If you are here, chances are you are somewhere in the middle of menopause. Perhaps your sleep has changed, or your skin, or your patience with things that never used to bother you. Perhaps a friend has mentioned HRT and you are quietly wondering whether you should look into it. Perhaps you feel completely at sea in a conversation that only started properly in the last few years, and everyone else seems to have caught up before you did.
At Elysium Lifestyle Magazine, we believe menopause deserves better than fragmented advice, product-first content, and the sense that you should be figuring this out on your own. This is our complete guide to living well through every stage of the transition, curated by contributors who have credentials, experience, and skin in the game. Use it as a starting point, come back when you need it, and share it with the women in your life who are navigating the same shifts.
01Understanding the stages: perimenopause, menopause, postmenopause
Menopause is not a single event. It is a transition that unfolds over years, sometimes over a decade, and the language we use to describe it matters because knowing where you are makes a real difference to how you approach it.
Stage one
Perimenopause
Hormones begin to shift, usually in the early to mid forties. Cycles, sleep and mood become less predictable.
Stage two
Menopause
Twelve consecutive months without a period, usually somewhere between 45 and 55.
Stage three
Postmenopause
Everything that follows, a stage many women describe as the most liberating of their lives.
Perimenopause is the phase when hormones begin to shift, typically starting in the early to mid forties, though it can arrive earlier or later. Cycles become less predictable, sleep may thin, mood may fluctuate, and physical changes appear before anyone has formally named what is happening. Many women spend years here before realising perimenopause is the correct framework for what they are experiencing, and Jo Fiddy’s article What I Wish I’d Known About Perimenopause in My Thirties is a helpful starting point for recognising the signals.
Menopause itself is defined clinically as twelve consecutive months without a period, which usually falls somewhere between 45 and 55. Postmenopause is everything that follows, a stage many women describe as the most liberating chapter of their lives once they have learned to work with their body’s new rhythm rather than against it.
Whether you are trying to name what is happening or make sense of a stage you are already deep in, our reading list for perimenopause and midlife collects the writing we most often recommend.
Read nextMy Favourite Books to Support You This Summer in Perimenopause and Midlife
02Managing menopause: your options at a glance
There is no single correct way to move through menopause, and the reason so much advice feels contradictory is that women are not one homogenous group. What works for a marathon runner in her late forties will not necessarily suit a mother of teenagers juggling a demanding career, and neither will match what feels right for a woman entering postmenopause after surgical ovary removal. The options broadly fall into four categories, and most women end up combining them.
Hormone replacement therapy, commonly known as HRT, replaces the oestrogen and progesterone your body is producing less of. Available in patches, gels, sprays, tablets, and vaginal preparations, it is now understood to be safe and appropriate for most women when prescribed by a knowledgeable clinician. The public conversation around HRT has shifted dramatically in recent years, and Sue Moxley’s review of the Balance documentary captures the moment well.
Lifestyle medicine covers the foundations: nutrition, movement, sleep, stress management, and connection. These are not soft alternatives to medical treatment. They are the scaffolding that makes everything else work better, and our holistic wellness blueprint explores how to build them into a menopause-aware rhythm.
Complementary and holistic approaches include acupuncture, herbal medicine, and mind-body practices that many women find genuinely useful alongside conventional care.
Supplements can play a supporting role, though the market is crowded and quality varies enormously. Jo Fiddy’s coverage of science-led menopause supplements is a good place to understand what actually holds up to scrutiny.
The right approach is the one that works for you, ideally chosen with an informed clinician who takes your full picture into account.
03Menopause and your skin: editorial beauty guidance
Oestrogen does a lot of quiet work for your skin. It supports collagen production, keeps hydration levels up, and helps skin bounce back after each day’s small assaults. When oestrogen declines, the effects show up in ways many women recognise before they know what is causing them: skin feels drier, seems thinner, loses that familiar plumpness, and shows lines that were not there six months ago.
The response is not to panic-buy every anti-ageing product on the market. It is to adjust your routine intelligently. Foundations formulated for younger skin often don’t work well on mature skin, settling into fine lines and highlighting texture rather than smoothing it. Gabrielle Richens has written the definitive Elysium piece on what mature skin actually needs from a foundation, and it is required reading if you have been fighting your usual base without knowing why.
Skincare wise, focus on ingredients that support hydration and barrier function. Hyaluronic acid, peptides, ceramides, and gentle acids do more for menopausal skin than any single miracle product. Retinoids remain valuable but tolerance can change with hormones, so introduce or reintroduce them slowly.
