Hi Beauties! My name is Joelle (aka JoJo)- I am a mom, a wife, a career woman and for all intents and purposes today, I am a skin and beauty product FANATIC. I started my beauty-product focused Instagram account (@realreviewsbyjojo) as a pandemic passion project and it has become the most fun little corner of my life. When my dear friend Kaitlin asked me to do this guest spot on her fabulous blog, I jumped at the opportunity! I am so excited to discuss one of my absolute favorite topics with you all: Pregnancy-Conscious Skin Products!
As all articles in this vein begin, I will first announce my disclaimer: I am neither a doctor nor a medical professional of any kind. Every product that you decide to use during your prepartum, pregnancy, postpartum and/or nursing journey should be approved by your doctor. What I am sharing today is information that I have learned through 2 pregnancies, tons of trial and error, obsessive question-asking, and a whole lot of research throughout the past several years.
Let’s start with skincare!
One perception of pregnancy skin is that moms-to-be are inherently blessed with a radiant, lit-from-within glow. But the truth for many of us is that pregnancy is basically a hormonal wildfire within our bodies likely to cause problems in our skin that we are not used to. On top of that, most doctors will advise against using strong topical treatments like retinol and salicylic acid to manage breakouts, texture and hyperpigmentation among other skin symptoms. Fun, right?!
There might be some experimenting to figure out what will best manage your pregnant skin, but here are some avenues to consider:
Biologique Recherche: The revered and hard-to-pronounce French skin brand that celebrities and skin gurus are obsessed with… and for good reason! The brand is most epically known for their Lotion P50 which is a multitasking product. It applies like a toner and provides the benefits of balancing, exfoliating, moisturizing, clarifying and preventing your skin from future issues. Some trademarks of the line’s serums, creams and masques are that they are incredibly gentle and effective, they do NOT smell good (eek!) and yes, you guessed it: mostly everything in the line is deemed safe for pregnancy (except for the one product containing phenol). I can say from experience, BR products transformed my problematic pregnancy skin into glowing mama-to-be-goddess skin. The products are an investment but to me they were worth every dime. You can only purchase through authorized med-spas that carry it. If you want to look into it, my girls here at Complexion in Nashville will do a virtual consultation with you to recommend products and ship anywhere in the US. You can reach them at 615-757-8060. RescueSpa online is another great option.
If you were looking for a more straight-forward way to experiment with and purchase clean skincare, here are few of my favorites that you can buy at Sephora:
Drunk Elephant – this is perfect for the skin newbie who just wants to follow a SYSTEM. Drunk Elephant is very transparent about what goes into their skincare, what they consciously choose to exclude and how using their products together will yield the most effective results. Some of my favorites from the line are the TLC Framboos resurfacing serum, the Protini moisturizer, the Slaii butter cleanser, the BHydra gel and the Virgin Marula oil.
Some other clean skincare products that I LOVE:
Tata Harper clarifying cleanser and resurfacing mask
Farmacy Honeymoon Glow
Biossance Sqalane + Marine Algae Eye Cream
Indie Lee Brightening cleanser and CoQ-10 toner
Naturally Serious peel pads (I can’t stress this one enough)
There are approximately a zillion more directions I could go in here but I thought this would be a good way to start you off in your research =)
Now let’s talk about makeup.
The truth is, I didn’t change much about my makeup routine during pregnancy and I wasn’t advised that I needed to. But as more and more consciously-formulated beauty options become available, how exciting that we have attractive choices in this category to explore! Here are some of my favorite clean makeup products for each area of your beautiful face:
Face Base:
Ilia super serum skin tint – Buildable, the perfect amount of light coverage and OMG so dewy and gorg. Also has SPF!
Supergoop CC cream – for fabulous coverage, color-correction and SPF 50!
Rare Beauty foundation – light weight, buildable for various coverage levels, very clean feeling.
Concealer:
Ilia serum concealer: Velvety smooth, great for brightening, blends like a dream
Rare beauty concealer: Literally the concealer version of the foundation. They pair beautifully together.
Cheeks & Lips:
Lawless (powder): gorgeous pigments, luxe formulas, easy application
Rare beauty (liquid): a highly pigmented concentrated liquid blush that you just have to use to understand the hype.
Milk (stick): The loveliest gliding pop of color for your cheeks AND lips. So soft and buttery, I use it all the time.
Milk Kush Lip Balm: Hydrates like a lip balm, colors like a lipstick. A holy grail product of mine!
Eye Makeup:
Milk Mascara: My favorite mascara (Clean or not) for volume and that overall “va-va voom”
Ilia Mascara: Award-winning for adding lash-length
Kosas 10-second liquid Eye Shadow: A light wash of clean, pigmented color for your lid.
Whether you are looking to keep it clean while you expand your family or just be more conscious about your products in general, I hope that this was a fun and helpful way to start exploring what’s out there.
Cheers to you, beautiful! XOXO, Joelle
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