Safe Skincare During Pregnancy

[mangotango15]

Hi, hoping someone can help.

I'm currently 11 weeks pregnant and have had a terrible outbreak of acne.

My skin has been quite bad since coming off the contraceptive pill last year.

I have used duac in the past, but GP won't prescribe as pregnant. They've said there is nothing they can offer.

I had previously used Clinique anti blemish 3 step, which was great for my skin. But stopped using this when I found out I was pregnant due to it containing salicylic acid.

As each week passes my skin is getting worse and worse. It's covered in spots and is really, really red. I also have dry patches and oily patches! I certainly don't have a healthy, pregnancy glow

I've been looking at different products online that are advertised as good for pregnancy acne. I'm considering either Belli or Mama Mio products.

Has anyone used these products? And did they work?

I also had a look at the tea tree range on body shop website, but not sure if this is safe to use during pregnancy.

Thanks everyone

salicyclic acid is fine, it's more that your skin can change so you can react to things more if that makes sense
You can use pretty much anything except for strong vitamin A products (think retinol type)

This is a good, albeit brief, overview of skincare ingredients to avoid during pregnancy.

Salicylic Acid in concentrations up to 2% are considered safe to use in pregnant women but there are plenty of arguments against it too. So it's a toss up. Alternatively, you can look into BHA derivatives like Betaine Salicylate that are said to be more gentle (I'm not aware whether this makes them better for use during pregnancy, you'd have to research it properly and/or consult your GP about it).

Personally, I'd look into asking for an Azelaic acid prescription (which works similarly to a BHA) as this is often prescribed to pregnant women who suffer from hormonal acne (inhibiting the bacterial growth that induces acne) and/or melasma and can't use their usual prescriptions. It may also help a bit with balancing out the oily and dry bits and definitely help soothe inflammation.

Barring that The Ordinary sell an Azelaic acid product with a good concentration that's very affordable and said to be effective, it is in a silicone suspension though so if you don't react to that well there's little else I can think of that doesn't also contain Salicylic.

You'll need to us a good standalone SPF with it, which is sensible anyhow, especially when pregnant as there's always the heightened risk of melasma. I'd go for a mineral one personally, to minimise possible irritations, but a chemical one should be fine too provided it doesn't contain avobenzone and/or oxybenzone UV filters.