Aesthetic treatments can play a supportive role if they interest you. Sue Moxley, our Editor in Chief, is one of the UK’s leading aesthetic practitioners specialising in anti-ageing treatments for menopausal skin. Abby Knight’s ongoing Treatment of the Month series reviews specific treatments in depth, giving you a real sense of what to expect before you book.
Above all, this is a stage to be kinder to your skin, not harsher. It has done a lot for you. Treat it like a long-term relationship rather than a project to fix.
Read nextThe Foundation Evolution Mature Skin Needed
04Nutrition, movement and sleep: the lifestyle foundations
If HRT is the pharmacology and skincare is the surface, nutrition, movement, and sleep are the deep infrastructure. Neglect them and nothing else works as well. Attend to them and you build a foundation that supports every other choice you make.
Nutritionally, protein becomes more important during and after menopause because muscle mass declines faster without it. Aim to include a substantial protein source at each meal. Calcium and vitamin D matter for bone health, which faces new challenges as oestrogen falls. Fibre, healthy fats, and slow-releasing carbohydrates steady blood sugar and mood, which in turn support sleep and hormonal balance. There is no single menopause diet, but a Mediterranean-inspired pattern rich in vegetables, fish, olive oil, whole grains, and pulses is the closest thing to a universal recommendation.
Movement needs to shift. The high-intensity cardio that worked in your thirties may now leave you exhausted and inflamed, while strength training becomes essential for preserving muscle and bone. Aim for two to three strength sessions a week, alongside walking and something that supports mobility. Cindy Robins’ morning yoga routine is a gentle way to build in the mobility work without adding another thing to your list. Our holistic wellness blueprint explores cycle-aware movement in more detail.
Sleep is often the first thing to go and the last to return. Night sweats, waking at three in the morning, and general restlessness are extremely common. Basic sleep hygiene helps: cool room, consistent bedtime, no screens for an hour before, no alcohol close to sleep. If you are waking regularly, consider whether HRT might address the underlying cause with a clinician you trust.
Complementary therapies can also play a role in easing physical tension and pain that disrupts rest. Estelle Keeber’s account of managing chronic pain through acupressure and lymphatic drainage offers an honest first-hand look at what these approaches can and cannot do.
When the seasons change, so do menopause symptoms, and our seasonal guides such as Four Ways to Reset This Autumn can help you recalibrate through the year.
05Menopause, mental health and relationships
The psychological weight of menopause is under-discussed and often under-treated. Anxiety that feels disproportionate to circumstances, low mood that arrives without warning, irritability with the people you love most, brain fog that undermines your confidence at work: these are not character flaws. They are, in many cases, hormonal.
Recognising this is the first step. The second is not trying to power through alone. Therapy, coaching, and honest conversations with a GP who takes women’s health seriously can all shift the picture. So can talking openly with the people you live with.
Many women in this stage are carrying more than their share of emotional labour: teenage children, ageing parents, colleagues, partners who have not yet noticed how tired you are. Alison Blackler’s piece on the hidden exhaustion of trying to fix everyone else names this pattern honestly and is worth reading before you take on one more thing.
Relationships change too, sometimes because of libido shifts, sometimes because midlife itself invites a reappraisal of what you actually want. Mary Griffin’s writing on relationships and intimacy covers this territory with warmth and candour, and her piece on the conversation that could save a life is a reminder that talking honestly with the people around you is not optional.
If you take one thing from this section, take this: menopause is not the time to be stoic. It is the time to ask for support and to accept it when offered.
06Practical considerations: HRT, travel and everyday life
Menopause is not only physiological. It is administrative. It affects things nobody warns you about, and knowing the practical realities in advance saves a lot of frustration later.
Travelling with HRT, for example, involves considerations most travel articles skip entirely. Patches degrade in heat and cannot be stored in a hot car or suitcase. Gels and sprays should stay at room temperature. Time zone shifts affect dosing schedules for oral preparations. Sun exposure and chlorine can affect how well transdermal HRT is absorbed. Menopause coach Dr. Marva Williams’ complete guide to travelling with HRT is essential reading before any holiday.
Travel insurance is another area many women only discover once something has gone wrong. Some insurers require HRT to be declared as a pre-existing condition and can invalidate a policy if you do not. Our investigation into travel insurance and HRT explains what to check before you book.
Workplace conversations are shifting too. UK employers are increasingly expected to accommodate menopausal symptoms, and knowing what reasonable adjustments look like, whether that is temperature control, flexible hours, or uniform changes, puts you in a stronger position to ask.
The smaller practicalities add up: cooling pillows for night sweats, layered clothing for unpredictable flushes, a fan in every room you use regularly, and giving yourself permission to leave a social situation when you need to.
