Two years ago, I started putting cream that's normally meant for… well, down there… on my face. Under my eyes. On my neck. On the backs of my hands.
I know how that sounds.
But here's the thing…the improvement in my skin has been remarkable. And honestly, what's even better is I got rid of about 20 steps from my old skincare routine. Fewer products. Less time. More cabinet space. #winning
I made a video about this a while back, and the comments told me everything I needed to know: you all have the exact same questions I had before I started. Does it actually work? Is it safe? What kind do you use? How do you even get it if your doctor looks at you like you grew a second head? When do you apply it, and what changes can you actually expect?
Let's get into all of it.
Wait… Didn't You Just Get a Facelift?
Yeah. Let's address that first, because I know exactly what some of you are thinking: “Of course your skin looks good, you had work done.”
Here's the twist…it was actually getting my facelift that helped me realize how much the estrogen cream had already changed my skin. Because a facelift doesn't improve your skin. It tightens things. It does not make your skin thicker, healthier, or more resilient. If anything, it does the opposite; post-surgery, my skin got thinner and wildly sensitive.
Funny enough, when I first started getting consultations, almost every surgeon wanted me to do a CO2 laser resurfacing treatment. By the time I actually had my surgery, that recommendation had quietly disappeared from my chart. My doctor looked at my skin and said, “I don't know what you're doing, but you don't need it.”
That's when it clicked. The skin changes weren't from the facelift. They were already there before I ever got near an operating room.
How Estrogen Cream for Your Face Actually Works
If you've tried this and felt like nothing happened, I want to explain why…because I almost gave up too.
Estrogen is what your body uses to produce collagen. You have estrogen receptors all over your skin, not just in the obvious places. As estrogen declines during perimenopause and menopause (it can drop up to 30% in just the first five years) your collagen production drops right along with it. Your skin's ability to hold moisture declines. Its ability to heal declines. It gets thinner, drier, weaker. You wake up one day and you're like, since when did I get my grandmother's skin?
That's the moment that sent me looking for something different.
Here's what I was doing wrong before, and what a lot of women do: buying more serums, more lotions, more “miracle” potions, and layering them onto skin that was already losing its structural foundation.
Estrogen is less like paint and more like the construction crew that rebuilds the foundation underneath. It makes skin thicker, stronger, and better at holding onto moisture …but those changes happen slowly.
Around the six-month mark, I thought, “Is this even doing anything?” I expected age spots to fade, brightness to show up fast. But that's not what happened. What happened was subtle: better texture, thickness and foundation. And once skin actually gets thicker (which can take more than six months), that's when things start looking more even, because thin skin is what causes the dark circles, the visible veins, the redness, the crepey texture. All of that traces back to declining collagen.
Is Estrogen Cream for Your Face Actually Backed by Research?
I want to be straight with you here, because this is genuinely a topic where smart, credentialed people disagree.
Estrogen cream was originally developed for vaginal tissue…to treat the thinning and dryness that happens there during menopause. Using it on the face is an off-label use, and the research on facial application specifically is mixed.
Some of what's out there: a small 1994 study and a few others since have shown improvements in skin elasticity, thickness, and collagen with topical estrogen. A few small trials found increased dermal collagen and improved texture after several months of use. That's the case for it.
To be clear… this isn't some fringe internet trend either. The conversation around hormone health and skin has gone increasingly mainstream over the last couple years, including among well-known women in Hollywood talking more openly about what menopause actually does to your body. That doesn't make it science. But it does mean you're not the only one asking these questions.
So here's where I land: this isn't a settled “yes it works, everyone should do it” situation. It's a “here's my actual experience, here's what the early research suggests, and here's why you need a real conversation with a real clinician before you try it” situation.
Which Estrogen Cream Is Best for Your Face?
This is one of the most common questions I get, and the honest answer is: it depends on what you're trying to do and what your clinician thinks is appropriate for you.
Broadly, you're choosing between two things:
Estriol-based creams. Estriol is one of the milder forms of estrogen your body produces, and it's considered to have a more favorable safety profile because it's less potent and doesn't stay active as long. Most compounded prescription anti-aging creams use estriol at around 0.3%.
Estradiol-based creams. Estradiol is the stronger, more potent form of estrogen — it's what most of the actual clinical research on facial skin improvement has used, typically at much lower concentrations (around 0.01%), often because it's simply repurposed from vaginal estrogen formulations.
You'll also see a split between:
Over-the-counter “estrogen-adjacent” products. Anything you can buy without a prescription technically cannot contain actual estrogen, since estrogen is a regulated hormone. These products usually rely on phytoestrogens (plant compounds that mimic estrogen in the body) and the research on those is even thinner than on real topical estrogen.
Prescription compounded creams. True estrogen face creams require a prescription and are mixed by a compounding pharmacy. This is the category I use, and it's the one with actual hormone content and the most (though still limited) research behind it.
I'm not going to tell you there's one universal “best.” Your history, your skin, your goals, and your clinician's recommendation all factor in. What I can tell you is that I'd rather work with a real prescription product through a provider who understands my full health picture than gamble on an over-the-counter version with vague “estrogen-like” ingredients and no oversight.
Is It Safe? (Including If You've Had Breast Cancer)
This is the question I get the most, and the honest answer is: that's a conversation for you and your clinician, ideally one who has actual experience working with breast cancer survivors specifically.
What I can tell you is that topical estriol appears to have very minimal systemic absorption. A lot of the fear around estrogen and cancer risk traces back to the Women's Health Initiative study from 2000, which has since been walked back and criticized for serious methodological flaws. That study led to decades of women being denied hormone therapy that could have meaningfully improved how they lived and aged. The FDA has since lifted its black box warning on estrogen products.
