Our Top 8 Pregnancy-Safe Skincare Ingredients
Women, especially moms-to-be or new moms, are becoming more aware of the toxins and chemicals lurking in their everyday personal care products.
Up to 60% of everything you apply to your skin can enter your bloodstream so it is particularly important during pregnancy and into the postpartum period, to know the ingredients that are in your products and the effects that they may have— from affecting fertility and reproductive health to causing birth defects.
The Environmental Work Group offers useful resources regarding ingredients that have been flagged for potential health concern or contaminants, making it easier to choose safe products.
But now that you know what shouldn’t be in your skincare products, how about what should be in them?
When creating our products, we not only wanted to ensure that they were safe, vegan, and clean but that they would also purify, brighten, hydrate and nourish your skin during your journey through motherhood; before, during and after pregnancy.
Below are a few of the must-have superstar ingredients that we've packed into our products.
8 Superstar Skincare Ingredients for Pregnancy and Beyond
Burdock Root Extract
When it comes to getting your skin clear, it's important to have ingredients that will not only reduce inflammation but also work to protect your skin’s barrier. This was the focus when we sourced the antioxidant skin-soother, Burdock root extract. The vegetable is native to Northern Asia and has been used for hundreds of years in holistic medicine and to treat skin conditions like acne, psoriasis, and eczema.
Overall, it packs an extensive list of benefits to the skin thanks to its nutrient-dense profile, being rich in a number of essential minerals such as manganese, selenium and zinc as well as phenolic acids, luteolin and quercetin.
You can expect it to deep clean your pores and purify your skin to clear breakouts and blemishes!
Find in: Rose Glow Purifying CleanserGotu Kola
Stretch marks can be an inevitable part of pregnancy as your body is making room to grow a baby. Keeping your skin super healthy and moisturized can help you prevent the damage that comes from stretching skin. Ingredients that work at the cellular level to hydrate, build elasticity and stimulate skin regeneration and repair are are gold mine at this stage!
Gotu kola, a herb that’s a member of the parsley family (and a staple in traditional Chinese, Indonesian, and Ayurvedic medicine) is one such ingredient and has long been praised for its ability to speed up skin healing, even outperforming Vitamin C in stimulating collagen production!
Known as the "skin-tightening herb", it's packed with triterpene saponins, that work to help keep your skin tight and firm, making it a great treat for postpartum skin!
Find it in: Stretch Mark Relief Restorative Butter
Siberian Ginseng
Siberian ginseng is one of the adaptogens you'll see featured in our skincare products. Adaptogens are non-medical substances that are thought to strengthen and increase resistance to daily stress.
The herb is known for its ability to encourage skin regeneration with several medical studies showing its effectiveness in lifting sagging skin by boosting skin-firming collagen.
This, along with its anti-inflammatory properties, smoothing and moisturizing powers makes it a safe and ideal ingredient in a belly scrub that you can expect to rejuvenate, firm and tone your skin.
Find in: Stretch Mark Relief Refining Scrub
Vitamin C
Retinol tends to be the wrinkle-fighting, skin-brightening, breakout-regulating ingredient of choice in the skincare world—but most experts agree that its use isn’t safe during pregnancy or while nursing.
Fortunately, nature gave us a pretty good runner up in vitamin C, which has been shown to have brightening, skin-evening, smoothing, and hydrating effects while also being safe for new mothers and moms-to-be.
Look for Vitamin C if you're seeking to boost your pregnancy glow or to lighten dark spots from acne-scarring, tackle hyperpigmentation or the "mask of pregnancy".
Find in: Rose Glow Brightening Essence
Green Tea Extract
If we had to choose one powerhouse ingredient, Green Tea Extract would earn a narrow win by being both protective and corrective, offering numerous benefits to the skin!
This incredible extract has been used for hundreds of years in Eastern traditional medicine and is prized for its anti-microbial and anti-inflammatory properties (bye-bye inflammation!). Not only is it an antioxidant, making it an excellent choice to tackle the hormonal acne and increase in oil production during pregnancy, it is also an anti-inflammatory agent that helps protect against UV radiation, making a great complement for other ingredients used to treat hyperpigmentation and melasma.
Overall, the ingredient is great for numerous skin types, including oily, dry, combo and targets conditions such as acne, rosacea, psoriasis as it will naturally calm skin irritation, even out discoloration, and promote good skin health by providing moisture and regulating the production of sebum.
It has also been scientifically proven to reduce scars and marks by over 40% and diminishes the appearance of cellulite!
Find in: Rose Glow Purifying Cleanser, Stretch Mark Relief Restorative Butter
Mushroom Extracts
If you keep mushrooms in your diet for their health benefits, you might be interested in knowing that some types of mushroom extracts (shiitake and lingzhi in particular) are like magic for skin repair and work to brighten and soothe inflamed, red skin. Shiitake mushrooms contain kojic acid which has skin-lightening and antimicrobial properties.
Mushroom extracts are a must-have ingredient for treating hyperpigmentation and mask of pregnancy.
Find in: Rose Glow Brilliance Protection Soufflé
Bladderwrack Algae
Bladderwrack Algae (Fucus Vesiculosus) is a natural retinol-alternative, increasing the production of collagen by a whopping 228% compared to 190% done by retinols (remember retinols are not safe for use during pregnancy and breastfeeding)!
The seaweed contains a significant amount of trace minerals that detoxify and soothe dry or severely irritated skin. It also prevents premature aging by reducing wrinkle depth and fine lines, corrects imperfections and improves skin texture. ⠀
Bladderwrack Algae is another fave ingredient of ours because it literally delivers an instant glow to the skin!
Find in: Rose Glow Brightening Essence
Pomegranate Seed Oil
This is the holy grail of oils containing 3 times as many antioxidants as green tea! As the only known botanical source of punicic acid, a rare omega-5 fatty acid and one of the most powerful antioxidants known to modern science, expect it to boost collagen production, enhance skin elasticity, reduce the appearance of scarring while reversing skin damage and adding lasting moisture.
(Pomegranates are well-deservingly referred to as “The Fruit of Life” or “Nature’s Power Fruit”!)
Pomegranate seed oil has been prized as one of the oils known to increase the elasticity and thickness of the skin, helping to prevent it from damage while stretching during pregnancy.
Find in: Stretch Mark Relief Hydrating Oil
