Collagen and Menopause: What Changes and What Helps

The Short Answer: Skin collagen decline speeds up around menopause. Production falls by an estimated 1 to 1.5 per cent a year from the mid-twenties (Reilly & Lozano, 2021), and after menopause skin collagen declines at an average of about 2.1 per cent per postmenopausal year, measured over fifteen years (Viscomi et al., 2025). The driver is the withdrawal of oestrogen. Collagen is food, and it does not act on hormones. What follows is what changes in the skin, why oestrogen drives it, and what a collagen shot actually is.

What happens to skin collagen at menopause?

Collagen is the structural protein that gives skin its firmness, elasticity and ability to hold water. Production begins to decline from the mid-twenties, at an estimated rate of 1 to 1.5 per cent a year (Reilly & Lozano, 2021). That rate rises after menopause. Measured over fifteen postmenopausal years, skin collagen declines at an average of about 2.1 per cent a year (Viscomi et al., 2025).

The practical effect is a dermis that thins and loses density faster than it did in the decade before. Skin can feel less firm, hold less moisture and show lines more readily. This is a change in the skin's structural protein, not a symptom that needs curing. It tracks oestrogen status rather than chronological age alone (Brincat et al., 1987).

Why does oestrogen affect collagen production?

Fibroblasts are the cells in the dermis responsible for synthesising new collagen. Oestrogen has a regulatory role in keeping fibroblasts active via the ER-beta receptor, and the decline in oestrogen around menopause is a key reason skin collagen loss accelerates during this stage (Viscomi et al., 2025).

That is a hormonal mechanism, and no food replaces a hormone. A collagen supplement does not restore oestrogen and does not act on hormones at all. What it is, is hydrolysed collagen: collagen protein broken down to low molecular weight peptides, which are absorbed into the bloodstream after oral intake (Leon-Lopez et al., 2019; Virgilio et al., 2024). Its amino acid profile is rich in glycine, proline and hydroxyproline.

What does the research on collagen supplementation cover?

Published research on oral collagen supplementation is confined to skin, hair and nails. Two meta-analyses sit at the centre of it. Pu et al. (2023) pooled 26 randomised controlled trials across 1,721 participants. Dewi et al. (2023) pooled 14 trials across 967 participants. Every individual trial beneath them is funded or supported by a collagen manufacturer, which is worth knowing before anyone quotes a figure at you.

None of those trials compared one dose against another, so no relationship between dose and effect has been established. A larger dose is not evidence of a larger effect.

Type is a matter of record rather than inference. Marine collagen is extracted from fish skin and scale (Coppola et al., 2020). Type I is the main collagen in skin, at 80 to 90 per cent of skin collagen (Reilly & Lozano, 2021), and Aura's marine collagen is declared as Types I and III on the pack. For how UK marine collagen products compare on dose and format, see our guide to marine collagen in the UK.

Read more: 15,000mg Marine Collagen: Does Dose Actually Matter?

Vitamin C contributes to normal collagen formation for the normal function of skin. It is a required cofactor for the enzymes that stabilise newly formed collagen (Pullar et al., 2017). Aura carries 120mg of it, printed on the pack. Knowing how to read a collagen supplement label helps you check what a product declares, and at what dose.

Read more: What Collagen Actually Does for Your Skin, Hair and Nails

What collagen supplementation cannot do

Collagen is food, not medicine. It has no effect on hot flushes, mood, sleep disruption or bone density. Those are hormonal and skeletal processes, and dietary collagen intake does not reach them. If you are managing menopause symptoms, that conversation belongs with your GP.

Hormone replacement therapy does restore oestrogen, and its role in skin is reviewed by Viscomi et al. (2025). Whether it is right for any individual is a medical decision taken with a doctor, on grounds that reach well beyond skin. A collagen shot sits in a different category entirely, and it is not an alternative to a medicine.

What a collagen shot actually is

Aura is 15,000mg of hydrolysed marine collagen plus 12 actives in a 25ml shot, taken at night. The 12 are vitamin A, vitamin C, vitamin B5, biotin, vitamin D3, vitamin K2, zinc, selenium, MSM, hyaluronic acid, elastin and astaxanthin.

