Stretch marks during pregnancy: prevent or embrace?

There are many ailments of pregnancy that I have to endure, the back pain, the mood swings, the cravings, being nauscious, did I mention the back pain? Thank goodness stretch marks are not one of them!
There are things a girl can do to prevent them, or at least minimize them. Lets look at the options, but first, we should understand why stretch marks happen in the first place.
In a nutshell, stretch marks occur when the skin is stretched but is unable to return completely to its previous state. According to my extensive internet research, genetics play a major role in this. So if you already have some stretch marks or if your mom has them, chances are you are going to get them during pregnancy. Its important to mention that they dont look the same on everyone, depending on your skin tone it can be more or less visible.
If heredity is not in your favor, its best to work on prevention and early treatment. Having been in the natural cosmetics world for a while now and learing about different ingredients, your best friend in this case would be cocoa butter. Although  it cannot make stretch marks completely go away, (there is no miracle product out there!) the moisturizing action of the product on the skin does increase the skin's overall elasticity. Dry skin makes it more difficult for skin to return to its previous state. Skin is better able to stretch when it is hydrated therefor I recomend to hydrate twice a day every day. Not too much so your skin is not greasy, just enough for the skin to absorb completly.

Magic in a bottle!

We do have a great product at the store I often recomend, its called the triple butter balm; a mixture of cocoa, shea and mango seed butter that has been whipped to help application. Its quite wonderful. I did use it during my first pregnancy and I am currently using it with the pregnancy of the twins. I love the natural smell of the cacao, its so yummy!!
There is another option out there if you lose your battle with stretch marks. Accept them as your battle scars for having to go through the most wonderful experience of your life; road to motherhood!

Pregnancy and skin care

Your skin really changes during pregnancy, well, everything in your body changes!! Some things are better like hair and nails and other things are worse, like my skin. Under normal conditions I have normal to combination skin and my regimen is pretty simple, rinse and apply sun protection in the morning. Cleanse and lightly hydrate at night. Exfoliate in the shower and apply a mask once in a while. But now its all messed up!! I have pimples, borderline acne, oily skin, blackheads and whiteheads as well!
Thankfully I have access to the best skincare products on the market and I was able to get a hold of the situation pretty quickly. I've been using the Zorah organic products with argan oil. They have this new line for oily skin that I am in love with! There is the cleanser Kaïla with elderflower and also Inua, the matifying lotion with hemlock plant. The combination of these two products has been my lifesaver. My skin actually looks normal! The cleanser is in gel form but it doesn't lather too much and doesn't completely degrease your skin, which is great because to more you remove the more your body makes to compensate. The hydrating and matfying lotion is also great because its not heavy at all. Its a light formula that helps regulate your skins sebum production.