Read nextHRT on Holiday: A Menopause Coach’s Essential Travel Guide
07Meet our menopause experts
Elysium’s menopause coverage is not written by a single voice. It is curated across a team of women with genuine expertise, so you get depth on the medical, the aesthetic, the nutritional, and the lived-experience angles all in one place.
Editor in Chief
One of the UK’s leading beauty and aesthetics experts, Sue holds formal Menopause Expert qualifications and has clinics in Essex and Norfolk specialising in anti-ageing and menopausal skin care. Her career spans decades as beauty editor of the Sun Newspaper, television beauty expert, and founder of the Famous makeup brand. Her writing brings clinical credibility and warmth in equal measure.
Menopause Editor
Jo covers menopause supplements, holistic approaches, and the products that actually make a tangible difference. She takes a rigorous, product-agnostic approach, exploring science-led supplements and the emerging market of holistic menopause support.
Menopause coach
A published author and menopause advocate whose own health crisis in 2019 led her to formulate transdermal supplements designed for women whose bodies do not absorb conventional oral versions well. Her writing focuses on the seasonal shifts that affect menopausal women, particularly through winter.
Lifestyle Editor
Abby brings 25 years of experience writing health, beauty, and wellbeing content for national press including Hello!, Woman, Woman’s Own, Top Sante, Cosmopolitan, and The Sunday Mirror. She curates our reading lists, aesthetic treatment reviews, and lifestyle-focused menopause features.
Inspirational Voice
Founder of VeryMakeupMad and creator of Makeup Your Face, Makeup Your Mind™️, a beauty-fuelled approach to confidence, calm, visibility, and emotional wellbeing at midlife. Meet her every Monday for A Minute of Mala on Elysium’s Instagram.
Relationships Editor
A psychotherapist, relationship therapist and clinical hypnotherapist, Mary writes on relationships and intimacy at midlife with warmth and candour.
Between them, our team covers the full landscape from clinical to holistic, from the physical to the emotional, and from the practical to the aspirational.
08Real women, real stories
Some of the most useful menopause content is not advice but story. Hearing how other women have navigated the same shifts, in their own words, does something no expert guide can quite manage: it makes you feel less alone.
Our Real Life Stories section collects the pieces we are proudest of on this front. Stories of reinvention in midlife, of career shifts and relocations, of women who have said enough and built something new. The founders featured in The Women Who Had Had Enough built a collagen brand out of their own frustration with the menopause supplement market. Sue Moxley’s ongoing interviews with women navigating this stage of life, from television personalities to entrepreneurs, are collected on her author page and remain some of our most-read pieces.
BusinessThe Women Who Had Had Enough.
Health & WellnessPeri-Rage Anger
Health & WellnessYour Perimenopause Glow Up
Read a few. You will recognise yourself somewhere.
09Questions women ask us
How do I know if I am in perimenopause?
Cycles that become less predictable, thinner sleep, mood changes and new physical symptoms, usually from your early to mid forties, are the most common signs. Many women spend years here before naming it. A GP who takes women’s health seriously can help you put a name to what you are experiencing.
Is HRT safe?
HRT is now understood to be safe and appropriate for most women when it is prescribed by a knowledgeable clinician. It comes as patches, gels, sprays, tablets and vaginal preparations, and the right choice depends on your full health picture, so talk it through with a clinician you trust.
What should I change in my skincare routine?
Focus on ingredients that support hydration and the skin barrier: hyaluronic acid, peptides, ceramides and gentle acids. Retinoids remain valuable, but tolerance can change with hormones, so introduce or reintroduce them slowly. Foundations made for younger skin often settle into fine lines, so it may be time to change your base too.
Do I need to declare HRT on my travel insurance?
Some insurers require HRT to be declared as a pre-existing condition and can invalidate a policy if you do not. Check with your insurer before you book. Our investigation into travel insurance and HRT explains what to ask.
What exercise helps most during menopause?
Strength training becomes essential for preserving muscle and bone. Aim for two to three strength sessions a week, alongside walking and something that supports mobility, such as yoga. High-intensity cardio that suited you in your thirties may now leave you exhausted.
10Explore more across our Health & Wellness coverage
Menopause touches on so much more than menopause itself. Our wider coverage explores the emotional, relational, and lifestyle threads that run alongside the hormonal transition, and the writing you’ll find in the sections below often complements the pieces featured above.
Browse our full Menopause category archive to see every menopause piece we have ever published, organised chronologically. If you prefer to explore by theme, our Health & Wellness section covers midlife wellbeing, relationships, and holistic health, while our Real Life Stories collection gathers the personal essays we are proudest of.
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