Cocoa butter does not prevent stretch marks
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free skin care · Sat Aug 23, 2008 3:15 am

To whom it may concern.
Applying cocoa butter lotion during pregnancy does not help prevent stretchmarks, according to a new scientific study.

Although scientific evidence supporting the use of cocoa butter have been lacking, many physicians and midwives have kept recommending it to pregnant women.

The stretch marks that arose in 210 pregnant women were examined in the study, which demonstrated no difference between the women in the cocoa butter-group and the placebo group.

http://bodyandhealth.canada.com/channel_health_news_details.asp?news_id=6130&channel_id=2003

free skin care · Sat Aug 23, 2008 7:57 am

thank you for posting, Septembergirl Smile

however the news are not so good Sad

now I wonder - what DOES help prevent stretch marks???
I have some left from my puberty, so I`m assuming I`m prone to them and afraid of what I am going to look like after pregnancy Shock

free skin care · Sat Aug 23, 2008 3:33 pm

i guess just moisturizing the skin regularly during pregnancy?

free skin care · Sat Aug 23, 2008 5:17 pm

Nothing will really prevent stretch marks unfortunately.

There goes Palmer's Laughing

free skin care · Sat Aug 23, 2008 7:03 pm

Food for thought;

Two pregnancies, gained 32 lbs with each, used cocoa butter cream religiously through first pregnancy and NOT even one stretchmark. Got pregnant the second time 9 months later, didn't even think to use the cream, and got about a dozen stretchmarks in the last month....

So my thought is it couldn't hurt... Confused

1st baby 9lb 3oz
2nd baby 8lb 14oz

free skin care · Sun Aug 31, 2008 9:41 pm

I think it might depend on the type of cocoa butter. There is refined and unrefined so definitely they make a difference in quality.

free skin care · Sun Aug 31, 2008 10:07 pm

As I understand it - stretchmarks are more due to heredity than cocoa butter! If there was a preventive measure for stretch marks everyone would use it. Maybe moisturizing will help with decreasing but I would never say it's a dependable for sure!

I never used anything - 3 big babies - no stretch marks - my mother - the same. Sister - the same.

I have friends who were ready with cocoa butter and all sorts of recs and one got terrible stretch marks. She was so bummed. And she did everything.

free skin care · Mon Sep 01, 2008 2:35 am

Kassy_A wrote:

Food for thought;

Two pregnancies, gained 32 lbs with each, used cocoa butter cream religiously through first pregnancy and NOT even one stretchmark. Got pregnant the second time 9 months later, didn't even think to use the cream, and got about a dozen stretchmarks in the last month....

So my thought is it couldn't hurt... Confused

1st baby 9lb 3oz
2nd baby 8lb 14oz

Kassy, what cocoa butter cream have you used? and how often?

free skin care · Mon Sep 01, 2008 2:36 am

sakura wrote:

I think it might depend on the type of cocoa butter. There is refined and unrefined so definitely they make a difference in quality.

so which one is considered to be more effective? unrefined?

free skin care · Mon Sep 01, 2008 4:38 am

My thoughts - cacao butter + baby oil - work like a charm.

I know I am prone to stretch marks as I have tonnes on my hips from my teenage years. However, I did not get a single stretch mark from my pregnancy. I did have only one child, but I had it when I was 31, so my skin was not very young at all.

My recipe (which I got from a friend who knows of at least 10 other women who used it successfully) is to generously apply baby oil to the skin (I applied to my entire body from breasts to knees) and then to follow with cocoa butter and massage it in very well. I did it religiously every night throughout the pregnancy and for 1-2 months after my daughter was born.

Which baby oil and cocoa butter cream did I use? The cheap Life brand stuff from the Shoppers Drug Mart (Canadian chain). I used tonnes, so it had to be affordable.

