Pregnancy skincare routine update + tackling unwanted texture

Just when I thought my skin was clearing up I get hit with these crazy pregnancy hormones that suddenly have me at a loss with what to do. My skin is SO dry and I have this new added texture that I’m not sure what to do with. I also now have acne and a major amount of blackheads on my cheeks, and I feel like nothing I do is enough for it. If you follow me on Instagram you know how much I have been talking about my issues.

I have been very open about what I do with my skin because I truly want to help as many people as possible that could also be struggling with something similar. Let me just say that I more than love all the messages I get from you all asking about product recommendations!!! Today’s post truly is my updated pregnancy skincare routine, but because I struggle with texture so much I really want to touch base on that! (If you’re here just for the texture you can scroll all the way down until you see “TEXTURE”)

A few things I got asked about when I did my stories talking about my skincare routine:

Are you still getting botox? I am not! You can’t get botox while pregnant and it’s actually recommend to not get it while breastfeeding either. I can honestly say I’m so excited to get botox again after this baby lol.

Are there any ingredients you’re staying away from? I think I talked about this a little bit in my stories, but I chose to stay away from retinol my first trimester and recently reintroduced it into my routine (I seriously missed it).

I have been seeing an esthetician once a month for almost 5 months now and it has made a huge difference. Having a professional help you makes a world of difference in your confidence and your knowledge of what to do. We don’t do anything super strong on my face and tend to stick to just the signature facial that helps hydrate and focus on all my troubled spots.

Below when I go into detail of my routines I leave out my cleanser and that’s because I use the same face wash in the morning and night. It’s the same Murad Clarifying Cleanser. that I’ve been using for years. It’s super gentle and contains salicylic acid which helps to fight off bacteria throughout the day. I definitely use it for more of a breakout prevention. I don’t think I have touched base on cleansers and that’s because those are super personal. Once you find one you love you want to stick with it!

Morning Skincare Routine

Everything you see in this picture is all I’ve been using in the mornings after finding out I was pregnant. I normally use way more products than this but because I’m focusing on some different problem areas I’m keeping it to a minimum. At the end of this I’ll also be sharing some extra products that I will throw in once a week or when needed but almost 90% of the time I’m using what’s shown above.

The first thing you’ll probably notice is that I’m using the same line products. I am all for cocktailing your skincare routine but these products are extremely hydrating and I know they give my skin even more benefits when paired together. I have been using the Peter Thomas Roth Water Drench Hyaluronic Cloud Serum and the Water Drench Hyaluronic Cloud Cream. Hyaluronic is an acid but it’s a good acid that is actually a moisture binding ingredient and helps to plump the skin! I apply these two products very heavily and honestly add way more than I should but I will do anything for my face to not feel dry.

After applying both the serum and the cream I’ll go in with my Nurse Jamie massage roller for 5-10 minutes and really focus on massaging the product into my skin. In the process of rolling I’m also pushing out any fluid that I could have in my face and helping with the blood flow! The Nurse Jamie tool is around $70 and one of my sweet followers sent me a dupe that she has been using and loving! Best part is that it’s only $23.39 and you can find it here.

Nightly Skincare Routine

Now, everything you see in this picture is what I use during my nighttime skincare routine! Again, because I am focusing on hydration and the texture, I like to stick to same-line products to get the most benefits. My night routine is a little more intense than my morning. I do also use some tools/products outside of these and they will be shared at the end of the post!

Again, after washing my face I’ll go directly into an exfoliant. The exfoliater I use is the Dr. Dennis Gross Alpha Beta Extra Strength Peel Pads. These are daily peel pads and they do come in different strengths. I have pretty tough skin so I can’t really feel what the pads do but can see that my skin turns pink from them (which is good haha). I’ve used a lot of different exfoliating pads and these are my favorite because they are a two step. I think I just feel like I’m getting cleaner with the two steps ha! I go in with the Dr. Dennis Gross C+ Collagen Brighten & Firm Vitamin C Serum immediately after exfoliation to really get it in there. A serum with Vitamin C in it is crucial when dealing with acne because Vitamin C helps prevent dark spots and can even help with acne scaring.

I go in with the Dr. Dennis Gross Ferulic + Retinol Anti-Aging Moisturizer after the serum. I briefly mentioned this above answering a common question and retinol was the ingredient that I was told to stay away from. If you don’t know what retinol does, it stimulates the product of new skin cells, helps to get rid of hyperpigmentation, fade dark spots, and treat acne, etc. It is definitely a stronger ingredient and there is a warning on anything that contains retinol to stay out of the sun and to apply SPF. For acne purposes, retinol softens the skins and allows the blackheads/whiteheads to release themselves. It was suggested for me to stay away form retinol for my first trimester which is probably why my breakouts were so bad. Since reintroducing the retinol back into my routine my skin as looked a lot better.

Just like in my morning routine, I go back in with my Nurse Jamie (dupe linked here for $23) to really massage all product into my skin and to also push out any unwanted fluid. Rolling my face has easily become one of my favorite things I do each morning and evening.

Texture

When I struggled with acne I never wanted to wish what I was dealing with on my worst enemy. Now that I have texture on top of acne I really wouldn’t wish it upon anybody. Texture freaking sucks. I cannot express enough how terrible it is. Thank goodness that a lot of cameras and our phones now come with portrait mode settings or automatically ‘fix’ things the second a photo is snapped.

Texture is new to me and I get really down on myself about it. I didn’t have it before getting pregnant and the second I did it felt like my body was saying, “What can we give her from this baby because she’s not sick to her stomach like she was with her first baby??” I’m used to the regular breakouts and I can handle the hormonal breakouts because they can usually be targeted. However, having texture is a total curveball. I’ve religiously relied on my esthetician and my monthly facials and have noticed a huge difference than when we first figuring this all out.

I’ve mentioned exfoliating so many times and I can’t express enough how important that is! It is perfectly okay and safe to exfoliate on the daily! I talk about how I use a daily peel pad and they make daily exfoliating pads that are extremely gentle on the skin! Of course when you exfoliate you want to put on as much moisturizer as possible afterwards! I have always said that exfoliating and moisturizing go hand-in-hand. Even if you are exfoliating because you have acne, and putting a moisturizer on oily broken-out skin sounds crazy, you have to in order to get a healthy start on repairing! Exfoliating does help to break up what’s on the surface. It helps to remove dead skin and clean out pores exposing fresh skin and pores.

Other products that I use on top of my daily routine:

*This post does contain affiliate links.

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xx-Kendra