I’ve used a variety of oils in my pregnancy to try to keep the skin on my belly from stretching too much, but the first oil I ever used was Bio Oil for stretch marks, a lovely red/burnt orange coloured oil that always makes me think of cinnamon.
During my first pregnancy I used Bio Oil every day, and only developed stretch marks in the final few weeks … but they went away again soon after Ameli was born. Annoyingly, as my bump grew, I only used oil on the bits I could see – the top of the bump – and not below my bump and the difference in skin tone post pregnancy between the regularly moisturised part and the unmoisturised parts are astounding. You’re welcome to try it for yourself, but I don’t recommend it. During this pregnancy I’ve been very careful to nourish the skin above and below the belly button and right down into the groin area, especially as baby’s head has descended much earlier this time.
So what is Bio Oil and where do you find it?
Well, Bio Oil is quite chemical rich and the main down side of it is that the oil base is a mineral oil (paraffinum liquidum) and a few other unpronounceable words. However, if you use ‘regular’ beauty products, this shouldn’t be a problem for you. It also contains Calendula Oil, Lavender Oil, Rosemary Oil, Chamomile Oil, Vitamin A, Vitamin E, and Helianthus Annuus Seed Oil.
There’s been a fair amount of research around Bio Oil too, which you’d expect with a product that makes huge claims about effectiveness. The sensitivity research showed none of the 21 subjects with known skin sensitivities had any adverse reactions to Bio-Oil, and that it had a reaction value of 0.03 over the test period. Basically, Bio Oil performed better than deionized water.
Bio Oil was also tested on 38 women to see the effectiveness of the product and there were statistically significant results after only two weeks evident in 95% of the ladies. After 8 weeks, all subjects showed improvement in the reduction of scars.
You can find Bio Oil at your local chemist or online pharmacy and for a product that works, and lasts for ages, it’s really well priced at under £10, in my opinion.