So, my thinking is - this combo must have made a difference for my skin.

free skin care · Mon Sep 01, 2008 12:10 pm

Cocoa butter didn't help me with pregnancy stretch marks, unfortunately. I can't do a control experiment, though--my days of baby-making are over. Laughing

Oh, and epidural massage with oil didn't prevent me from tearing "down there" either. Sad

Still, massage feels good, cocoa butter is cheap and moisturizing, so what's the harm? It might work and if it doesn't, oh, well...

free skin care · Mon Sep 01, 2008 3:02 pm

rubby wrote:

My thoughts - cacao butter + baby oil - work like a charm.

I know I am prone to stretch marks as I have tonnes on my hips from my teenage years. However, I did not get a single stretch mark from my pregnancy. I did have only one child, but I had it when I was 31, so my skin was not very young at all.

My recipe (which I got from a friend who knows of at least 10 other women who used it successfully) is to generously apply baby oil to the skin (I applied to my entire body from breasts to knees) and then to follow with cocoa butter and massage it in very well. I did it religiously every night throughout the pregnancy and for 1-2 months after my daughter was born.

Which baby oil and cocoa butter cream did I use? The cheap Life brand stuff from the Shoppers Drug Mart (Canadian chain). I used tonnes, so it had to be affordable.

So, my thinking is - this combo must have made a difference for my skin.

rubby, what did your bedsheets look like after applying baby oil+cocoa butter? was the combo super greasy?

free skin care · Mon Sep 01, 2008 3:09 pm

Aiva wrote:

Kassy_A wrote:

Food for thought;

Two pregnancies, gained 32 lbs with each, used cocoa butter cream religiously through first pregnancy and NOT even one stretchmark. Got pregnant the second time 9 months later, didn't even think to use the cream, and got about a dozen stretchmarks in the last month....

So my thought is it couldn't hurt... Confused

1st baby 9lb 3oz
2nd baby 8lb 14oz

Kassy, what cocoa butter cream have you used? and how often?

Jeeez! It was 35 years ago.....I'm sure it was just whatever I found in the drugstore.. I wasn't at all into skincare back then... Mama said, "rub some cocoa butter on your belly every night, and it will help you to not get stretchmarks"........ I did, and I didn't!..

But I didn't do it the 2nd time, had a smaller baby, and lo and behold got stretchmarks....

So I'll say again, what I said before; it couldn't hurt..

free skin care · Mon Sep 01, 2008 5:35 pm

It's purely genetics

free skin care · Tue Sep 02, 2008 3:55 am

With the second pregnancy, one's skin is already a bit stretched, and weaker... so Palmers would have to be a miraculous product, methinks, to save us, after the first pregnancy.

Doesnt seem likely to work as a preventative entirely but it might stop the marks from being savagely severe!

Tue Sep 02, 2008 6:13 am

Did anyone use Strivectin for stretchmarks?

free skin care · Thu Sep 04, 2008 4:25 am

Dermatologist Leslie Baumann, MD, told in a recent interview that stretchmarks are mostly due to heredity. Still, she recommends moisturizing three or four times a day during pregnancy with a cocoa butter or shea butter product.

Quote:

"Basically, if your mother had them, you're probably going to have them", says Leslie Baumann, director of the University of Miami Cosmetic Group and author of The Skin Type Solution.

Stretchmarks affect as many as 90 % of all women, she says, and they are not easy to get rid of. Once they have passed the initial stage, when they are red or purple, to the later stages, where they become white or silver - often with deep indentations - they are much more challenging to treat.

Prevention therefore, is key.

"Avoiding rapid weight gain or loss is a good start. For those who are pregnant or experiencing hormone changes of the teen years, it is crucial to moisturize," Baumann says. "Skin becomes more pliant, more plasticized and better able to stretch when it's well hydrated."

She recommends moisturizing three or four times a day with products that contain cocoa butter or shea butter as a prime ingredient. Massage the moisturizer deep into breasts, belly, hips and buttocks.

http://www.webmd.com/baby/features/stretch-marks-getting-under-your-skin

free skin care · Sun Sep 07, 2008 5:31 am

Aiva wrote:

rubby wrote:

My thoughts - cacao butter + baby oil - work like a charm.

