When a Crush Isn’t Just a Crush: What Stylist Magazine Got (Brilliantly) Right About Perimenopause
By Sonia Rishi
April 17th, 2025
Ever caught yourself swooning over your local barista or suddenly feeling a lot more emotionally invested in your gym instructor’s Spotify playlist than seems reasonable?
You're not alone.
In a delightfully cheeky and insightful piece for Stylist Magazine, Dr. Mayoni Gooneratne was quoted discussing how romantic crushes—yes, actual, heart-fluttering crushes—can be a lesser-known but very real symptom of perimenopause. And while it might sound amusing on the surface, it's also deeply important.
Because perimenopause isn’t always what we think it is.
Read the full article on Stylist Magazine →
Why This Matters
At Skin & Sanctuary, we’ve had countless conversations with women who feel unsettled, ungrounded, or just “off.” Mood swings, brain fog, a sudden dip in confidence, skin that’s misbehaving, and yes—unexpected daydreams about someone 15 years younger who makes a mean cortado.
The thing is, these aren’t quirks. They’re clues.
As Dr. Mayoni shares in the article, hormonal fluctuations during perimenopause can impact far more than periods and temperature regulation. Oestrogen and progesterone shifts affect our brain chemistry, our stress response, even our dopamine levels—the feel-good hormone that plays a big role in attraction and motivation.
Understanding this isn’t just reassuring—it’s empowering.
Dr. Mayoni’s Signature Approach
Dr. Mayoni doesn’t just name these symptoms—she helps you decode them.
With her background as a former NHS surgeon and leading practitioner in Functional and Aesthetic Medicine, she blends cutting-edge testing with a profoundly human approach. Hormone panels, gut health analysis, metabolic markers and inflammation testing are just some of the tools she uses to understand the full picture of what’s going on inside.
Her goal? Not just to “fix” a symptom, but to reconnect you with your body, your energy, your sense of self—and your future.
Because when we truly understand what’s happening, we can work with it, not against it.
Why This Matters to Skin & Sanctuary
We’ve always believed that true beauty and wellness go hand-in-hand. It’s why we’re so excited to have Dr. Mayoni as part of our team, helping guide women through some of the most misunderstood years of their lives—not just with science, but with compassion, humour, and clarity.
This article in Stylist reminded us that even the “funny” bits of this journey deserve attention and care. Because midlife isn’t a crisis—it’s a recalibration. One we’re honoured to support you through.
Let’s Talk
If you’re feeling a bit adrift—whether emotionally, physically, or hormonally—we invite you to book a 15-minute complimentary Clarity Call with Dr. Mayoni. It’s a chance to pause, reflect, and gently begin making sense of your story. There’s no pressure. Just perspective.
✨ Because sometimes the most powerful thing we can do is simply begin the conversation.