Estrogen Creams for Wrinkles?

I never had painful migraines, but get the aura effect: as if a bright light flashed at my eyes and left "spots" and then a crescent shaped area as if I'm looking through water. If I consume a serving of estrogens or Phyto estrogens, like soy, I have more frequent episodes. Episodes started in late 20s and decreasing in 40s until I hit menopause, when they increased again. Then steady decrease, maybe once every 2 months, to now, once in 6 months or less. I'm 77.

I just got a vaginal hormone cream prescribed and found out it contains propylene glycol, which I’m allergic to. Any med, toiletry, makeup or other product with PG gives me a burning rash. So my doctor sent my rx to a compounding pharmacy, which made a cream with a non-PG base. I don’t plan to use this on my skin, but PG is something to keep in mind with topical side effects from using an estriol/estradiol cream.

I use a prescription estradiol patch, 0.025 mg/day, Transdermal System to reduce hot flashes. I still had them so I tried .05 and I got a horrible headache that lasted for 14 hours, until I took the patch off. I was also nauseous. So I went back to the .025 patch.

Had been using estradiol 0.1% vaginal cream, twice weekly. Became aware thy roughly 18 hours post application I would have a really bad migrane headache. Quit using the estrogen and no headaches since.

If you read deeply into research applying estrogen to the face has not been proven safe. It does get into the blood stream. I tried and had almost immediate estrogen side effects. No thank you, am not going to be a guinea pig for some kind of slight effects on the skin.

While I understand your concern in advising caution, please be aware that there is now an effort underway to get the FDA to remove the black box warning from topical estrogen. I have no financial interest in any Rx or OTC menopausal therapy.

There are 3 product names mentioned in the article, one is prescription, one is compounded, and one is OTC which very recently changed their formulation and has horrible reviews. Are there any other OTC products that anyone can recommend?

I have both prescription Tretinoin for my face and Estradiol vaginal cream. the other day I accidentally put the vaginal cream on my face. I had a good laugh, told my friend, she laughed, then we thought about it a bit and thought using it on my face might be a good idea! This article is very timely and I appreciate everyone's remarks.

I just filled a prescription 2 days ago for Estradiol 0.01% vaginal cream and am using a pea sized amount my face (around eyes, nasal labial folds, marionette lines, forehead lines, and neck, nightly. And another pea sized amount for the backs of my hands. I spritz my skin with water first so as to spread the cream evenly. I do not use it vaginally. I let it absorb for at least 30 minutes, and then apply my tretinoin 0.1%. , which I have been using for 25 years. Will report back in 1 month, 3 months and 6 months with my results. FYI, I am a 73 year old retired esthetician.

Thanks. Good to know

I have been using a compounded estradiol cream on my face for about 8 years. People guess my age anywhere from 15-20 years younger than I am. Unfortunately, my doctor is no longer in practice, and I am trying the Mosley FaceRx cream. Have only been using for about a week, too soon to know if it works as well.

I’ve used it & will continue to. It’s helped my dryness around my nose due to allergies as well as uneven drier texture on my forehead. I’ve used Gold Bond crepe correct on my hands as well as estradiol cream. Between those two it’s vastly improved.

Several well respected dermatologists have been suggesting on their social media accounts that it could be beneficial to apply prescription estradiol cream under their eyes to treat wrinkles. What do you think of estradiol?

I've been using Alloy M4 cream for close to a year and it's been suprisingly effective. It's very expensive considering the simple ingredients but I will continue using it because it truly takes years off my face. I've been fortunate to have thick oily skin that never seemed to age much at all but of course as soon as my periods stopped it took a nosedive, all of sudden feeling uncomfortably dry and looking thin, grayish, and worst of all, crepey. The estriol cream turned it around like nothing else. My skin looks and feels noticeably more plump, it doesn't look dull anymore, and best of all the crepiness is gone. It took a couple weeks to start seeing some difference and a couple months to reach "peak" difference. I now use it a few times a week for maintenance.

As a breast cancer survivor, I will refrain. No financial interest except in the money it might save me from not using any product.

I recently heard a commentary by a holistic gynecologist on using vaginal cream (estriol) on the face. He was opposed it and said it is for the vaginal atrophy, not the face.

Have any studies been done with using prescription estradiol (vaginal estrogen) cream on the face/neck?