If the weight you gain becomes more than average during pregnancy, the middle layer of the abdomen skin broken in places and creates stretch marks. Neglecting these marks in earlier days may make them permanent. Though it’s not possible to prevent these spots always, there are still some ways to lessen these ugly and deep marks. These methods include drinking plenty of water, maintaining a healthy weight, or eating foods rich in vitamins and minerals. Besides these foods, an active marks removal cream may also help. So, plenty of creams and oils are available in the market to reduce those marks. But not all of them will give you relief from those stubborn pregnancy marks.
Keep reading the article to know which cream is ideal for erasing your pregnancy marks.
How do the Changes Occur in the Skin?
Most of the changes occur in the second layer of the skin, known as the dermis, not in the outer layer. The elastic fibers also expand when your belly becomes enlarged during pregnancy or for gaining a higher weight. As a result of this extension, stretch spots befall.
How to Prevent Stretch Marks during Pregnancy?
It’s tough to cure stretch marks completely; once you get them, it’s also hard to reverse the effects. So it’s crucial to prevent them or try to make them less noticeable. Here are some tips to make a precautionary stand.
Control your weight: Try to minimize your weight gain as much as possible. Gaining weight during pregnancy is very common. So, try to lessen the sugar or chocolate intake. Remember, the less you gain, the less you have to lose.
Be Hydrated: Drink plenty of water, much more than before pregnancy. Water will help to keep your skin fresh and elastic.
Exercise Regularly: Regular exercise will help you keep your weight gain down, and your skin will remain elastic enough to avoid these spots.
Apply Moisturizing Lotions: Apply moisture on the skin, especially on those areas like the tummy, thighs, or breasts. It improves the flexibility of your skin, which results in less stretch.
When to Start Using Stretch Mark Cream during Pregnancy?
Please start taking prevention during pregnancy. You don’t need to worry before the second trimester. Once you have your baby’s kicks, you may begin to apply an effective cream.
Are you worried about being too late?
Don’t worry. Though earlier is better still, there are chances to remove the marks even after delivery. How? What will you do after being stretched marked during the pregnancy period? There are still some solutions, some creams, and oils that can help you to reduce marks even after pregnancy.
Should you use these creams or oils?
There are some ingredients like almond or cocoa butter that helps to get rid of pregnancy spots. These ingredients in the stretch mark removal cream are a game-changer. But unfortunately, some of the creams do not contain these ingredients.
Essential Features and Ingredients to Look for before Buying:
Vitamin A, C, and Vitamin E, Cocoa Butter, Almond, Purcell in oil, Avocado oil, Argon oil, omega 3 and 6 are beneficial elements to remove stretch marks from your skin. These ingredients have their way to remove skin wrinkles. Make sure that most of these ingredients are present there to make the cream workable so that you will get below benefit from it:
• Improved skin elasticity
• Hydrated skin and
• Repaired skin cells
What are the Best Stretch Mark Removal Creams to Use During Pregnancy?
It’s difficult to answer precisely. There are hundreds of creams or lotions like Mustela, DERMSTORE, Honest Company Belly Balm, Remescar, Cocoa Tummy Butter, Palmers Cocoa Butter Massage Lotion, bio-oil, etc.
Here we have listed those creams which provide the ingredients that are effective in reducing skin crinkles. Take a look at the reviews of the best pregnancy stretch mark creams:
Burt’s Bees Mama Bee Belly Butter: My Choice
I put it on the top of the chart because of my own experience with it. I used this cream while I was pregnant with my first baby. I used to apply it every day. After delivery, I was too fatty than average, and my baby was above 8 pounds, but I did not get a single stretch-mark on my tummy.
I used a cheaper one during I was pregnant with my second child. It was a disaster. After eight months of pregnancy, I changed the brand again to Belly Butter, but I got some slightly visible spots before that.
So I think this is one of the best creams for preventing stretch marks during pregnancy. This cream also absorbs quickly and very smooth to apply.
The cream contains Shea butter, cocoa, and vitamin E. This simple formula made it an organic cream free from any chemical ingredients like fragrance or petroleum. Plus, you can get this at an affordable price.
I have bought it 5-6 times and every time I got a fantastic product with excellent results.
Body Merry Stretch Marks and Scars Cream: Best for Old Stretch Marks
This one is a great formula to treat old stretch marks. We put it on number 2, but it placed the first position among all we applied to different women.
The cream comes with all-natural ingredients like aloe, cocoa butter, shea butter, jojoba oil, sunflower oil, green tree extract, and seaweed extract. These ingredients ensure vitamin E, A, and C, which works great for stretch removal; treat the loose and dry skin.
The cream is non-greasy, helping you feel your skin smooth, soft, and moisturized. The thick cream smells too good, more precisely like cocoa butter.
