I'm a little over 7w and my skin looks awful. I am breaking out around my mouth and chin. I read that break-outs in that area are hormonal break-outs, so I am guessing that means there isn't a magical face wash that will make it go away. I wash my face and moisturize every day, but I feel like it's just getting worse. Makeup helps a little. Did anyone use anything that worked, or am I just stuck like this for the rest of the pregnancy?
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Time. Unfortunately I never discovered a magic solution. Just time for it to go away and water. I did notice a small improvement with mild exfoliation on a regular basis.
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I started being more religious about my face routine, and used a less-abrasive face wash... 13w in I'm still having issues but it seems to have calmed down a bit. Sorry girl, I feel your pain. Adolescence all over again
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My face flared up before the end of the first tri and has only flared up once since. I use an oil based wash and liquid exfoliant. I also got a facial at some point around month 4. I tend to get more cystic acne so I use the renee rouleau anti cyst treatment and it is MAGIC.
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I've always had bad skin, but it got better pre-pregnancy after a round of accutane. pregnancy seemed to bring all the pimples back, which is pretty frustrating! The first trimester I had them all over my forehead, now (24 weeks) they are on my cheeks.
I have found that a sulfur-based mask every day really helps. When I get lazy and don't do it every day I have more breakouts. I recently also got Murad's acne spot treatment, which is sulfur based and that brings things to a head much more quickly (like, red inflamed spots become white heads over night).
Good luck- and sorry, it really sucks.
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@eeh: ditto! It didn't really matter what products i used, my skin was still up and down. On the bright side it improved almost immediately after delivery.
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Giving birth. I always had great, spot free skin but pregnancy made me look like a teenager with lots of zits everywhere. Hours after LO was born my skin was clear again, as the breakout was hormonal no skin care product would fix it. Hoping you'll have better luck than me!
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Body Shops tea tree oil skin care line. It's really one of the only things you can use while pregnant.
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I had lovely skin before getting pregnant, but I've had terrible skin (cystic acne...everywhere on my face) during my pregnancy. I'm 26 weeks and it's mostly cleared up, but left me with some nasty hyperpigmentation (luckily it can be covered with make-up until it fades).
Honestly, the only thing that worked and really started to make a significant improvement was using 2.5% benzoyl peroxide at night. I resisted it for a long time, because I didn't know if it was safe. My doctor brought it up unprompted after noticing my acne and asking if it had been a problem before pregnancy. I was hesitant at first, but between my doctor's encouragement and reading all the scholarly articles I could find on the matter I felt a lot better about it. It's made a HUGE difference in my skin and, thank heavens, my self-esteem. I didn't feel pretty for a single moment for the first five months or so of my pregnancy, because of the acne.
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Sigh.
I never had great skin and it's been absolutely awful since my BFP (now 18 w 2 d). Partially it's hormones, partially it's because I was previously on prescription acne meds I had to stop before TTC due to warnings about it. But, there are days when my whole chin/mouth area feels like a bruise--so painful and embarrassing too.As others said, mild exfoliation seems to help a bit. It doesn't clear it up but it does help. I used to use St Ives apricot scrub but read that this is too harsh an abrasive and could be scratching my skin...so I stopped. Been using my clarisonic instead, or a little bit of baking soda mixed in my facewash.
I bought Lush Ocean Salt face scrub on the recommendation of pretty much everyone. It hasn't arrived yet (ordered online) but I hope it will help.
http://www.lushusa.com/Ocean-Salt/9999902128,en_US,pd.html?start=2&cgid=top25bestsellersOne thing I've found soothing is to steam my face over a hot sink of water with a little tea tree oil in it. Seems to open up the pores and helps heal a bit. If you've got excessive oil on your face you can also do a mask with water & baking soda, but it does dry your face so if it isn't oily don't do it.
Other than that, get good with concealer I guess!! That's all I've been able to do.
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Giving birth was the only thing that worked for me! A week later my skin was clear.
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Time. My skin was awful during the first trimester. I tried to just have a simple routine and remember to moisturize and use gentle products. It started to calm down around 16 weeks or so. Now at 28 weeks I think my skin looks pretty good.
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I'm hoping mine clears up after the first trimester. At 10 weeks, my chin is awful!
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Time. Mine has improved quite a bit over the last two weeks or so (18w now). Face washes with the 2% salycylic acid are on my OK list also, so long as it's not something you leave on your skin. I know docs vary on that though.
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I'm with the others; my face cleared up a lot after about 20 weeks. I stopped wearing makeup and only use Dr. Bronner's soap with a Clarisonic and jojoba oil as moisturizer. Somehow, my skin is now clearer than it has been in YEARS.
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I second the Clarisonic Mia or Aria. Before I got pregnant my skin was crazy after going off BCP. I purchased the Aria and use it with a mild soap (cetaphil or trader joe's has a nice cleanser). I also am loyal to theraplex moisturizer (only purchased online). My skin has been pretty tame since!
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@bree72: YES! this is what I used and it worked great! Loved the Body Shop Tea Tree products during pregnancy.
My acne actually got worse after I gave birth when all the hormones were sorting out and I used Proactiv short term and everything went back to normal. -
I used a wash with salicylic acid in it a few times when my breakouts were bad. My OB said it was ok.
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Thanks everyone! I am going to look into a few of these suggestions...hopefully something will help!
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@blackbird: have you used any of her other stuff? I have had problem skin since I was 13 (I'm a type 3 according to her crtiteria) so I'm always open to stuff that works well but it's pretty pricey. If not, can I ask what other cleanser/exfoliant you use? I tried the oil-cleansing method and it did NOT work for me, we're talking major whiteheads cropping up all day long every day.
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@lawbee11: I've had cystic acne since 13 and the only stuff that ever worked was strong topical prescription stuff that I can't use while pregnant. I was so miserable my first and most of my 2nd trimester. I had decent results with Arbonne's clear advantage line, but honestly it took forever to work and is pricey. By the time it ran out, I was nearing my third trimester and everything had cleared up and has stayed shockingly clear. So idk if the arbonne really worked or my skin just got better as my pregnancy progressed. I maintain with clinique's exfoliating scrub (not the 7-day scrub) at night and cetaphil in the morning, and sephora's instant moisturizer. And keeping my makeup brushes clean. I still get some whiteheads but mostly have the pregnancy glow
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@bree72: @rachiecakes: Which products from the tea tree line did you use? I just went to the website and there are so many different types (cleansing wash, lotion, toner, oil, etc). Did you use them all?
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@lawbee11: I used the clearing wash, clearing toner, clearing lotion and oil. I think you can find the whole line at Ulta, too.
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@lawbee11: man, the pregnancy acne was not fun. mine lasted from about weeks 8 through 11--i hope yours is temporary as well! while i didn't find anything to cure the acne, i did put plain yogurt on my face every night for about 10-20 minutes, which was soothing. i would also dab a glob of yogurt or acne treatment (like clean and clear) on bad ones and leave it on overnight. i started using blotting tissues during the day because the oiliness was unreal. when i came home from work, i would wash my face with a gentle cleanser (cetaphil) to get rid of makeup and buildup, and lightly moisturize.
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@bree72: I went to Ulta last week and bought the Body Shop tea tree line. I have been using it for the past week and my face looks SO much better! It's not perfect, but at least I no longer look like a pre-pubescent teen. Thank you so much for the recommendation!
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@lawbee11: Oh good! Hopefully it'll clear up some as your pregnancy progresses.
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