Does that mean hormone therapy is automatically safe for everyone? No. We're all different, and your personal and family history matters here. This is exactly why working with a clinician who actually specializes in this (not someone guessing) is non-negotiable.
A few other honest notes on safety, since this comes up a lot:
Will it make you gain weight? Topical estrogen at the doses used for skin is a very different exposure than the systemic hormone shifts that affect weight. There's no solid evidence that a topical facial cream causes weight gain.
Who should avoid it? If you have a personal or family history of hormone-sensitive conditions, certain breast, uterine, or ovarian cancers …this is a conversation to have with your doctor before starting anything, not after.
Should a 70 (or 80) Year Old Woman Use Estrogen Cream?
Short answer: there's no expiration date on this conversation.
I know there's a common belief that once you're decades past menopause, hormone therapy is “too late” to bother with or somehow riskier just because of age. That's not really how it works. The relevant factors are your individual health history and how long it's been since you started any hormone therapy at all (if you're brand new to HRT later in life, that's a different conversation than continuing something you've already been on)…not just a number on a calendar.
If you're in your 70s or 80s and curious, the move is the same as it is at 45: find a clinician who actually specializes in hormone health and ask directly. Don't let a general practitioner who's never been trained in this area tell you it's off the table without a real conversation first.
How Do You Actually Get Estrogen Cream for Your Face?
This is usually where people get stuck, because most general practitioners have zero training in this and will look at you blankly if you bring it up. Which, by the way, is the actual reason so many doctors won't prescribe it; it's not that they've evaluated it and said no, it's that hormone health for women has historically been a tiny fraction of medical training.
This is one of the big reasons I personally use Midi Health. Midi's clinicians are specifically trained in women's hormone health, they're licensed in all 50 states, and they accept most major insurance plans.
I get my compounded estrogen cream through them. They work with a compounding pharmacy that already has the facial formulation figured out.
What Changes Can You Actually Expect?
Be patient. That's the real answer.
This is not a serum that gives you instant plump on day one. The skin needs time to rebuild its actual structure…sometimes more than six months before you notice real changes. What you're watching for is thickness, texture, less crepey-ness, more evenness in tone. The dramatic stuff: fewer dark circles, less visible veining, smoother texture…that comes later, once that structural rebuild has actually happened.
And one more honest note: hormone therapy in general is not an exact science. When I first started HRT, I expected it to fix everything overnight: weight, energy, mood, skin, all of it. Nothing changed at first. It took close to a year of working with my clinician to find the right balance for me in perimenopause, and then once I hit menopause, the formula shifted again and we had to readjust.
This is why ongoing bloodwork and a real relationship with a knowledgeable clinician matters so much more than any one product. I get my levels checked every three to six months because I like to stay informed, but you can absolutely just go by your symptoms and check every six months if that's a better fit for you.
The Bottom Line
This isn't a miracle product, but for me, the results have been real. And they make sense once you understand how estrogen actually works in skin. It's not about layering on more product. It's about rebuilding the foundation underneath, and that takes time and patience.
If it's something you're curious about, get a knowledgeable provider, ask your questions, and give it real time before you decide whether it's working for you.
Love you. Mean it.
Chalene
Heads up: I'm a paid partner with Midi Health. I started using them because I genuinely needed a clinician who knew this stuff, and I loved the experience enough that I now work with them too. That relationship doesn't change what I'm telling you here.
Also- this blog may contain affiliate links which simply means I make a small commission if you use them.
Frequently Asked Questions
Does estrogen cream actually work for facial skin? Some research shows improvements in collagen, skin thickness, and elasticity with topical estrogen use, but most studies are small and short-term. Results typically take six months or longer to become noticeable, since the changes are structural rather than surface-level.
Is estrogen cream safe to use on your face? Topical estriol appears to have minimal systemic absorption, but safety depends on individual health history, especially for anyone with a personal or family history of hormone-sensitive conditions. This should always be discussed with a clinician experienced in hormone health.
Can you use estrogen cream on your face if you've had breast cancer? This is a conversation specifically for you and a clinician with experience treating breast cancer survivors. It is not a decision to make based on general advice alone.
Which estrogen cream is best for the face? It depends on your individual needs. Prescription compounded creams using estriol or low-dose estradiol have the most (though still limited) research behind them. Over-the-counter products marketed with “estrogen-like” ingredients typically rely on phytoestrogens rather than actual hormones, since true estrogen requires a prescription.
Do you gain weight using estradiol or estriol face cream? There's no strong evidence that topical estrogen used on the face, at the doses typically prescribed, causes weight gain. That risk is more associated with broader systemic hormone changes, not topical skin application.
Should a 70 or 80 year old woman use estrogen cream? Age alone isn't a disqualifier. What matters more is your individual health history and working with a clinician who specializes in hormone health to determine what's appropriate for you specifically.
Why won't my doctor prescribe estrogen cream for my face? Most general practitioners receive very little training in women's hormone health, so this isn't a reflection of estrogen cream being unsafe; it's a gap in medical education. Seeking out a clinician or telehealth service that specializes specifically in menopause and hormone health, like Midi Health, often solves this.
Where do you get estrogen cream for your face? It typically requires a prescription from a clinician trained in hormone health, often filled through a compounding pharmacy. Many women use telehealth services like Midi Health, which specialize specifically in menopause and hormone care.
How long does it take to see results from estrogen face cream? Because the changes are structural, most people don't see noticeable results for at least six months, sometimes longer.
