The two main skin concerns I have had since being pregnant is fear of stretch marks on my bust and stomach and coping with crazy breakouts on my face!
Luckily, as yet, I have had no stretch marks on my rapidly growing stomach or bust, I have heard that it is down to good or bad genes whether you will get them or not. Despite this I have been loading on the cream after every bath or shower, just to be sure! A very kind Makeup Artist friend of mine, who is also a mummy, gave me a HUGE jar of Pure Virgin Coconut Oil which I am extremely grateful for as it's going to last me the entire pregnancy and beyond!
The first thing I love about it, is the smell, which is a completely natural coconut fragrance that, luckily, I really enjoyed during my few weeks of morning sickness. It smells really natural and pure! Secondly I love the way it goes hard when cool and turns in to an oil when warm, I keep it in my bathroom so it's usually in its solid state, I love digging a big chunk out and letting it melt between my hands, SO lovely to use and it sinks in surprisingly quickly whilst feeling extremely nourishing. Thirdly, I read that is is has anti bacterial properties so can help prevent skin infections during pregnancy. I don't know if its common to get skin infections during pregnancy but either way it can only be a bonus! I'm pretty sure you can buy it anywhere for between £5-£10.
My main concern though recently, has been my breakouts and dry skin on my face, I tried just sticking to a sensible and simple routine of making sure I thoroughly cleansed my skin morning and night with a sensitive and natural cleanser (I can't remember the name) and then using Cetaphil Moisturiser to make sure my skin was hydrated. This did not work, I continued to breakout all over my chin and slightly on my forehead along with really dry flaky (mm nice!) patches on my chin and nose! I have since invested in a tube of Liz Earle Cleanse and Polish (as featured in my last post) which I have been using for exactly a week now and I can already see a major improvement. My spots are slowly but surely disappearing, with a stubborn few still remaining and the dry patches have pretty much gone! Yey I love you Liz Earle! I knew I would and am annoyed it took me this long to get around to trying it but when I read on the website that it is safe to use during pregnancy I was sold. In case you haven't heard about this product before I will tell you briefly how you use it (regular blog readers or skincare fanatics out there will be bored stiff by this!) It is a cream formula containing Rosemary (great for breakouts), Chamomile (calming and soothing), and Cocoa Butter (moisturising). Using 1 pump or 2 you massage in to dry skin, it will remove eye makeup as well but do this last so you don't get a big messy face, then take one of the two muslin cloths it comes with and run under hot water, gently then wipe of the cream and makeup from your face, rinsing the cloth a few times in the hot water. The muslin is great to exfoliate the areas that need it as you do this. I then use another small pump to repeat this process to make sure my skin is completely clean. At the end, splash your face with cold water to close the pores. It sounds faffy, but its really not and you can use each muslin three times before you wash it, just rinse it well after each use. I bought mine from John Lewis for £14.25.
The last, very simple product that has helped is Sudocrem. When I found out I was pregnant I stopped using all my usual spot creams and masks as I couldn't find solid answers for whether they were safe to use or not (certain chemicals, active ingredients and high doses of essential oils can be harmful to the baby) so I resorted to using my pot of Sudocrem that I had bought a while ago and never really given a proper go. Its not revolutionary but its helped and its great to have something I can use over night when I have a seriously bad attack of breakouts. Since I have been using My Liz Earle I have used this a couple of times and together they are working wonders for my poor face.
I hope this is useful to anyone who is pregnant and has the same concerns!
The first thing I love about it, is the smell, which is a completely natural coconut fragrance that, luckily, I really enjoyed during my few weeks of morning sickness. It smells really natural and pure! Secondly I love the way it goes hard when cool and turns in to an oil when warm, I keep it in my bathroom so it's usually in its solid state, I love digging a big chunk out and letting it melt between my hands, SO lovely to use and it sinks in surprisingly quickly whilst feeling extremely nourishing. Thirdly, I read that is is has anti bacterial properties so can help prevent skin infections during pregnancy. I don't know if its common to get skin infections during pregnancy but either way it can only be a bonus! I'm pretty sure you can buy it anywhere for between £5-£10.
