Beauty routine changes during pregnancy

Before getting pregnant, there was little thought on my end of the changes that would occur. Sure, no drinking. That's a given. No scooping the cat litter? Awesome! But I don't think most women realize how much they may need to change some habits while pregnant if they plan to take the "better safe than sorry" approach.

Now I err on the side of caution naturally, so when you throw a million different things at me that I MAY need to cut out because I'm pregnant, chances are I'm going to become a nun and do them all. And that's basically what I've done. Unpasteurized feta (thank God Zoe's feta IS pasteurized!), deli meat, most sushi, soft drinks, most caffeine sources, medium rare steaks, fried eggs... if there's a pregnancy risk associated with it, I've pretty much cut it out. Some of those are tiny tiny chances of there being any issues, but it's been easier for me to just not go there. I don't judge a single woman who doesn't go to these lengths, these were just my personal preferences for ease of mind! I mean I'll run a marathon pregnant and plenty of other folks thinks that's nutso. And it kinda is!

The things that surprised me the most were cosmetics and such. I was midway through my first trimester when I read anything about salicylic acid in face wash being a possible no-no, so I was quick to usher my acne back in (thanks hormones). When I asked my doctor about those types of products, she said she preferred her patients cut it out but that I could spot treat with benzoyl peroxide sparingly. I guess the thinking with salicylic acid is it's related to Aspirin... and if Aspirin is off-limits, then so is it's acne-fighting counter part, even though you barely absorb any. My switch? From Mary Kay Clearproof face wash to Timewise and from my Clearproof toner to pure witch hazel. At first, I didn't think witch hazel as a toner was gonna cut it, cause I kinda like that astringent-y burn you get, but actually my skin has taken really well to it. It's cheap and serves lots of great purposes, so I'd recommend it to lots of women, pregnant or not. We shall see if it is strong enough to handle the postpartum hormone surge that is sure to destroy my skin.

I have a controversial view of sunscreens, so take this one with a grain of salt, but sunscreens! We are exposed to a ridiculous amount of endocrine disrupters in our day to day lives. BPA is in everything from plastics to receipt paper, and I was appalled to find out most people's blood tests pretty high for it. This chemical interrupts all sorts of normal hormone cycles and has been linked to metabolic issues, especially in future generations, so as I'm carrying a future generation in my belly, I've been especially careful with trying to minimize my exposure to endocrine disruptors of all kinds. That means IF I use a sunblock of some sort, it's of the mineral variety, like a zinc oxide. We like the Babyganics one but there are tons out there now as this becomes a little more of the mainstream thinking. For this same reason, we also switched to this toothpaste and this for most soap and body wash needs to better escape some parabens and sulfates.

I have also tried to eliminate products with "fragrance" in them, but boy, does that feel like a losing battle! In all of my crusades against BPA, parabens, sulfates, fragrance, etc., my thinking has been "I may not be able to eliminate this 100%, but every little bit that I can get away from is doing some good." I can't and don't really want to go live in a bubble, but I do make a conscious effort to pay attention and make simple swaps where I can. For example, I use Not Your Mother's brand dry shampoo, and they offer a fragrance free option that I like. Now, if my hair is stinky and needs artificial fragrance that contains who knows what chemical, I'm just gonna suck it up and shower. I may switch my shampoo and conditioner to this line as well... has anyone else tried and liked them?

I've also been pretty lazy with these beautiful brunette roots for the sake of chemical exposure, although pretty much everything ya read says "go on, dye that hair!" Partly because I want the sun to do it's thang that it normally does to my hair in the summer and naturally bleach it, and partly because I just haven't wanted to fry the ends of my hair again. So I've only touched up my color once in this pregnant journey, and we went with a brush on highlight formula to keep it mostly off my scalp.

For someone who doesn't have too lengthy of a beauty routine, I feel like I made a decent amount of changes. Are there any that you would add to the list that maybe I should consider for the next go around or that other women should know about?!

#cosmetics #beautyroutine #witchhazel #BPA #parabens