Pregnancy is ruining my face. Natural solutions?

I’m 22 weeks pregnant with baby #2, and my face is a mess. Not so much with pimples, but the skin is all red and blotchy and dry. :frowning: I think my skin got all glow-y with the first baby, but this one is trashing it.

Has anyone ever experienced anything like this? I’d love to find a natural solution for this, but I’m willing to go store bought.

Tell the fetus very sternly that it’s going to state university if it doesn’t stop immediately.

This one is a hard-kicking, acne-causing, nausea-inducing fetus. She’s gonna get an earful as soon as she’s old enough to understand.

Lipstick. I read this from “Club Mom.” It worked for my wife and a couple of friends who were pregnant.

Just…spreading lipstick all over my face? Or wearing lipstick so as to distract from the redness of my skin? :confused:

Double post.

Do you think it could be seborrheic dermatitis? It is the cause of dandruff on the scalp, but can also show up on other body parts, especially the face. It’s easily kept under control with a prescription lotion.

Oh boy! Awesome photos there. No, it’s not quite so bad. I’m pretty sure I have rosacea, although I’ve never really done anything about it, since it was limited to the apples of my cheeks. But with this pregnancy, it’s just about taken over my whole face.

And since I’m pregnant, I’d like to avoid any prescriptions/medications.

If it is seborrheic dermatitis, there is no need for drugs. Steroid cream will make it clear faster but it will clear all by itself if you exfoliate gently (like with a Buf Puff) daily until it goes away (and 1-3 x a week after that). Whatever is causing it, you have my sympathy. I broke out with big concentric circles of stretch marks around my belly button 2 weeks before my first arrived. Those suckers are permanent.

Simple facial serum: Rose hip seed oil (1/3) and jojoba oil (2/3) with a few drops of German Chamomile and Lavender Essential oils. This can be very good for reddened flaking skin. I like to spritz with a spray bottle of Rosewater first, and then put on my facial serum.

Carrot seed, sandalwood, frankincense, rose and cedarwood essential oils are also good for red skin conditions, but probably more difficult to find, and darn expensive when you do find the real deal. Well, carrot seed is cheap, but hard to find, at least around here.

What I would strongly un-recommend, although you’ll find a lot of recommendations for them on the web, is either tea tree or eucalyptus essential oils. In my experience, these are just too harsh, even when well diluted in a carrier oil.

I’ve heard good things about lavender oil. Thanks for the warning about tee-tree oil – I think my skin is super sensitive right now, so something that strong would probably be more detrimental than helpful. :slight_smile:

I have a friend who is of the “if a little is good, more must be better” mindset who once put *undiluted *tea tree oil on his downthere to try to get rid of genital warts. Ow. Owowowowowowowowow!

Tea tree, at various dilutions, can be great for cleaning countertops, athlete’s foot, toenail fungus and acne. But that’s really about all I suggest it for. For other purposes, there’s almost always something more effective yet gentler that doesn’t smell so horrid. :slight_smile:

When it comes to hormonal acne (which seems to be the case here) I don’t think there’s a ton you can do for it other than altering your hormones (i.e. taking birth control, which you obviously wouldn’t want to do). Just take care of yourself, meaning take your vitamins, make sure you’re drinking plenty of water and eating well. I personally love oil cleansing and I’ve found it’s made a huge difference in my skin. If you haven’t heard of it, google it!