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Glowing Pregnancy Skin Many women have heard how during pregnancy, their hair and nails might grow faster and thicker during pregnancy. Your skin might also have a “pregnancy glow” and be softer and smoother. You can thank all of the extra vitamins and minerals that you are required to take! However, for some women, not the case, as pregnancy skin changes for them respond more "gloomy" versus "glowing". Hormones may not respond to you the same way. How unfair! Let’s start in the bathroom. Pull out all of your cleansers and facial products. What are you using on your face? Hormones can cause all kinds of trouble – resulting in acne and a moist or oily complexion. Diet tip – cut way down on sugar! This includes processed foods and refined carbs. Switch out your dairy for nut milks or organic, cultured dairy like whole-fat yogurt, buttermilk, kefir and fermented cheeses. Make sure to take your omega-3’s! If you read the labels on a lot of facial products, you might read “for oily skin” and while this sounds like the way to go for your skin, it isn’t. This is because these products are too drying for your skin and while switching it out with something that contains oils sounds crazy – it really is the best thing you can do! Instead of drying out your skin, sometimes causing irritation and redness, only to have the excess oil and acne return – proper skin products will help your skin retain its natural moisture. You’ll be ridding the pores of all the dead cells and “gunk” in there. White Willow Bark is a natural source of salicylic acid and wonderful for oily skin! It cleanses all the excess but keeps it your natural oils balanced. For me, I hold the opposite problem in pregnancy – my skin is dry! Avocado oil became my best friend during my pregnancies from pouring it into the bath or applying to my face. Essential Oil Tip for DIY cleanser – part castor oil and the other part – jojoba oil. Make sure to never apply essential oils directly onto your skin. Extra step – raw honey! One teaspoon with warm water and massage onto your face and rinse. (Do not use the honey moisture if your face is already dry and irritated) What’s up with PUPPS? PUPPS - pruritic urticarial papules and plaques of pregnancy – and is a terribly itchy rash that starts out slow with a few bumps and can manifest all around the naval and even onto legs and buttocks. There is no known cause as to why this rash appears but it will go away after pregnancy. There are some guesses that is it caused by rapid abdominal stretching and kidneys and liver are overworked and the body is not filtering correctly. Your doctor can prescribe something for the itch if it becomes too intense – however, some mamas do not want to do this route. Instead, load up on juice that you make yourself at home with vegetables. If you have a juicer, even better! Mix and strain as many vegetables are you can get in a variety of colors to help push toxins through your system. Uneven skin tone textures. As if oily or dry skin wasn’t enough to deal with – up to 70% of expecting moms deal with their skin tones becoming uneven. Take action: Eat foods rich in folic acid: leafy greens, asparagus, broccoli, citrus, beans, peas, avocado, seeds, and nuts. Also, don’t forget to take your whole food prenatal vitamins daily! Protect yourself when exposed to the sun. UV light can escalate dark spots on the skin and make it difficult for them to fade with ease after pregnancy. Use a mineral and chemical free sunscreen anytime you want to soak up some rays. Brighten up with Vitamin C. This powerful antioxidant can really help to keep your skin tones become brighter and more even. Pregnancy sure puts our bodies through quite a workout - including our skin! Since our skin is our biggest organ and the first line of defense against outside pollution and what you apply to it - taking some time out each day to take care of it and yourself is very important. Want More Tips? Download this FREE PDF: Safe Oil & Herbal Blends for Pregnancy, Birth & Postpartum.