I am an esthetics student and I am recently pregnant.I have been using this product at school for my dry skin and just to upkeep the overall texture of my skin and I was pretty content.I have recently become pregnant and now I am afraid what and what not to use.I went to my doctor and she said without the actual lists of all the ingredients,she can't say if it's safe.I've called the manufacturer for a list of what they believe to be safe and they won't help either.My instructors at school are clueless about ingredients and harm to unborn children.I currently use Dr. Perricone and made sure my facesoap didn't contain any form of vitamin A or essential oils since that is the only thing I know to avoid.Some oils can cause cervical contractions,some mimic hormones,some enter into the bloodstream.It seems I know enough to be afraid but I am having no luck as to finding "safe" products.Can anyone help me,my skin is dry and currently unprotected each day as I am afraid of all of these new "Vitaminerals and Oils" they seem to add to everything.I am in the process of going to see a dermatologist in two weeks.Until then,would love to get some opinions on what others may have found to be good for this situation as well.Thanks

If you are not sure about don't use it. That is the only way to be 100% sure. If you need a good lotion try a coco butter lotion, they even have one to help prevent stretch marks.

Olive Oil.
I swear by Olive Oil.
I use olive oil on my body, and on my children.

I never use any kind of Mineral Oil...because it can not
be eaten.

On my babies, a few drops of olive oil in their bath water,
and on their skin. If they put it in their mouth, it is perfectly
safe. (Trust me, I have three, the Middle one got Married
two years ago, the Baby is getting Married in September...
so they didn't die and although I don't think so, they don't
have any brain damage.)

Use olive oil on your body and use cornstarch as the powder.
Don't use Talc on the baby. Use cornstarch, because it is
edible.

(The ball & chain use to see my oil and powder the baby
and say, 'you making a pizza?') However my children have
kill for beautiful skin, the baby was a fashion model.

Cocobutter is also very good for stretch marks...and it
is actually ediable...though I wouldn't eat it.

A rule of thumb...if you can't eat it, don't use it.

Organic and Natural Enterprise Group (or ONE Group) is an Australian based company who creates and manufactures the world's first Certified Organic skincare, haircare, personal care, health care and cosmetic products. ONE Group's range of products stand in a class of their own by being independently certified to international food grade standards by some of the world's most respected organic certifying organisations, namely, Australian Certified Organic (ACO), the US Department of Agriculture (USDA), JAS (Japan) and IFOAM (Europe).

Narelle Chenery, the Founding Director of ONE Group, decided when she was pregnant herself that she didn't want to put anything on her skin that would harm her unborn child. Her mother-in-law had given her a cosmetics ingredient dictionary and she was shocked to find that most skincare products contained potentially dangerous synthetic chemicals. Having a degree in Science and Business, she formulated her own lotions and potions at home and tried them out on family and friends who clamoured for more as, containing only 100% beneficial ingredients, they cured their acne, shaving rashes etc. She then sold them successfully at markets and met Alf Orpen, a chemical engineer and former director of the Biological Farmers of Australia, who asked if she wanted to make the world's first certified organic skin and body care products ... and the rest is history!

Narelle says: "Education is the key to empowering consumers to see through the 'green-wash' of slick product marketing to recognize products for what they really are. Misleading labels and clever advertising relating to organic content often mask he use of potentially toxic ingredients, which seriously undermines the integrity of the organic claim."

Check out www.safecosmetics.org and go to www.vitallyessential.com for further information.

Cheers

Pauline

Olive Oil is cheaper. You buy it, you cook with it, you lavish it on
your skin after you bathe, you mix it with perfume to make it
last longer and dim the top note, you use it in your bath water
and baby's bathwater, you use it on baby, and you never ever
have to worry about anything.

That's fine, but I would use only cold-pressed certified organic olive oil, grown without the use of toxic pesticides and synthetic chemical fertilizers, with certified organic cold-pressed essential oils. (Cold pressing ensures that the beneficial nutrients and essential fatty acids have not been destroyed by heat).

I would also make sure that the perfumes do not contain the following:

? Phthalates ? These industrial plasticizers are widely added to nail polish and fragrance. Recent studies link them to impaired reproductive development in baby boys exposed in the womb or through breast milk.

? Fragrance ? "Fragrance" mixtures, exempt from product labeling laws, can comprise hundreds of individual ingredients, and are common human allergens. A recent survey found that up to one of every 50 people suffer immune system damage from fragrance exposures.

You can get more info from the "Skin Deep" database EWG Report || Skin Deep

or the following reports are available at Campaign For Safe Cosmetics: Studies & Reports

Phthalates Linked to Feminization of Boys (website)
Concerns about the health impacts of phthalates continue to mount, with new research linking high phthalate levels with feminized genitals in baby boys. A recent government-funded study by Dr. Shanna Swan, a professor of obstetrics and gynecology at the University of Rochester, correlated prenatal phthalate exposure with a shortened anogenital distance (AGD) in male babies. The higher the levels of phthalates in the mother during pregnancy, the more likely the researchers were to find the shortened AGD. When this occurred, the boys were more likely to have incomplete testicular descent and smaller penises. The changes occurred at phthalate levels that have been measured in about one quarter of women in the United States. See op ed by Dr. Swan in the San Francisco Chronicle. Parents needn't wait for legislation to shield kids from toxins in products

Not Too Pretty (pdf)
Independent laboratory tests found phthalates in more than 70% of health and beauty products tested ? including popular brands of shampoo, deodorant, hair mouse, face lotion and every single fragrance tested.

Aggregate Exposures to Phthalates in Humans (pdf)
Health Care Without Harm report documents the science on phthalates and shows that people are exposed to phthalates from multiple sources and that those exposures may be adding up to harm. The report shows how no government agency is looking at the big picture of multiple exposures to phthalates.

Pretty Nasty (pdf)
Documents product tests in Europe that also found phthalates in the majority of products tested.

Pauline

I always use real stuff...
real olive oil from a real place...and maybe I spend
more money...but it's extra virgin and it taste good
and it's nothing but olive oil.

With perfume, well, all I use is Opium. I mix it with
olive oil and use it. Been doing it for years and years.

I avoid anything that is any kind of chemical anything
that I don't know or can't trust.