We have used this cream on a woman whose marks are more than six years old, and it dramatically changes her skin condition. Her deep and ugly marks turned into light and shallow, which returned her confidence after a long time.
If you have old and deep marks, I would like to suggest this fantastic product. It is the best stretch mark removal cream for old stretch marks. The price is not too much, considering its quality.
MAMA MIO The Tummy Rub Butter:
We have applied this cream on three women, and this good smelled cream evened out their belly marks. They used this Tummy Rub during the third trimester of their first pregnancy and didn’t get any single wrinkle marks.
The MAMA MIO cream is a mixture of organic and inorganic ingredients like coconut oil, Avocado Oil, and Shea butter, improving skin elasticity and strength by keeping the skin hydrated.
It’s not greasy and more like lotion. I liked the smell very much, but I think this strong flowery smell may not tolerable for some moms during morning sickness. That’s the only negative thing I can point out. But it can also be a plus point if you like that type of smell.
Though the price is higher than the other products, I think it will not be a bad deal to get this as the quality product is too high.
Motherlove Pregnant Belly Salve: Best Cream for Itchy Skin
Motherlove is the top-rated organic stretch and itch removal cream. We have applied it to two moms with itchy skin during pregnancy, more specifically during the trimester. There were no itches after a few days. And stretch marks? Not a single one till the baby is born.
I have read some reviews about this product that it can stop itching, that’s why we have applied it to them and got the result according to the study.
The cream includes organic ingredients like apricot oil, shea butter, marshmallow root, lavender flower, chamomile flower, lavender oil, etc.
It smells fantastic and dries faster than other creams. The price is also much reasonable than others. I will highly recommend you to buy this one if you have itchy skin.
BASQ Advances Stretch Mark Butter: Best for Working Women
The cream is too much thick that it looks like a lotion. It’s very smooth for applying on the skin and doesn’t leave any sticky or greasy mess.
We applied it to two moms with sensitive skin, and it was ideal for them. This lotion minimizes the marks amazingly without making any trouble on the skin. The cream contains collagen fibers, biopeptides, fatty acids, Vitamins E, D & A, and free from artificial ingredients or colors, making it better for sensitive skin.
The light and fluffy cream are free from cocoa butter, making it early absorbent than other creams. It dries very quickly so that you can use this even in busy hours.
The only thing I didn’t like is the smell. The Strong scent of lavender will last all day long.
Anyway, if you consider the smell, there is no other reason to stop you from buying this one at an affordable price. Especially working women can go for this as this dries very quickly.
Bella B Tummy Honey Butter:
My sister used to apply Bella B Tummy Honey Butter since she was pregnant with her first child. She doesn’t have any single spots till the third baby, and her tummy was never itchy at all.
The manufacturer used all-natural ingredients Cocoa Butter, Shea Butter, Vitamins D & E, wheat germ oil, olive oil, avocado oil, jojoba oil, aloe vera gel, almond oil, etc. That’s why the cream ensures no irritation on the skin.
It’s a bit greasy. But one thing about this cream I liked most is the sweet-scented smell.
I want to recommend it as an effective cream to prevent stretch marks. But if you are already dealing with stretch marks, it may not work that much.
There are some lotions and oils, too; we have reviewed two of them. Check out:
BIO-OIL:
Bio-oil is the most selling scar and stretch-mark preventing product of all time. It has over 3000 5star reviews. I have seen many people use this Bio-oil for different reasons like rough skin, scars, etc.
We applied it to two women who gained over 50 pounds throughout their pregnancy periods, and there were no marks after pregnancy. They also took vitamin E with this, though it contains a little bit of vitamin E.
The oil contains ingredients like Calendula Oil, Lavender Oil, Rosemary Oil, Chamomile Oil, Vitamins, various fragrances, and artificial colors.
Though it worked well on preventing marks, I would like to suggest using a cream instead of this during pregnancy. But if you are bored with thick creams and search for something very light and non-greasy, you can try this. And of course, if you have any scars, you can go for this oil as it’s very good at removing spots.
Cocoa Butter Formula Massage Lotion by Palmer: Best Overall
This formula can make your scars vanish in no time. But what about pregnancy stretch removal?
We have applied it to three women, and none of them got spots on their tummy. Also, there are so many positive reviews about pregnancy stretch removal.
Now, I think that it’s one of the best-preventing items on the market. The lotion is very smooth and moisturizing, and it smells perfect.
This cream’s main ingredient is cocoa butter and other natural ingredients, which ensures that it’s suitable for sensitive skin.
If you don’t like to use creams and looking for a lotion, I will highly recommend this product.
During the pregnancy period, women’s bodies face lots of change. Those nausea, vomiting, body expansion, hormonal changes will make you feel depressed always. Everything you are facing is normal, and every woman faces this during pregnancy. So, don’t freak out. Follow your doctor’s advice, intake lots of water, healthy food, and take care of your skin.
