How your looks will change in pregnancy

Pregnancy hormones affect your appearance in many ways.. Luckily these changes are subtle and will disappear once baby is born. Here’s how to deal with the most common side effects:

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Pregnant woman looking in the mirror

Blotchy skin tone
The Solution: Your skin can turn blotchy when hormones kick in, but foundation can be too heavy and mask that pregnancy glow, so use a concealer over any uneven toned areas and to hide any undereye circles or pregnancy zits. 

Dry patches
The Solution: Pregnancy unbalances the skin’s ph level which can lead to severe dryness, so drench your whole body daily with moisturisers suitable for sensitive pregnant skins. Remember to target vulnerable areas like your tummy, hips, thighs, arms and breasts with an extra dose of lotion.

Blemish breakouts
The Solution: Spots can plague you during pregnancy as high levels of the progesterone hormone causes skin to turn oily and become more prone to breaking out. But many spot treatments are best avoided as they use strong ingredients which may irritate sensitive pregnant skin even more. So it’s best to prevent them from popping up in the first place by using an oil-free moisturiser to help minimise greasiness.

Pegmentation
The Solution: Also known as melasma or “the mask of pregnancy”, hormonal changes can boost melanin (the pigment in your skin) causing dark pigmentation, especially on your face. Patches will fade over time, but in this case, prevention is better than cure so try to keep out of the sun and wear a moisturiser with at least an SPF 15.

Stretch marks
The Solution: Oils are best for preventing stretch marks as they thoroughly nourish all the skin layers to keep it supple while it’s being stretched.  Don’t wait for your bump to get big before you use one though - keep stretch marks to a minimum by using one daily as soon as you know you’re pregnant.
 
Dry hair
The Solution: Hormonal changes during pregnancy can cause your scalp to dry up and therefore make your strands dry and brittle, so treat it to a “drink” every week with a deep conditioning mask.

3 weekly must do’s

1. A Mini Manicure
Nails can be brittle and prone to breaking during pregnancy but a weekly manicure will keep them even and groomed.
1.File away ridges and neaten edges using a one-direction filing technique.
2. Moisturise cuticles with hand cream, pushing them back as you’re massaging it into skin.
3. Polish with a natural pink colour that won’t show any chips.

2. A Top-To-Toe Scrub
Dryness can lead to dullness so it’s important to slough away dead and dry skin cells with a regular weekly exfoliation routine. Opt for grainy scrubs that manually smooth dry patches as acid-based ones (that use AHAs to dissolve cells) are not safe to use while pregnant.

3. A Conditioning Hair Wrap
Keep locks looking healthy and shiny by wrapping conditioner-soaked wet hair into a warmed-on-the-radiator towel for ten minutes or more. The heat will help the conditioner fully absorb into the strands leaving them soft and manageable for the rest of the week.