By Mariel Uyquiengco
Pregnant women, with their changing bodies and surging hormones, sometimes need a little boost when it comes to feeling beautiful. A longing for a much-needed haircut, highlight treatment, and manicure will definitely arise. Before heading to your favorite stylist though, consider the beauty products to avoid during pregnancy.
Anna Meloto-Wilk, co-founder and CEO of the trailblazing Filipino natural personal care company Human Nature, says that the products we use on our bodies are absorbed by our skin and are harmful in the long run. Furthermore, a study from the University of California San Francisco says chemicals found in most beauty products can adversely affect the development of the fetus, especially during the delicate early stages of pregnancy.
Though there is nothing wrong with wanting to doll up, research and consult your doctor about any product that you may be concerned about to help protect the little one in your womb. Common beauty products to avoid during pregnancy are chemically laden bath, nail care, skin whitening, and hair care goods. Here are some alternatives to looking good without putting your baby’s health at risk.
Bath and Hair Care Products
Most bath and hair products available in the market are loaded with toxic chemicals such as sodium laurly sulfate and parabens. If you haven’t ventured yet into natural care products, a pregnancy is the right time to do so.
Human Nature offers a wide range of affordable natural bath and hair care products through its branches and dealers nationwide. Other brands to consider are the all-natural soap line of By Nature Handmade Soaps. Embodyment Organic Essentials also offers a range of natural products from bath soaps, body scrubs, and shampoos. All three brands are available online.
Nail Care
Pregnant feet need to be in comfortable footwear, which is most likely to be a pair of flat, open-toed sandals. Groomed, clean nails are then a must. Nail polish, however, is one of the top beauty products to avoid during pregnancy as it contains a toxic combination of dibutyl phthalate, formaldehyde and toluene.
Bare, chemical-free nails are best, but if you really have to have some paint on your fingers and toes, Anna recommends formaldehyde- and toluene-free nail polish like Zoya. Manos, a nail spa at the Fort offers this particular brand.
Skin Whitening
One of the changes that some pregnant women need to endure is hyper-pigmentation, or the darkening of the skin. It is a source of distress and may lead self-conscious mums to look for a solution in the form of skin whitening products. Such products though contain unsafe and even toxic chemicals that interfere with the skin’s melanin production. What’s the alternative? Well, one can just wait for one’s color to return after pregnancy, as hyper-pigmentation is just temporary.
With all the harsh chemicals that may find their way to an unborn baby, expecting mothers must tread carefully when choosing beauty products for pregnant women. Using natural care products and going au naturel may be the safest bet in pregnant beauty care.
Mariel Uyquiengco hopes to inspire parents to be their children’s first and best teacher. She does this through her blog and online children’s book shop www.thelearningbasket.com and by giving parenting seminars about early childhood development, preschool homeschool, and raising children to be readers.