Across 72 UK collagen products surveyed in August 2026, the mean dose was 6,950mg per serving. Aura's 15,000mg is around twice that category average. The dose is fixed, there is nothing to measure and nothing to mix. That is a case about format and habit rather than biology.

People Also Ask

Will collagen supplements help with menopause symptoms like hot flushes or mood? No. Collagen is food. It does not act on hormones, and it has no effect on hot flushes, mood or sleep. Speak to your GP about those.

Why does skin seem to change faster around menopause specifically? Oestrogen regulates fibroblast activity, and fibroblasts are what produce collagen. When oestrogen falls around menopause, that regulatory signal weakens and the rate of collagen loss accelerates, from an estimated 1 to 1.5 per cent a year to an average of about 2.1 per cent per postmenopausal year (Reilly & Lozano, 2021; Viscomi et al., 2025).

How does marine collagen differ from other types? Marine collagen is extracted from fish skin and scale (Coppola et al., 2020), and Aura's is declared as Types I and III on the pack. Type I is the main collagen in skin, at 80 to 90 per cent of skin collagen (Reilly & Lozano, 2021). Hydrolysed collagen of any source is broken down to low molecular weight peptides before it is absorbed (Leon-Lopez et al., 2019; Virgilio et al., 2024). See Marine Collagen vs Bovine Collagen: What the Research Actually Says for the full comparison.

Key Takeaway: Skin collagen production declines from the mid-twenties at an estimated 1 to 1.5 per cent a year (Reilly & Lozano, 2021). After menopause it declines at an average of about 2.1 per cent per postmenopausal year, measured over fifteen years (Viscomi et al., 2025). Oestrogen withdrawal drives the acceleration, and no food replaces a hormone. Aura is 15,000mg of hydrolysed marine collagen plus 12 actives in a 25ml shot, around twice the mean dose across 72 UK collagen products surveyed in August 2026. Aura is £85 a box, which is £2.83 a night, or £68 on subscription, which is £2.27. Read the full science behind collagen and skin.

References

Reilly, D.M. & Lozano, J. (2021). "Skin Collagen Through the Lifestages: Importance for Skin Health and Beauty." Plastic and Aesthetic Research, 8, 2. DOI: 10.20517/2347-9264.2020.153. Both authors work for Minerva Research Labs, which produces collagen-based supplements.

Viscomi, B., Muniz, M. & Sattler, S. (2025). "Managing Menopausal Skin Changes: A Narrative Review of Skin Quality Changes, Their Aesthetic Impact, and the Actual Role of Hormone Replacement Therapy in Improvement." Journal of Cosmetic Dermatology, 24(Suppl 4), e70393. DOI: 10.1111/jocd.70393. PMC12374573

Brincat, M. et al. (1987). "Decline in Skin Collagen Content and Metacarpal Index After the Menopause and Its Prevention with Sex Hormone Replacement." British Journal of Obstetrics and Gynaecology, 94(2), 126-129. PMID 3828252. Foundational data for the postmenopausal rate, cited within Viscomi et al. (2025).

Pu, S.Y. et al. (2023). "Effects of Oral Collagen for Skin Anti-Aging: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis." Nutrients, 15(9), 2080. PMC10180699

Dewi, D. A. R. et al. (2023). "Exploring the Impact of Hydrolyzed Collagen Oral Supplementation on Skin Rejuvenation: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis." Cureus, 15(12), e50231. PMC10773595

Coppola, D. et al. (2020). "Marine Collagen from Alternative and Sustainable Sources: Extraction, Processing and Applications." Marine Drugs, 18(4), 214. PMC7230273

Leon-Lopez, A. et al. (2019). "Hydrolyzed Collagen: Sources and Applications." Molecules, 24(22), 4031. PMC6891674

Virgilio, N. et al. (2024). "Absorption of bioactive peptides following collagen hydrolysate intake: a randomized, double-blind crossover study in healthy individuals." Frontiers in Nutrition, 11, 1416643. PMC11325589

Pullar, J.M. et al. (2017). "The Roles of Vitamin C in Skin Health." Nutrients, 9(8), 866. PMC5579659