I know I am prone to stretch marks as I have tonnes on my hips from my teenage years. However, I did not get a single stretch mark from my pregnancy. I did have only one child, but I had it when I was 31, so my skin was not very young at all.

My recipe (which I got from a friend who knows of at least 10 other women who used it successfully) is to generously apply baby oil to the skin (I applied to my entire body from breasts to knees) and then to follow with cocoa butter and massage it in very well. I did it religiously every night throughout the pregnancy and for 1-2 months after my daughter was born.

Which baby oil and cocoa butter cream did I use? The cheap Life brand stuff from the Shoppers Drug Mart (Canadian chain). I used tonnes, so it had to be affordable.

So, my thinking is - this combo must have made a difference for my skin.

rubby, what did your bedsheets look like after applying baby oil+cocoa butter? was the combo super greasy?

Yes, I'm afraid the combo I used was super greasy. But I didn't care. If I have to choose between ruining my skin or a couple of bedsheets - my skin wins. And, to be honest, I don't really remember ruining any of the bedding, it all came out with a good wash. I did ruin, however, the small mat I had on the bathroom floor. But - who cares!

free skin care · Sun Sep 07, 2008 5:47 am

There is nothing you can do in my opinion! I used cocoa butter during both my pregnancies. I gained about 30lbs both times. My first baby was 10 lbs 8 oz and NO MARKS!!! My second baby was 8 lbs 5 oz and I looked like a road map!!!
Honestly, while I would prefer not to have them (no more bikinis here!!), once you hold that baby and they fade....it's not so important anymore Smile

free skin care · Sun Sep 07, 2008 7:25 am

I don't think it's a surefire thing, but it certainly can't hurt to moisturize extra. I've experienced a lot of weight loss and gain in my life so far, and there are times when I got stretch marks from gaining weight and times when I didn't. I do think that my moisturization habits made a difference -- much less prone to marks when I was consistent about moisturizing with straight oil.

I also think taking certain supplements can help -- particularly flax seed oil and (molecularly distilled!) cod liver oil, and getting lots of Vitamin E-rich foods in your diet. These can help improve the elasticity of your skin, in theory. And they also have the added bonus of doing wonders for your hair, nails, skin, cholesterol, heart, GI tract, and brain chemistry. I've never looked into what's appropriate for pre-natal vitamins, but I'm betting at least one of these two gets a thumbs-up.

At the end of the day, maybe it's all bunk -- but you can bet I'll use pregnancy as an excuse to slather on moisturizer all the time. (Probably a DIY cocoa butter-based product that also contains other natural oils and butters, knowing me.)

I mean, it can't hurt to pay that much attention to your growing belly, touch your skin gently and sort of communicate with your baby and have a weird little extra massage-bonding ritual in the name of cosmetic vanity, right? Besides, you get a built-in excuse to spend some more pamper time during an otherwise exhausting and physically taxing period -- bonus. It's not like you're going to do yourself harm with it, and according to some peoples' experience, it might do wonders, so why the heck not? Just my two cents! Smile

free skin care · Sun Sep 07, 2008 8:07 am

My OB told me there is actually nothing to prevent stretch marks, but if you decide to use something anyways, cocoa butter is fine.

free skin care · Sun Sep 07, 2008 3:05 pm

During my 1st pregnancy i used every possible product i could put on myself (short of cooking oil perhaps). Had no stretch marks on my belly, but my breasts are like zebra skin! Now with the 2nd baby coming, I just put normal moisturizers -- creams or oils..
I don't think (and from what i hear, most doctors & serious skin care professionals believe so) that there is not much one can do to prevent stretch marks -- they are genetic and aggravated by a sharp weight gain (e.g., when milk comes).
Crying or Very sad

I'll try to find some magic product to tone up the breasts and reduce the stretch marks once i'm done with nursing my 2nd little treasure Smile

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