We all have an idealized, perfect pregnancy. You will have the cute baby belly (and just the belly, the rest of you stays the same size), eat all of the organic foods and do pregnancy yoga. And the glow, you definitely expect that you will have the pregnancy glow!
As a mom of 2, I can tell you that this dream pregnancy doesn’t exist. Your favorite clothes no longer fit, your favorite drink is a no-go (for me that was a giant coffee, it might be something else for you), and your skin starts acting up.
But forget about using your go-to acne spot treatment. Why?
Pregnancy safe skin care is not the same as normal skin care
There are ingredients in your night cream and acne spot treatment that have not been proven safe for use during pregnancy, or even worse, have been linked to birth defects. However, it is very difficult to find out exactly which skin care ingredients you should avoid during pregnancy or while nursing.
What I did with my skincare while pregnant
Personally, I took the conservative route and avoided ingredients that have not been proven to be safe in pregnancy. You can decide for yourself (in conjunction with your OB or dermatologist) how conservative you want to be regarding ingredients. I’m lucky in that I can cheat and look up an ingredient’s pregnancy category in a drug book (my favorite is Lexi-Comp if that makes a difference to you).
You Should Work closely with your doctor when chosing pregnancy skincare products
Dermatologist Dr. Ellen Marmur, whose book Simple Skin Beauty I wrote about a few days ago, says “be on the safe side and ask your ob/gyn about anything that you think might be harmful.”
I also want to add that even if you’ve been reassured that something is safe, if it makes you uncomfortable, just avoid it. There are so many products on the market now, it should be easy to avoid an ingredient. It isn’t worth losing sleep over!
Here you’ll find posts addressing specific topics for pregnancy skin care. If you want to ask about whether a specific product is safe to use in pregnancy, you can respond to the product post or send me an email. I do not respond for just product names. You’ll need to give the ingredients list (hint: take a picture of your product!). It can take a long time to find these lists, and the lists can vary by country. I simply get too many requests to hunt down the lists myself.
Skin Care Advice
Dermatologist Advice for Pregnancy
Pregnancy Skin Care Routine Changes: How to Glow
How to deal with Pregnancy Related Pimples
Pregnancy Safe Skincare Products
Big List of Pregnancy Friendly Skin Care Products
Pregnancy Safe Sunscreens
Pregnancy Safe Facial Sunscreens, BB & CC Creams
Skin Care Ingredients to Avoid
Pregnancy Skin Care Ingredients to Avoid
Skin Care Ingredients to Avoid While Nursing
Pregnancy Safe Makeup
What Makeup to Worry About While Pregnant
Pregnancy Safe Foundations
Pregnancy Safe Foundation Primers
Pregnancy Safe Concealers
Hair During Pregnancy
Haircuts during Pregnancy
Overview of postpartum hair loss
Postpartum Recovery
The Postpartum Recovery Kit: A great baby shower gift, everything embarrassing you’ll need for after the baby is born!
