Pregnancy and stretch marks. The two seem to go together for most women ( unless you are my older sister *sigh*). Nobody wants stretch marks. They are ugly, take forever to fade if you DO get them, and can make your entire stomach( and thighs) look like someone slashed you all over with a knife.
Since most women, like myself, wanted to steer clear of ever getting a strech mark, we look for cures. On the market today there are tons of lotions and creams that all scream " Use us and you won't get stretch marks!". So, since I wanted to make sure my stomach didn't wind up looking like a mess I went out and looked for the most expensive tube of gunk I could find. After all, you get what you pay for, right?
Wrong. At least in my experience. I purchased a tube of the Mustela Stretch Marks Double action cream when I was 3 months pregnant with my first son and stretch mark free. The tubes were small- 4 ounces each- but I figured it must stretch for a while. Wrong. The tubes don't last very long at all. However, at 5 months of pregnancy I was still stretch mark free so I figured it must be working. Now looking back I know it's because I was barely showing!
Then the 6th month of pregnancy came along. They started to show up. I was horrified! First there were a few on my thighs, then they started to creep up my stomach. I slathered on more and more cream! I bought another tube! Then another! They kept coming, fast and furious! I was desperate to beat the battle of the stretch marks. In the end I spend over $90 on Mustela cream. Guess who won the battle?
The stretch marks did. Every time I slapped on more cream and massaged it in I could just feel those marks laughing at my futile efforts.
In the end run I faced the music. Reality bites. Stretch marks occur because they skin is stretched during pregnancy ( and weight gain). Unless you have very elastic skin chances are you are not going to win this battle. The creams work under the idea that the softer you make your skin the easier it will stretch. It may work a little better then if you had used nothing at all. Since most of us do not know how our skin will react to stretching there is no way to know if we will get marks or not. But, chances are you will.
I give one thumb down for effectiveness. I give it another thumb down for being WAY overpriced. If I had a third thumb I'd give it yet another thumb down for being so small. For a tube that cost $30 you'd expect more. It did feel good to massage it in but I could have achieved the same results using any old hand cream with moisturizer.
Clinically tested by gynecologists Hypoallergenic Alcohol free Safe to use during pregnancy and while nursing Does not stain Compatible with sonograms...More at Albee Baby
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