Everyone raves about how glowing pregnant women are, but what exactly is it? It certainly can´t be all these new pestering pimples that are showing up on my face, right?

Various skin changes can occur during different stages of pregnancy and are often caused by hormonal factors and changes to the circulation and immune system. Common changes include stretch marks, change in skin colour, increased skin sensitivity, itchy skin, acne and broken veins. Recognise any of these symptoms? Ah, the joys of being pregnant!

As with the majority of all pregnant women, my skin has also been going through several changes the past couple of months – some worse than others. Let’s have a look what happened to my skin during the first trimester…

Welcome back little annoying red spot – I have certainly not missed you! I was so happy getting rid of you after entering my twenties. And now I have to deal with you again – it´s really not fair!

Quite early on – around the 6-week mark of my pregnancy – my face and upper back appeared oilier than usual. And suddenly small red pimples emerged, especially in the T-zone of my face, and even my neck and upper back!!!! The size and numbers of black heads on my nose and chin increased too. Before I was pregnant my skin tended to be a bit dry, especially after entering my thirties. In order to alleviate the dryness, I developed and started using the LOVE Bio-Hydrating Moisturiser – absolutely beautiful! I used it every morning and in the evening after cleansing my face with the HYDRATING Gel Cleanser and sometimes I would also use the Face Serum. But because my skin became oilier I had to change my routine and develop new products that could help me.

Oily skin is usually caused by increased sebum production (sebum = the natural oil your body produces to keep your skin waterproof and lubricated), and then the red spots/white heads/black heads develop due to the clogging of pores from dead skin cells inside the hair follicles. During pregnancy women can start developing spots or acne after years of not having any. In general around 40% of pregnant women will do so, and the majority of those would have had acne or spots at some stage in life (such as puberty). Interestingly, often the women who normally suffer with “adult” acne might find that the spots improve during the first trimester, and then only to worsen in the third trimester.

So, in order to reduce the amount of sebum on my skin, I needed to make a mild cleanser that would leave my face nice and clean, but without making it feel dry and tight. So, after playing around with various proto-types and testing them out, I have finally settled for a perfect formula – our CLARITY Foamy Cleanser.

Since exfoliation can remove the dead skin cells that can block the hair follicles, decreasing the number of blackheads and pimples, I have been working on a light exfoliating product. Using this product around twice a week is about all I need, as I didn´t want to stress my skin too much. In addition, I have been developing a delicious clay mask that can draw out excessive amounts of sebum. Both products will be released soon. I am certainly looking forward to giving other pregnant ladies a little bit of luxury!

My current conclusion on PREGNANCY GLOW:

As I mentioned before pregnancy glow is not really defined, hence in my case, when people tell me that I have a beautiful GLOW, it might actually be due to my shiny oily skin – or might just be due to the fact that I produce a big amount of cold sweat on my face when vomiting all day long due to my 24/7 morning sickness! I guess I will have to investigate this further…

Until next time – keep calm and make yourself glow.

Just a quick note about acne: People with moderate to severe acne can be prescribed antibiotics (either topical or oral) from the doctors, if they a very bothered by it. However, remember to mention that you are pregnant as the doctor will then be careful about the selection of antibiotics – for example tetracycline should be avoided at all costs! Also, during pregnancy please stay away from any anti-acne products as most contain high levels of retinol (vitamin A / retinoids).