An intro to hormones and skin

July 20, 2026

Hormones and skin have more to do with each other than just annoying chin pimples.

Here are the fundamentals of what your hormones are doing for your skin on a daily basis.

Oestrogen

This juicy hormone is your skin’s ride or die. Oestrogen gives you a glow, hydrating your skin by helping with your natural production of hyaluronic acid, reducing fine lines and wrinkles by supporting collagen production and skin thickness. It may also play a role in the skin’s barrier function and wound healing. Basically, before investing too much $$ in your skincare routine or beauty treatments, try balancing your oestrogen levels first and you may have some money. Life hack.

Progesterone

The hormonal queen of chill is also an MVP of the skin world. Progesterone combats stress and cortisol levels within the body. As stress and skin don’t get on great, balanced progesterone levels help prevent the skin from stress related damage.

Progesterone also plays a role in the production of thyroid hormones, which are essential for skin health, driving circulation, and making sure the skin gets the blood, oxygen, and nutrients it needs to glow.

Finally, progesterone keeps tabs on sebum (skin oil) production by keeping your androgen levels in check, meaning fewer breakouts.

Androgens (incl. testosterone)

Before we start ragging on androgens and the well-known role they play in hormonal acne, it’s important to acknowledge they actually have some great benefits in the right levels.

Androgens, which are a gang of hormones that testosterone forms part of, do important things for the overall happy health of our skin. Sweat production, hair growth, skin barrier function and wound healing are all special skills of our androgenic pals.

Androgens only become foes when their levels are too high, or are out of ratio when compared to oestrogen and progesterone levels. When left alone androgens have an aggressive communication style (which makes your skin angry and can flare acne), and both oestrogen and progesterone help androgens to express themselves with more grace - thus keeping your skin happy and carefree.

Therefore one of the secrets to managing hormonal acne is to balance your hormones overall, recognising that teamwork really does make your clear skin dreams work.