My main concern though recently, has been my breakouts and dry skin on my face, I tried just sticking to a sensible and simple routine of making sure I thoroughly cleansed my skin morning and night with a sensitive and natural cleanser (I can't remember the name) and then using Cetaphil Moisturiser to make sure my skin was hydrated. This did not work, I continued to breakout all over my chin and slightly on my forehead along with really dry flaky (mm nice!) patches on my chin and nose! I have since invested in a tube of Liz Earle Cleanse and Polish (as featured in my last post) which I have been using for exactly a week now and I can already see a major improvement. My spots are slowly but surely disappearing, with a stubborn few still remaining and the dry patches have pretty much gone! Yey I love you Liz Earle! I knew I would and am annoyed it took me this long to get around to trying it but when I read on the website that it is safe to use during pregnancy I was sold. In case you haven't heard about this product before I will tell you briefly how you use it (regular blog readers or skincare fanatics out there will be bored stiff by this!) It is a cream formula containing Rosemary (great for breakouts), Chamomile (calming and soothing), and Cocoa Butter (moisturising). Using 1 pump or 2 you massage in to dry skin, it will remove eye makeup as well but do this last so you don't get a big messy face, then take one of the two muslin cloths it comes with and run under hot water, gently then wipe of the cream and makeup from your face, rinsing the cloth a few times in the hot water. The muslin is great to exfoliate the areas that need it as you do this. I then use another small pump to repeat this process to make sure my skin is completely clean. At the end, splash your face with cold water to close the pores. It sounds faffy, but its really not and you can use each muslin three times before you wash it, just rinse it well after each use. I bought mine from John Lewis for £14.25.
The last, very simple product that has helped is Sudocrem. When I found out I was pregnant I stopped using all my usual spot creams and masks as I couldn't find solid answers for whether they were safe to use or not (certain chemicals, active ingredients and high doses of essential oils can be harmful to the baby) so I resorted to using my pot of Sudocrem that I had bought a while ago and never really given a proper go. Its not revolutionary but its helped and its great to have something I can use over night when I have a seriously bad attack of breakouts. Since I have been using My Liz Earle I have used this a couple of times and together they are working wonders for my poor face.
I hope this is useful to anyone who is pregnant and has the same concerns!
I'm six and a half months and I use coconut oil on my hair :D I find that I like Boots' Body Butter in Brazil Nut and baby oil on my skin. Also, No7 do a really lovely facial sunscreen too! Congratulations and good luck with the stretchmarks- I've just started getting them, ugh!
ReplyDeleteOOH lovely, lots of things to try out there! I like the sound of the Brazil Nut Body Butter! Congratulations on your pregnancy too!
Deleteohh i need to get some of the coconut oil! havent tryed that on my belly before :)
ReplyDeleteI have stretch marks on my belly after having the boys so im trying to stop them getting worse this time! saying that when it comes to it been in your genes my mum had four babies and doesnt have a single mark on here! :(
Hope you dont get them! i went right up until the last week without anywith my firdt them they just pop up out of no where! x
Its lovely stuff! Yes my mum didnt get any with me or my sister but I already know Im prone to them so Im terrified!! Oh well, its all part of it isnt it, whats the saying- we are tigers with stripes or something haha! x
DeleteI've been pregnant twice and found coconut oil amazing for my skin, i exfoliated my belly a lot and put oil on every night and morning and thankfully I don't have too many stretch marks. Good luck with the pregnancy :)
ReplyDeleteOh thats good to hear! I haven't tried exfoliating, I will do that too, thanks for the tip! :)
DeleteDuring my last pregnancy I could not have lived without the Stretch Mark Cream from Apothederm http://apothederm.com/shop-products/body/stretch-mark-cream/
ReplyDeleteIt was very effective for my past stretch marks and the new marks I got. I would recommend it!
Good post Lucy.....sudocream is a must have pregnant or not!! xx
ReplyDelete