Safe Pregnancy Skin Care

[mercy589]

I've recently been reading a bit on the EWG's Skin Deep website about safe and not so safe skin care products. We've been switching over to more natural products (Burts Bees instead of Johnson's, etc.), and now that I'm pregnant I'm trying to be even more careful about what I use. I just realized last night that my Clinique cleanser has Salicylic Acid in it. I did a quick yahoo search on "salicylic acid and pregnancy" and didn't come up with much. There is this article - http://www.babycenter.com/refcap/pregnancy/pregnancybeauty/1490031.html
which kind of says, "its not safe, but the small amount you would use on your face is ok"?? It says cleansers are ok, but then in the section about makeup it says to avoid makeup with salicylic acid in it? lol Does anyone have better or more direct info on this? Or should I just go ahead and avoid it all? Its been a slow process of replacing things and figuring out how/ where to buy natural alternatives instead of what we use now - but with being pregnant maybe I should research all the products I use and make a big overhaul? *sigh* Its hard when we have very limited funds and Burts Bees stuff is more $ than the regular old WalMart products (which I feel its important to spend $ on, but when we are sooo poor its hard to justify)! Does anyone know where to get safer, more natural products that aren't too pricey? Maybe I should be posting this in some other forum too, I'll have to check around more, I'm still kind of new here....

[goodearthmama]

As far as skin care, etc. goes, my motto is- if you can't eat it, don't put it on your skin. Your skin is the biggest and most absorbent organ in your body.

As far as budget goes, I like to make my own stuff. Buy in bulk or larger sizes of oils, butters , etc. and mix it up. Or maybe find a co-op like Frontier that you buy products from at a huge discount. I just started research on line about making natural skin care and my skin has been better than ever, or at least the past year has until I got pregnant and my skin was not so good until hormones calmed down.

Here are some things I use:

*Honey is the best thing I have ever washed my face with-period. Cheap, easy bulk buy anywhere
* Moisturizers- Olive oil, Jojoba Oil that I mix in with pure shea or cocoa butters, Almond Oil
* Soap- Dr. Bronner's liquid castille soaps-1 bottle lasts forever as you only need a few drops to clean your whole body
* Extras- Essential oils for fragrance, Bulk buys of clays and scrubbing grains for facial stuff,
* Hair- shampoos, cond, and all the extras- This is where a coop, locally or online if you don't have one in your town, will come in Handy! You can get excellent organic and all natural products for great prices!!
*Mountain Rose Herbs has a lot of all this stuff, too

Hope this helps!!

[ginnyjuice]

I swear by plain old Jojoba oil. I use it as a cleanser and as a moisturiser. It's supposedly the most agreeable with your existing skin's oils so it doesn't send your integumentary system into mayhem. A couple of drops each day is all you need.

You can exfolitate with a warm, wet washcloth too. It is a bit gentler than many chemical treatments meant to do the same thing.

[eila]

Phthalates are a big no-no before and during pregnancy. They are a group of chemicals used as plasticizers and solvents in a lot of personal-care products (e.g. makeup, hair spray, nail polish remover, etc.) as well as lots of other products, and they're known to cause reproductive and developmental problems. These chemicals are banned from cosmetics in Europe but aren't regulated in the U.S. (figures, huh?)

A group called "Not Too Pretty" tested a bunch of costmetics in 2002 to see which ones had phthalates. The website hasn't been updated in many years, but it might be a good place to start. www.nottoopretty.org You can also find lots more recent info by doing a google search.

Since most cosmetics don't list phthalates on their labels, the best way to find out is to call the manufacterer. A few companies have pledged not to use these chemicals in their products.

[doudat]

Products do not have to cost more, you just have to readjust your habits and determine what you really need as products.
Like other pp said, natural, cheap alternatives do exist. The cosmetic industry creates "needs" and because of this we use way too many chemical products on our skin.
I now use natural soaps/shampoos sparingly http://chagrinvalleysoapandcraft.com and I check other product's ingredients very carefully. If ingredients are not listed, I don't buy it. I avoid products with "fragrance" or "perfumes" as these are chemicals that can potentially harm me and my family. Even some Burt's Bees products have fragrance in them, so I'd be weary of those. I bought the baby wash and was upset to see fragrance on there. And my son has very sensitive skin, so I certainly don't want anything chemical on him.

[mercy589]

Thanks for the replies! I found another section here that had alot of good suggestions - I was reading about washing my face with honey, I'm definitely going to try that! After reading more on here, I'm ready to ditch everything in my shower/ bathroom and start over with the ideas here!