The sebaceous glands are under endocrine control and so it is not surprising that sebum production varies with age and sex. Cunliffe and Shuster investigated 139 control subjects aged between 10 and 70 years and found that males had a significantly greater SER than females, except in the age group  10-15 years .1 This is probably explained by the earlier development of puberty in the female. The SER continued to increase after puberty, reaching a peak in both sexes between 30 and 40 years, and thereafter  there was a gradual decline. There was no obvious accelerated rate of decline at the menopause but there are no detailed investigations on the SER at this age. Using the sustainable technique for measuring sebum excretion, Downing et al showed similar trends but demonstrated an earlier decline in sebum production.