Skin is the most prominent defensive organ of the human body. Your skin health directly impacts your personality and well-being. If your skin is glowing and nourishing, you will look more appeasable and attractive. You may notice various scars, imperfections, and flakes appearing as your pregnant belly grows due to hormonal imbalance. Some positive ways can help you exfoliate your dead skin safely and bring back your glowing skin.
Before we get into exfoliating skin we need to talk about the importance of taking prenatal supplements during pregnancy. Your body requires a certain amount of nutrients and vitamins on a regular basis but when a female becomes pregnant getting nutrients and vitamins becomes even more crucial for the health of the mother and the baby. Methylfolate 5 mg is highly recommended by doctors because it helps with mood swings that mothers usually get during pregnancy.
Why does skin need exfoliation during pregnancy?
Your skin also needs proper attention as you give to build your body. Your skin gets more dramatic changes than other organs during pregnancy. As your baby bump grows, spots, scars, flakes, dryness, and dead skin cells begin. If you want to discard these impurities from your skin surface and make your skin clear, smoother, fresh, and attractive; the skin needs exfoliation during pregnancy. You can clean your skin with either physical exfoliation or chemical exfoliation.
Physical Exfoliation
You can exfoliate the skin with a mechanical tool like a dry bristle brush or scrub and rub gently over the body’s skin that ward off the upper dead skin cells. If your skin is sensitive, don’t scrub many time; that makes the skin red and worse.
Chemical Exfoliation
You can exfoliate the skin via chemicals or acids that dissolve the dead skin cells and compel them to leave the skin surface—Chemical exfoliation. You can apply an acidic solution, creams (containing alpha hydroxy acid and beta hydroxy acids), or certain fruit enzymes of pumpkin or pineapples.
Exfoliating skin twice a week improves skin oxygenation, maintains skin elasticity, optimizes skin health, and makes it glowing and moisturized. But you should avoid extra exfoliation because sometimes it may negatively impact your skin health.
Which exfoliants should you use during pregnancy?
Exfoliation is a safe process, but pregnancy can make it complicated, so pregnant women should be cautioned while using chemical exfoliants. Evaluating your skin type is mandatory because some women may experience more sensitive skin during pregnancy due to hormonal changes. You should use those exfoliants recommended by a dermatologist. However, some acids you can use during pregnancy are;
- Alpha Hydroxy Acids (glycolic acid or lactic acid)
- Beta Hydroxy Acids (but avoid salicylic acid)
- Niacinamide acid
- Tranexamic acid
- Azelaic acid
- Hyaluronic acid
Many dermatologists agree that these chemical exfoliants are safe during pregnancy; if you have extra sensitive skin, consult your dermatologist before purchasing chemical exfoliants.
Which exfoliants should you avoid during pregnancy?
You can’t use all exfoliants during pregnancy; they can cause a threat to your and your baby’s health. And many dermatologists advice that you should not use some chemical exfoliants while pregnant and breastfeeding because they have chances to penetrate your body and enhance pregnancy complications. These are;
- Retinol products (type of vitamin A)
- Salicylic acid
- Benzoyl peroxide
- Alpha-Arbutin
Besides these, you should use homemade exfoliates that give more glow and hydrate your skin. And the positive point has no side effects.
Conclusion
Exfoliation is considered the best way to remove dead skin cells from your body, regain glowing skin, and optimize skin health. Physical and chemical exfoliation can help you to clean your skin. Chemical exfoliation includes topical ingredients (acids) that dissolve your dead skin. However, some chemical exfoliants can penetrate into your bloodstream, which leads to birth defects, so consult your doctor before using exfoliants. `