9 Beauty Treatments You Should Quit when You’re Expecting

Today I am doing this post for all you ladies who are pregnant or planning to get pregnant. This is the most wonderful part of every woman’s life and it comes with great responsibilities. Everyone of us know how to take care of ourselves at this important time of life, like not having junk and unpasteurised dairy food etc. But there is something you need to be very careful about – your daily creams, cosmetics, and beauty products. It seems silly and also requires a lot of efforts to quit your daily night cream or day cream and take some precautions, but there are some harmful ingredients in our daily product that penetrate into our skin and cause some harmful birth defects. Here are some important beauty products and routines you should quit when you are expecting.

Beauty treatments when you are expecting

Nail Colors
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Yes , this seems to be shocking and stupid. How can nail care affect your baby? But, it does! The nail paints you use and the products you use for your manicure and pedicure are not good for your baby’s growth. Hydrogen peroxide that we use in our pedicure and manicure is extremely harmful for your baby and can also lead to miscarriage. This has been found out in a survey that employees working at nail care salons have the highest rate of abortion and birth defects because of the nail paints, filing, manicure-pedicure products and creams.

pregnancy outfit

Special Treatment Creams

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If you are expecting and you have the habit of using any acne cream or anti ageing cream, then you immediately need to stop using it. This is because of the fact that these creams contain retinoids which are type of vitamin A agents. All the face wash and creams prescribed for acne contain high amount of salicylic acid. These retinoids and salicylic acid creams can cause serious birth defects in your child. So it’s better to take your acne treatment after your pregnancy. The most commonly used acne cream is benzoyl peroxide which is a clear no-no during pregnancy.

Hair Colors and Sprays

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Hair coloring is always fun for all of us girls, but at your precious time of pregnancy you need to quit this routine. Even if your old color is faded and you are not liking your hair color anymore. Though the chemicals used in hair dyes are not so harmful, they do tend to penetrate into the skin at times. So you should try and avoid this. As we all know, and as it’s traditionally advised, applying henna to your hand and hair should be avoided during pregnancy otherwise your child would have skin problems and common birth defects. The same goes for hair dyes. Hair sprays, on other hand, are also dangerous for your child as the main ingredient in hair spray is phthalates which interferes with male sexual development process. So instead of using hair sprays that are easily inhaled, try using a mousse or a gel.

Depilatory Creams

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Waxing your body is ok as it does not harm in any way, but using a depilatory creams in your pubic areas could be a little problematic because these creams get into your skin surface and have chemicals too. Though it won’t harm to such a great extent, but it can cause some serious allergic reactions as the skin becomes really sensitive during pregnancy.

Sunscreen

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This is the most important product of our lives and it is more badly needed during pregnancy to stay away from melasma. Melasma is a very common skin problem that causes patchy skin and discoloration during pregnancy so it’s very important to use sunscreen with high SPF. But the most common chemical found in sunscreen is oxybenzone. This chemical has been scientifically linked to development toxicity and hormonal imbalances. So it’s suggested to use sunscreen with zinc oxide instead to stay safe in the sun.

Fake Tan

9 Beauty Treatments You Should Quit when You're Expecting

This is not really a helpful option when it comes to your pregnancy time. Spray tanning techniques or even lying out on the beach in sun raises your body temperature. Instead, feel free to use a bronzer on your face, neck and belly and on the areas you want to look appealing.

Makeup, Specially Lipsticks

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It is always suggested to ask your doctors before using cosmetics during pregnancy. Lipsticks are the one and only product of our daily makeup that is reapplied many times throughout the day and all the lipsticks, including high end brands and drugstore, contain lead and that too in heavy amounts. This lead gets collected and deposited into your body which is obviously not safe for your little one. It is suggested to use tinted lip balms instead. If you are going to a party and you need a lipstick, try to just apply once so that there is a little tint. Do not apply again and again during your pregnancy or try to find out some lead-free lipstick and try to keep your makeup light.

Skin  Lightening and Teeth Whitening

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I know we all want to look as good as we used to in our pre-prego time. But it’s better to avoid your peroxide whitening treatments during pregnancy as these cause serious birth defects. You can go for whitening and peroxide-free toothpastes and you should also meet up with your dentist for regular cleaning.

Some More Basic Tips:
• Try to avoid deodorants and strong perfumes, instead go for talc and roll-ons
• If you really want to get highlights, make sure the color doesn’t come in touch with your scalp
• Go for regular exercise and massages
• Drink lots of water to prevent stretch marks and have your vitamins and nutrients as prescribed
• Keep your skin moisturized and use mild cleansers
• Massage your belly with cocoa butter, if it gets itchy out there
• Be in love with your body and bare skin

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6 thoughts on “9 Beauty Treatments You Should Quit when You’re Expecting

  1. Hi Maya,
    Thanx for d info.But ther has been lot of buzz about using oil during pregnancy to reduce stretch marks. Can Bio oil b used during pregnancy to avoid the stretch marks ???

    As their advertisement claims so , that this oil is specially used for the marks.

    1. Hi mehak, I had gone through the ingredients list of Bio-Oil some time back.. and it has Retinoids!! It may work for stretch marks, but harm the fetus.

    2. hi mehak… stretch marks are part of this wonderful time and they cannot be avoided at all. but its usually suggested to use regular oils like olive oil or coconut oil. bio oil claims that it is basically for pregnancy stretch marks, but when i checked the reviews….its highly disappointing..not up to the mark..
      very few women were happy and satisfied with bio oil.

  2. This is very informative Maya. I had no idea that basic things as sunscreens could hurt the baby too. Will ask every pregnant acquaintance to read this. 🙂

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