I had no idea....

[MissTwister]

....That as pregnant ladies we're meant to be careful about make up, nail varnish and other beauty stuff! I am 13 weeks pregnant and very partial to all the above - I wouldn't dream of leaving the house without make up and nail varnish.

However a colleague told me today that I need to be careful as products can harm the baby and she switched only to organic beauty products, shampoo and didn't wear make up or nail varnish!

What are everyone's thoughts on this? Do you use these products? Or do I need to drastically tone down my stylishness!!

Thanks for help xx

I bet she would recommend wrapping yourself in cotton wool and living on distilled water, just in case.
Relax. Unless you are actually drinking that nail varnish, you'll be fine.

Hi, I don't believe any of that to be honest. I haven't changed any of my beauty habits. Some people are just super paranoid. Xx

I wouldn't worry too much. The makeup would need to be absorbed into your skin and then your blood stream to even make it to the baby. So low risk in my book. Its not stopping me wearing makeup!

If the NHS don't warn against it, I think you will be fine

(unless of course you have pica cravings of eating eyeshadow or guzzling nail polish!)

The only change I made to beauty products was while breast feeding I only used roll on deodorant just incase the spray ones went on my breast as I would imagine this not being pleasant for my lil one apart from that just crack on how you wish happy times ahead.

Tbh I think piling chemicals on your body every day is bad for you anyway. Don't mean that to sound judgemental but I think women are worryingly unaware of what goes into the products we put on our bodies. Laws are different in different countries and I believe that companies like Nivea and Dove have to change their recipes according to the local laws. Some chemicals have been found to contribute to breast and ovarian cancer. I rarely wear any make up but since falling pregnant i've actually stopped wearing deodorant because of all the reports of dangerous chemicals.

If you Google you'll find lots of info but start here www.huffingtonpost.com/vanessa-cunningham/dangerous-beauty-products_b_4168587.html

If you can I think it's best to try and wean yourself off the most dodgy products and maybe switch to organic/natural products if possible? I'm sure you don't need as much make up as you think you do :)

I would keep clear of hairspray.
My second son was born with minor abnormalities. At the time (8 yrs ago) there had been some link found between those abnormalities and a chemical in hairspray - not my dodgy google research but from his consultant.
I didn't use hairspray and had my suspicions that it was from hormones in tap water. For my next 2 pregnancies I drank only bottled water. I know all this worrying can lead to paranoid madness though.

I still wear light make up & nail varnish, although I was having my eyelashes tinted & lifted (LVL) & my beauty therapist has refused to since I've been pregnant

If you want to be cautious, avoid creams with retinoids or salicylic acid: www.babycenter.com/0_safe-skin-care-during-pregnancy_1490031.bc But that really is a precaution- there's no actual evidence that skin creams with those things in them have actually harmed a fetus.

Some lipsticks have lead in them www.motherjones.com/environment/2013/05/study-lead-metals-lipstick-top-20. You might want to find a lead-free brand, or at least not reapply your lipstick too often.

I'd worry about the smell of nail polish or nail polish remover bringing on nausea.

Oh wow that's crazy. im sure unless you are eating your makeup or drinking your nail varnish your fine

It's not getting Into your blood stream, if you're allowed spray tans I'm sure makeup is fine.

People are overly cautious being overly cautious will end up doing more damage than good

What a load of old bollocks! As long as you aren't huffing your nail varnish remover you are fine!

Although they do recommend you don't have shellac/longer term nail varnish nearer your due date as it is buggar to get off if they need to do any monitering/emergency treatment as they clip it to the ends of your toes/fingers!

Pamper away guilt free OP!

I cbf to put nail varnish on anymore so don't wear it for that reason. I wear make up daily and feel bare without it and no midwife has told me not to when they've seen me. I think it's hair dyes you need to be most cautious of. They irritate the life out of me anyway so I've dodged them

Don't worry much of it has been so tested as nauseum on bunnies that the likelihood of it hurting you/baby now is negligible. Inc hair dyes.

Bet she never cared about the animal testing....

If you want a lovely organic nail varnish try Spa Ritual. Suitable for vegans too.

Wow! Im not a massive make up wearer anyway...ds and dd make it impossible ti even try and sort myself out at 6 in the morning! But if I do wear it I have never changed which type I use! My skin care is almost the same except I have to change the tyoe of face wash etc as I get really greasy when pg for some reason. ...its also the only time I get spots...apart from the massive one I get when due on my period! (Sorry tmi) so I dont really change much and my kids are fine!

Thanks all. For your info i have a lovely pale blue nail varnish and a bright pink lipstick on!

Just make sure, once your baby is born and grows into a toddler, that you keep the makeup where he or she can't reach it.

Here's the kind of thing toddlers can do with nail polish...

Nonsense, go relax (with a bit of brie)

Pffffft, sounds like a load of rubbish to me, I've never heard that before!

A bit of slap and some pampering products are the only thing I feel I can cling on to to make me look semi-decent right now!

I wouldn't take any notice unless you're taking your make-up off with paint stripper

Little tip for you all...

If your dc scribble on the walls with permanent marker or get their hands on nail varnish as seen above just drench the area in hairspray and scrub. Tried and tested on my own carpet and walls . It even works when the product has dried