Pregnancy Skin Care 101: Products That Are Safe for You & Baby! 🍼🌿

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Congratulations on your pregnancy!!

The news of a little baby on the way is beyond exciting and now you are probably making sure you are only eating the right foods for you and baby; getting an extra nap in; and of course, refining your skincare routine for the safety of your baby.

The good news is you came to the right place!

The goal of this article is to leave you feeling confident with which products are the safest and the cleanest in the market right now, as well as, ingredient red flags to stay far (far) away from.

This topic hits home because my journey to find products made with the purest of ingredients was a journey of its own. Interestingly, my journey started similar to yours. I was 8 weeks pregnant and it dawned on me that perhaps my 20-minute daily skincare routine was a place to start making some changes. I didn’t know what I know now about the ingredients commonly found in our skincare products, but I had heard somewhere of a couple of key chemicals to avoid and that drew my curiosity to see where my products stood in purity.

I was actually working at a medical spa in downtown LA at the time and was using one of the higher end brands our spa offered (mainly because I would get everything half off). A Canadian brand branded on clean ingredients and claimed to be safe for all. Or so I thought.

You could imagine my shock when I soon realized that the ingredients in these expensive bottles of cleansers and moisturizers were far from safe for my baby.

That was the first time I started to truly question the front labels on products. Before that I simply trusted what the company promoted. It was eye-opening and a blessing in disguise.

There I was now entering my second trimester with no fancy skincare products or anything for that matter. ‘Well,’ I thought, ‘I guess I’ll go back to Cetaphil to play it safe.’

And so I did but I did not nearly enjoy it as much as my previous skincare products and it would actually over dry my already dry skin. I had no choice, though, or so I thought.

With my second baby I was much more prepared. I was proactive to figure out what was truly safe for me and my baby. I did not want to go through extra dry skin from the Cetaphil during my first pregnancy – which eventually led to dry patches on my face.

It was not until I found Luminance Skincare. In this article I will be recommending other amazing products as well, but I thought I would mention which one of these products turned my skin health around after not having a proper skincare regimen during my first pregnancy.

So without further a due, here are the products I stand by and love to this day. Free from the harmful chemicals above. I hope they do wonders for you, too. This is what I call true quality:

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FACIAL CLEANSERS

Let’s start from the beginning: cleansing. There is nothing like a wonderfully buttery cleanser that leaves your skin feeling so dewy, so fresh, and renewed. A freshly washed face feels like a second chance in life and it’s an important part of our day. Not only does a good cleanser eliminate dirt and debris, but it helps protect our skin from clogged pores and a dull appearance.

What is important to look for in a cleanser is that it supports the natural pH of our skin. Our skin is actually slightly on the acidic side to support moisture retention and a healthy skin barrier to protect us from environmental toxins, pollutants, and microogranisms. Unfortunately, most conventional skincare products – especially the high-end dermatological products add too many harsh ingredients to get the result they want, but at the expense of our skin’s protective barrier. This may be the reason why our skin will eventually feel way too tight and dry.

Alternatives:

• Luminance Skincare: Organic Delicate Facial Cleanser. It is 100% organic and wildcrafted. Made with macadamia oil to support the skin’s natural barrier and prevent moisture loss, therefore, providing the face with amazing anti-aging benefits! Click here for full product details!

• Luminance Skincare: Organic Cream Facial Cleanser. 100% organic and wildcrafted. This cleanser is applied like a face cream and easily rinsed with water. This cleanser in particular works great for removing my waterproof mascara and foundation from the night before. I personally use this one to cleanse and remove my makeup all in one. Check it out here.
• NUVI Natural Soap: Oatmeal, Chamomile and Honey Soap. If you prefer bar soaps, this brand makes such nourishing soaps with plenty of suds and softness, plus no harmful ingredients or preservatives. I find a little goes a long way with these soaps. Get 55% off their bar soaps when you sign up as a preferred customer. To check out the bar soap’s full details and other options click here.
• Branch Basics Concentrate. This is also one of my favorite brands and I use it for everything: from shampoo, to handwashing, to cleaning. It is fragrance-free and super pure. The only downside is the price. I normally will buy this on months when our budget isn’t as tight. Note: Branch Basics sells a concentrate that we then create into a solution at home with the purchase of one of their handy soap pumps that have exact water-to-concentrate markings on the bottle. Check it out here. They also have a new gel hand soap that can be used as body wash and shampoo, but I have yet to use it!

MOISTURIZERS

• Luminance Skincare Deep Hydration Moisturizer. Made with the best ingredients and the best form of filtered water, reverse osmosis. This moisturizer is my current go-to and it is the only one that actually hydrates my skin, healing any dry patches, while not creating breakouts on my skin. Even the higher-end brands at Macy’s make me break out… bad. So if you tend to easily break out with moisturizers I highly recommend this one. Check it out here.
• Luminance Skincare Hydration Moisturizer. Luminance also has a regular moisturizer option that works great, too. It just comes down to preference.

Luminance has other moisturizing options but these two are the ones I have tried and genuinely love.

As for other brands, the truth is – no matter how hydrating they may be I have found other brands (and trust me, I’ve tried many) either end up causing more dryness in the long-run or they cause my skin to break out and that’s never fun :p

Pregnant Tummy Creams for Stretch Marks

Before I list my recommendations for belly creams, I wanted to share Amazon’s Top 10 Bestsellers Pregnancy Creams. After looking at each one of their ingredients list, I can only (in good conscience) recommend one from their list.

Here is Amazon’s Top 10 Pregnancy Creams Best sellers:

And the one that is truly clean and safe for you and baby is… *drumroll*

• HATCH Belly Oil. Free of parabens, phthalates, dyes, & fragrance! This one is highly recommended online, although I have yet to try it out (perhaps in my next pregnancy?) I thought I’d include some promising reviews below:

• Luminance Skincare Unscented Body Lotion. My second recommendation for body lotions/creams to help with itchy pregnant bellies is Luminance’s body lotion. This is the one my whole family uses at home actually. From my 9-month-old to my husband. This one is not necessarily a lotion for stretch marks specifically, but it is super duper hydrating and much cleaner than the stretch marks creams that are marketed everywhere else. The key to preventing stretch marks is to NOT SCRATCH when your belly gets itchy (even though it’s so hard!) and to keep the growing tummy hydrated to support the skin as it stretches in baby love (: Click here for this unscented body lotion’s full details.

Bonus Items

A couple other of my favorites are:

• Bee Youtiful Beauties: Beeswax and Shea Butter Lip Balm. A new personal favorite of mine. A little goes a long way and it is super healing (my lips were extra dry prior to this). After only two uses I could feel smoother, much healthier lips 🙌🏼 I only ordered one, though, the Strawberry Honey to be exact. Will definitely be ordering more soon. I’m honestly even considering getting one for my daughter, too!
• Luminance Skincare 100% Rosewater Toner. We all love a good toner, but most of them contain drying agents like alcohol (in the form of ethanol). This toner is the one I use regularly after my cleaners and its rose fragrance in 100% natural. Plus it only contains one ingredient: Rosewater.

So there it is, my list of recommended skincare products that are actually safe for you and for baby. Most lists of “pregnancy-safe” skincare products can be pages long with only one truly clean product. Rest assured these products mentioned above are ones that are ethically sources and made. Let me know what you think!

See you in. the next one,

-Lili