My pregnant body is evolving, and one thing I’m hoping to avoid are stretch marks. I have plenty left over from puberty, so I’d like to skip adding any more to my collection. According to the Mayo Clinic, stretch marks are formed when your skin stretches at a rapid pace and you have an increase in the hormone cortisone. Puberty and pregnancy provide the perfect conditions for stretch marks, as your body shape and size changes rapidly and your hormones fluctuate all over the place.

The jury is still out as to whether or not stretch marks are preventable.  Many think that genetics play a roll, and as a result, there’s very little you can do to avoid them. Some sites suggest that stretch marks affect up to 90% of pregnant women – so chances seem good that you’ll probably see at least a few.

Even though I might not be able to prevent them, I figured it was at least worth a try. So, for the past month, I’ve been putting all kinds of lotions and potions on my stomach. Many dermatologists recommend using a product that contains lots of cocoa butter or shea butter, and applying it 2-4 times a day to keep your skin supple. I looked for products that contained these ingredients, as well as those marketed specifically for stretch marks.


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My selection criteria for trying different products was based on their rating in the Skin Deep Cosmetics Database. The Environmental Working Group maintains this huge database which rates the toxicity of almost 75,000 cosmetic products. I figure if you’re eating organic foods, you might as well think about all the other things that you’re putting onto or into your body. Since I was going to be rubbing this stuff on my stomach a few times a day, I decided I’d only try products that had a rating in the rage of 0-2 – these are the ones with the lowest hazard rating; the higher the number, the more hazardous the product.

My Reviews:

1) Mother Love Pregnant Belly Salve

Price: $12.95 for a 4 oz. jar

Skin Deep Rating: 0

Consistency: A little thicker than Vaseline

Scent: It smells like someone poured chamomile tea on my belly. This isn’t necessarily a bad thing, especially if you’re putting it on at night, and you associate chamomile with sleep. There are also some lavender notes mixed in.

Ease of application: I hate stuff in jars where I have to dig my fingers in to get the product — it always gets under my nails. Once I had it out of the jar, it was relatively easy to rub in.

Effectiveness: When I was done applying, my hands didn’t feel greasy – just soft, but my belly was a little slick twelve hours after the fact. Maybe that’s a good thing because it’s keeping the skin supple?

Overall: The chamomile scent was a little too strong for me, and I hated getting the salve underneath my fingernails as I was applying it.

2) Queen Helene Cocoa Butter Belly Cream

Price: $4.05 for an 8 oz bottle

Skin Deep Rating: 2

Consistency: Very thick lotion – more like a body butter

Scent: Medicinal – kind of like plastic. I’m not a fan, and the scent alone is enough to make me dislike this product.

Ease of application:  Squirt from the tube to hand, and rub it in with relative ease.

Effectiveness: It moisturizes, but my skin doesn’t feel super supple later in the day, as it does with some of the other products.

Overall: I’ll pass. I’m a sucker for things that smell good, and although I like other things about the product, including the great price, the scent is enough to make me look for something else.

3) Earth Mama Angel Baby Natural Stretch Oil

Price: $11.90 for 4 oz pump bottle

Skin Deep Rating: 0

Consistency: A little less viscous than baby oil.

Scent: I love anything that smells like citrus, so I like this scent better than anything else. Sometimes the citrus reminds me of orange Goo Gone, but I’m the only one that smells that. Mr. Tricycle and friends think it reminds them more of Fruit Stripe gum.

Ease of application: The oil comes in a bottle with a little pump, so I can squirt right on my stomach. It takes a little bit of time to rub it in, but it’s manageable.

Effectiveness: Like the others, my skin feels slightly tacky afterwards, but in a good away. I’ve also used it on my legs after shaving, and it absorbs really well, leaving them quite smooth afterwards.

Overall: This is my favorite of all the brands I sampled. A few girlfriends that tried it out weren’t totally sold, as they thought it felt greasy. This doesn’t bother me at all, but keep in mind it is an oil. Maybe it’s the type of product that most people would prefer to apply at night, rather than putting “good” clothes over your slightly slippery skin.

4) CocoCare 100% Cocoa Butter Stick

Price: $1.04 for a 1 oz stick

Skin Deep Rating: 0

Consistency: Like a jumbo tube of lip balm

Scent: It smells very strongly of chocolate.

Ease of application: I liked the stick application, though in rubbing it across my stomach, I used a lot. I think a stick might only last a week or two if you’re applying it two times a day, though at around a $1.00 a stick, it’s still affordable. Rubbing it in took a little more effort, but it wasn’t unmanageable.

Effectiveness: As with other products, my skin was still slightly tacky and supple twelve hours after application.

Overall: The chocolate scent was too overpowering to use every day, though the stick applicator makes it great for travel or to carry in your purse as a general moisturizer.

5) Mountain Ocean Mother’s Special Blend Skin Toning Oil

Price:$13.54 for an 8 oz bottle

Skin Deep Rating: 0

Consistency: Like baby oil – a little thinner than the Earth Mama oil

Scent: This oil has a lot of cocoa butter in it, so like other cocoa butter products, it smells like chocolate. It’s not unpleasant, just not a scent I love.

Ease of application: I like the Earth Mama oil better because I can use the pump bottle to put it directly on my stomach. In contrast, I have to pour the Mountain Ocean oil on my hand first, and then rub it in – not a big deal, but I can be a little lazy.

Effectiveness: Like the other products, my skin still felt moisturized long after initial application.

Overall: Keep in mind that this product, like the Earth Mama, is an oil. You’re going to feel a little bit slippery – to me, not a detriment, but it might bother some people.

6) Woltra 100% Cocoa Butter Stick

Price: $1.59 for a 1 oz tube

Skin Deep Rating: 0

Consistency: Like a huge tub of lip-balm

Scent: The cocoa butter in this product makes it smell faintly of chocolate.

Ease of application: The stick is easy to use – apply it directly on your stomach, and then rub in.

Effectiveness: My skin still felt great at bedtime after an early morning application.  

Overall: Very similar to the Cococare yellow stick, but the scent is less overpowering.

7) Zum Body Lavendar-Lemon

Price: $14.37 for an 8 oz bottle

Skin Deep Rating: 2

Consistency:  Out of all the products I tried, this one was the thinnest and most lotion-like. It didn’t feel watery by any means, but it definitely wasn’t a cream or a body butter.

Scent: Unlike a lot of the other products, this does not smell like chocolate because it utilizes shea butter instead of cocoa butter. One friend thought the smell reminded her of the essential oils used for massages, so she equated the scent with a calming feeling. I liked that it smelled good, but not overpowering.

Ease of application: I like the pump bottle, and because it was the thinnest product I tried, it was very easy to rub in.

Effectiveness: It tames itching right away, but it doesn’t have the same long-lasting impact that the other products do.

Overall: After trying everything, this product came in second place. I like the oil better, as I think its effects last longer, but my girlfriends preferred this one.

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I quickly learned that my favorite products were those that smelled good and were easy to apply. Everything helped deal with the itchiness caused by stretching skin (not a symptom I was anticipating). I can’t comment on how well they work to actually prevent stretch marks, but I haven’t seen any new ones pop up yet. Cross your fingers!

Have you used the Skin Deep Database before? Is there a great stretch mark solution I missed?