Hideous, hideous skin :-( Any advice?

[YompingJo]

I am 8 + 2 and the skin on my face and back is horrible: greasy and spotty and only getting worse. I have always been prone to breakouts but this is something else. I cleanse with Liz Earle Cleanse and Polish and use whatever moisturiser comes to hand. I used to swear by Liz Early Superskin Concentrate face oil, which I used every night, but it has an oil in it that What To Expect says I shouldn't use, so I've confined it to the cupboard for now.

My diet is OK, a fair bit of fresh fruit and veg, but the occasional (maybe more than occasional at the moment) indulgence ie pizza, cake, ice cream. I do usually get regular (3x weekly) exercise but have been variously ill and feeling sick for 2 weeks so haven't done anything much in that department recently.

Can anyone give me any advice about good acne treatment products or face washes that are considered safe to use during pregnancy, or things that have worked for you? Failing that, I might have to pretend I'm doing sponsored mask-wearing for the next 7 months, so links to good designs for masks also appreciated :(

Firstly, get yourself a decent pregnancy book. WTEWYE is beyond shite. Your skin will settle down, see if Liz Earle do a moisturiser you can use and switch.

Oops i use that and am pregnant, what's the contraband oil in it?

Freederm gel works for me, and it says on it that it's suitable for use during pregnancy. I've never tried the face wash but might be worth a go?

have you tried a witch stick? They're meant to be brilliant xxx

i sympathise. my skin is awful. my back kinda cleared up on its own when i hit the 3rd trimester but now at 38 weeks my face is still pretty bad. i use a really gentle wash from body shop. seems to help. personally i have found the more high tech/harsh creams etc make it worse

I started using LE while I was pregnant because of awful spots on my forehead, which it cleared right up.

What shower gel do you use?

Maybe keep it totally simple use dove or simple soap and water on your face - iv been the opposite in pregnancy and have had dry skin - would kill for a bit of greece lol but when I was a teenager if I ever had a breakout soap and water worked best and a really plain moisturiser like E45 or something. I would personally go for products with the least amount of chemicals & perfume in them. Your skin changes in pregnancy and obviously LE no longer agrees with you, go back to it when youv given birth - plus u can get e45 on prescription for free when your maternity exemption card arrives - think of all the money youl be saving

Oh and when pregnant you need to dunk more than the usual 8 glasses of water a day - that will also help ur skin

my was terrible for the fist and some of the second trimester but is much better now 35+2 and after my first dd my spots cleared and my skin was amazing until I fell pregnant again this time so it is a case of try to look after it and yourself and itll pass xxxx

Pregnancy can trigger or worsen rosacea. If you have a general redness to your skin (or blush/flush easily) as well as spots then it could be that...

I have rosacea and its a bitch, all the normal products that are great for spots/acne only make it worse!

www.rosacea.org/patients/allaboutrosacea.php

The best/gentlest face wash I have found (whether you have it or not) is the aloe vera one from the body shop. Dont use anything else on your face aside from a gentle sunscreen and lay off sugar and spicy foods (I am assuming you are already not drinking caffeine or alcohol, of you still are then lay off them too)

I had terrible skin until around 14 weeks and tried every expensive treatment I could get my hands on. I then decided to try the Simple range and its worked brilliantly - cheap, gentle and fragrance free. I'm 28 weeks now and planning to continue using it rather than go back to my old Clinique routine. Give a basic or teenage range a try as they tend to have less chemicals and should be more gentle on your skin

Thanks for all the helpful replies :-) Off to Boots at the weekend to stock up on Freederm, Witch Stick and Simple facewash.

Cervix, I've read in a few places that Chamomile should be avoided.

Sneezeblossom, next time I need my book choice criticized and my intelligence insulted, I'll look out for you . If LE did a pregnancy-safe face oil, I'd have been savvy enough to get hold of it already, and I have several pregnancy books. I was asking for some personal recommendations for products, not to be patronised. Thanks anyway!

Cetaphil seems to be the one that quite a lt of dermatologists recommend as its ph neutral. However, it's not great for removing foundation (which I don't wear, so not an issue for me).

www.pharmacy2u.co.uk/cetaphil-gentle-skin-cleanser-p3093.html

Mine did seem to improve (but still not great) after about 10/11 weeks when the nausea also went. I have also been using the simple range and using Freederm and witch hazel.

For me breaking out was an early sign of pregnancy.

I can sympathise. I've had troublesome skin since my early 20's. It actually improved in the first weeks of pregnancy, but now I'm 8 weeks and It's really flared up. I use simple facewash and their light moisturiser as I think anything too harsh just aggravates. I also swear by putting sudocrem on a new or particularly bad spot at night, and by morning I can really see an improvement. Funnily enough there was an article about sudocrem in the paper today saying how sales have gone up by 150% as people have discovered how good it is for spot prone skin.

Once you get to 12 weeks then try some MLD massage for the face, it clears skin beautifully and is amazingly relaxing too. If you get swollen ankles it's great too (get checked for pre-eclampsia as well though)