you want to only consume ‘clean beauty’*, this is a need and a necessity.

What’s more, the changes that one has to navigate when going through perimenopause and menopause are doubly confusing because you’ve likely had a couple of decades of knowing what does and doesn’t work for your skin and all of a sudden, everything has changed and you feel confused and unsure.

So, dear reader, for a little while now I have rolled my eyes when reading excited press releases about groundbreaking new skincare lines designed for perimenopause and menopause. Is this range really going to make a woman experiencing menopausal symptoms feel the way she wants to feel or have brands just realised that women over 40 have a decent disposable income and will try anything that promises to help?

A few months ago I learned about the Vichy Neovadiol skincare range and braced myself to be unimpressed. However, of all the skincare lines designed specifically for menopausal skin, this is the only one I feel confident to recommend.

I’ve been trialling the Neovadiol Perimenopause Plump Day Cream for Dry Skin, £34.95, Neovadiol Perimenopause Revitalizing Night Cream, £36.95, Neovadiol Multi-Corrective Eye and Lip Care for Menopausal Skin. £29.95 and the stand-out Neovadiol Meno 5 Serum for Menopausal Skin, £42.50.

My first impressions were of a collection of products that felt silky when applied but not slippery. There’s a feeling of instant ‘quench’ on application and the Serum in particular immediately softened any tightness or discomfort in the skin. Used in combination, these four products were soothing, extremely nourishing and hydrating, but there was something else…

The Night Cream has a little hidden bonus, which once I noticed it, made me think the formula was utterly genius. When you apply it, the main feeling is of hydration but after a minute or two there’s a subtle cooling sensation on the skin. Several times now I’ve applied it, got into bed and just relaxed as I’ve enjoyed the calming cool spread across my face and neck.

I’m not experiencing hot flushes, but if I was I’d be slathering this on morning, noon and night. What’s more, there’s a very subtle fragrance, which it took me a beat to realise is an extremely muted scent faintly reminiscent of Lime, Basil and Mandarin from Jo Malone London.

My only complaint is the packaging design. More than once I’ve dropped the jars, which are narrower at the top and wider at the bottom, because I’ve had their silky contents on my fingers. They’ve bounced off tiles, slammed onto the floor like Julia Roberts snails in Pretty Woman, and though they haven’t chipped or broken, I have found myself less likely to pick them up simply because the design means they slip out of my hands almost every time I use them.

Menopausal women don’t have the time or the inclination to try a host of skincare to find what’ll work for them, but they also won’t tolerate anything that slips out of their fingertips and has them on all fours in the bathroom retrieving something that’s fallen under the sink.

Design flaws aside (Dear Vichy, have you considered rubberised packaging?) if your skin isn’t responding to your usual skincare as it has previously, if your skin is suddenly drier than usual, you feel hot or clammy to the touch or you are noticing a loss of plumpness to your skin, then Vichy Neovadiol is well worth your consideration - as is a consultation with your GP or hormone specialist because there really is only so much topical skincare can do…

Impressive contents, but these jars really can fly out of your grasp…

*I haven’t the time or the inclination to go into it, ‘clean beauty’ isn’t a thing.

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