A lot of women prefer to go organic with their skincare while pregnant — but finding the best lines can be a bit difficult. (My first OB/GYN advised me to just “go to Whole Foods and pick one out.” That’s an approach too!)  I’m not a doctor, but this is a list of the skincare lines that I liked.

Whatever you do: pay particular attention to sun protection during this time period — I always found I was particularly vulnerable to the effects (freckles, sunspots) and yet you may want to avoid your regular sunscreen because of chemicals. Don’t overlook physical protection, such as wearing a brimmed hat when you go on walks to shade your face. I’d also recommend a good rash guard if you’re going to the beach or spending a lot of time at an outdoor pool (you can get them at a variety of places including J.Crew and Land’s End — I’ve even seen them at Old Navy during certain seasons. Ain’t No Mom Jeans even wrote about how sexy the rashguard+bump look can be!) Anyway, these were the brands that I used for my own pregnancy skincare routine — like I’ve said before, I’m not a doctor — and while many of these brands are organic, some of the labels advise you to talk to your doctor if you plan to use them during pregnancy, so proceed with caution.

• Belli Skincare – I didn’t even know this brand of pregnancy-specific skincare existed until I happened to see it in the One Step Ahead catalog in my second pregnancy. I was looking for a new face wash, so I bought the Complexion Protection Duo (with a face wash and separate sunscreen with SPF 25).
• Burt’s Bees – This line is a oldie but a goodie. I used their Blemish Stick on the very occasional acne I had; I also used their Radiance Night Cream with Royal Jelly kind of all the time (my skin is super dry during pregnancy!), as well as their . (Not pregnancy-related, really, but I’m also a HUGE fan of their Coconut Foot Creme, their Lemon Butter Cuticle Cream, and their Avocado Butter Pre-Shampoo Treatment (only if you have very dry hair!).)
• St. Ives – I originally started with their classic Apricot Scrub for exfoliation, but because my skin is so dry in pregnancy I wound up switching to the (harder to find) Moisturizing Olive Scrub.
• Yes to Carrots – I like a lot of products from this line; I used their Daily Facial Moisturizer with SPF 15 whenever I knew I might go out in sunlight.
• Finally, a note on belly creams and lotions: I’m in the camp that believes that genes are more determinant of stretchmarks. (Also, my string bikini days are largely behind me ANYWAY.) So I didn’t worry about it too much, and came out without too many stretchmarks after my first pregnancy. I did use Palmer’s Cocoa Butter Moisturizing Body Oil after my pregnancy because my belly was weirdly itchy as it deflated. I used it in my second pregnancy as well, but only when my belly was feeling particularly dry.

Note that even among these organic lines, many of them recommend that you talk to your doctor before switching to them for use during your pregnancy.

Readers, have your doctors or friends recommended any pregnancy-safe products? Do you have any organic or homemade products that you love in general?

(Another note: You’ll notice that most of the links here are Amazon affiliate links — I’m a HUGE FAN of Amazon, particularly for busy mamas. Amazon even has a whole pregnancy-specific skincare store. If you haven’t, yet, sign up for the Amazon Mom program — you get free 2-day shipping and other special deals. I didn’t sign up until my son was about 3 months old, and I wish I’d done it before then, if only because I wasted a ton of time running around town trying to find different specific things (particularly after he was born — the right sizes of flanges for breastfeeding, an SNS system that I never used, etc., etc.) and Amazon would have had them there in a day or two. We became so addicted to the quick, free shipping that we later became Prime members. (Amazon’s sister site, Diapers.com, may even deliver things to your house the same day, at least if you’re in NYC.)

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