Throughout all my pregnancies, I have tried to do things to prevent stretch marks. I don’t think anything bad about the ones I do have, but I would rather just avoid getting more if I can.
My first pregnancy, I will admit they I didn’t really take too much care of my skin or take too many preventative measures to avoid stretch marks. I was young, I figured that stretch marks wouldn’t happen to me. Wrong. So very wrong.
Some people just don’t get them, like at all. But, stretch marks run in my genes so I should have known better. With my second, I didn’t get any new stretch marks at all and the ones from my first didn’t grow or get worse. During that time, I was just using the Palmer’s Stretch Mark Lotion.
For this twin pregnancy (most recent update here), I wanted to make sure from the very beginning that I did everything I could to help prevent getting a lot of new stretch marks. I have already come to the conclusion that I will probably get some, but I refuse to get a lot! So, I have an anti-stretch mark routine that I have been using since about 12 weeks along and it has been working beautifully so far.
Preventing Stretch Marks
The three products that I have been using religiously are the Mama Bee Belly Butter by Burt’s Bees, frank Scrub, and frank Body Balm.
The Mama Bee Belly Butter is a lot like the Palmer’s lotion in texture, if I was looking for something to compare it too. It is a lot more buttery smooth and the scent is much better as well. This particular body butter is a combination of Jojoba, Cocoa, and Shea Butters. It is also free of parabens, phthalates and SLS… basically all the bad stuff you do NOT want to put on your skin.
and The smell is not overpowering, like some products that contain Cocoa Butter can be. This prevents my skin from itching and leaves it so soft. I love that it soaks into the skin so quickly but really leaves it feeling hydrated. I use this product every night before bed on my belly, sides, and also my chest area.
You can purchase and see more reviews on this product here: Burt’s Bees Mama Bee Belly Butter, 6.5 Ounce
frank Body Balm Review
I review all frank products on my blog because I truly think they are amazing and worth talking about. This body balm is no exception to that! frank Body Balm is a combination of coffee seed extract, coconut and grape seed oils, cocoa and shea butter. It is made to be used after their scrubs, because the ingredients in the scrub allow the oils to really soak into your skin more.
Personally, I have noticed great results with this combination. There isn’t anything that causes a weird reaction with my sensitive skin, it has really helped lower the visibility of my stretch marks from previous pregnancies, and it has helped with any sort of itchy skin or tight patches that I feel I was having problems with. It makes your skin feel really soft, it isn’t too harsh or greasy, and the smell reminds me of the original Frank Body Scrub.
The only negative that I have about this particular product is that it is more expensive than any of the four scrubs, and you don’t get nearly as much product. I use this every morning, with and without the scrub, and I have gotten about two months of consecutive use out of it. I also don’t use it on my entire body, I just focus it on my belly area and sometimes my legs. Is it worth the price? Absolutely.
frank Body Scrub is, and has been, a favorite skin care product of mine for about the past year or so. The wonderful thing about it now, at least for me personally, is that it can also be used when pregnant! Best news ever!
The frank Peppermint Scrub that I have most recently been using is AMAZING in combination with their body balm. I love the smell of it, and using it in the morning just wakes up my skin. I will have a more in-depth review coming up within the next few weeks. I have reviews on all of the other frank Body Scrubs on my Beauty Page.
You can read here about more of my skin care favorites for the face.
Do you have a product that you swear prevents stretch marks? Please, share it in the comments!
*Cheers to having smooth, non-itchy, and non-stretched out skin
I love Jojoba, Cocoa, and Shea Butters. They are great ingredients for helping with stretch marks and keeping skin supple.
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They all work wonders:)
Someone bought me that Mama Bee stretch mark cream in a gift set when I first got pregnant and I loooved it! I don’t know that it kept me from getting stretch marks, but it might have helped. I don’t really get them like some people do, but I have a couple. :p
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I didn’t get a ton of them, but I do have a few larger ones from my very first pregnancy. I have really enjoyed the Mama Bee Stretch Mark cream.
I wish I had known about stretch mark prevention when I was pregnant with my first baby. But oh well!
Great review. I’ve heard that using straight up Vitamin E oil does the trick (it was too late for me to try, though).
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I tried that out with my second in combination with some of the Palmers lotion and it seemed to work. The oil itself is really thick and tacky, which I didn’t really love.
Totally gonna check out Frank!
You absolutely should! I love their products:)
Think I’ll try frank during next pregnancy!!
I love anything Burt’s Bees. I was really good with running cocoa butter on my stomach with my first but not so much with my second. I was upset when I had some stretch marks but they faded and I can’t see them anymore. Thanks for the reviews.
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I mean *rubbing!
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[…] have to ask if it was something I wanted. He just knew that I would love a kit with that and the frank Body Balm (review here), which of course is also […]