PREGNANCY FILE: BEST AND WORST STRETCH MARK CREAMS

Surprise! I'm pregnant. It's a completely new experience for us that has us over the moon with happiness and excitement.  It's the best of times and we have been lucky enough to have had this blessing during the holidays and Christmas. The best.

15 weeks; wearing Annie the Alchemist Estamos Hechos de Estrellas Tee

I just finished my first trimester and starting to show a bit. Based upon mama recs and some reviews, I ordered a few belly creams/ stretch mark creams. I've been testing some out and wanted to share what I've found with you.

Burt's Bees Mama Bee Belly Butter: $9.79 available at Amazon and Target. This is the winner for me. It comes in a pretty good sized tub. It's easy to spread, absorbs quickly, and leaves my skin really soft. As a bonus, you can also use it on your legs post-shave, and it will work to hydrate. It has a very mild, almost undetectable scent that does not linger.  The Burt's Bee's Mama Bee Belly Butter is labeled as being 99% natural. It is rated a 2 by the EWG Skin Deep Cosmetics Database. 

If you are unfamiliar with EWG and EWG Skin Deep Cosmetic Database  (as I was, until fairly recently,) you will want to go online and browse the site. It's a very handy tool if you are trying to cut out toxic and hazardous chemicals that are contained in every day products. EWG ranks products according to how harmful they are; a level 1 rating being the least harmful, a level 10 being the most. EWG also ranks each individual ingredient contained in a product. It's shocking to see the garbage that's in your foundation, blush, dishwashing soap, mascara, etc. Now that baby is coming, I'm trying to be a bit more cautious. This belly butter fits the bill.

EWG Hazard Rating System

Palmer's Cocoa Butter Skin Therapy Oil: $9.69, available at Amazon. I'll admit that Palmer's was the first brand that came to mind when thinking about stretch mark creams. I feel like I grew up watching the Palmer's cocoa butter commercials. I didn't purchase that though. I opted for their Skin Therapy Oil. I like that this product contains Argan oil and vitamin E but dislike the heavy fragrance. EWG ranks this product a 3, with the most offensive ingredient being the fragrance, individually ranked as an 8. Palmer's Skin Therapy Oil contains a strong Rosehip scent. I smell it more than I do any trace of the cocoa butter scent. It also unfortunately lingers.  If you are OK with fragrance, or don't mind this particular scent, you will like this product but for me this was a pass.

Palmer's Skin Therapy Oil with Rosehip (strongly fragranced).

Earth Mama Belly Oil: $15.00, available at Amazon, Target and the Earth Mama website.
Earth Mama Organics is a great, natural, plant-based product line. When you look at the ingredients contained in the Earth Mama products, you will be able to easily recognize and pronounce them all. This product is rated a 1 on the EWG website - the lowest toxic and safest designation. It contains a blend of pure organic oils as well essential oils like orange blossom. When first applied, this has an organic, earthy scent which quickly dissipates. The product is quite oily but not sticky or tacky. I apply it post-shower, before bed. It has been one of my favorites, so far.

Earth Mama Belly Oil - a favorite of mine!

Body Merry Stretch Marks and Scars Defense Oil: $18.99 at Amazon. Contains 6 pure oils, natural and organic. The oil is yellow and leaves a little bit of a yellow tint on the skin. Smells earthy but not overpowering. Does a fantastic job of moisturizing and leaving skin soft and supple. Another great product. 

Body Merry Stretch Marks and Scars Organic Cocoa Butter + Shea Butter: $19.99 on Amazon. While this has very high ratings, is safe and natural, I did not like the tackiness of this. It was sticky and didn't absorb or apply smoothly. It was tough to distribute on the skin. I also did not like the fragrance. This was my least favorite belly butter that I tried.

Mustela Soothing Moisturizing Balm: $23.00 at Nordstrom. Mustela is a French based brand, best known for its line of baby creams and shampoos. This cream goes on really easy. It spreads evenly and absorbs quickly. It would be perfect were it not for the strong smell. At first, I really enjoyed the scent but as it wore, I found it lingered for hours and was ultimately too much. It is safe to use, being categorized as a 1 on EWG.

Bio Oil $23.99: this was highly recommended by many people but I figured, I had so many other options that I didn't need to try this one. Bio Oil contains chamomile, vitamins A, and E, rosemary and lavender oil. Everywhere you check, this product is consistently sold out because everyone seems to love it. People who aren't pregnant use it to fade stretch marks they've had for years. BUT, the more I read about it the more I hesitated. This is ranked as a 7 on EWG, a category which is designated as "high hazard." It contains Benzyl Salicylate which pregnant women aren't supposed to use. It contains Geraniol, which alone, has an overall EWG ranking of 7. The primary ingredient in Bio Oil is mineral oil - a liquid petroleum by-product. Some argue that the amount of these harmful ingredients in Bio Oil is minimal, for me, this was a pass.