Stretchmarks!

Me and my baby Buddha belly!

Whoever said we've earned every stretch mark and wrinkle we acquire in our lives deserves a punch in the face. I say, us mommas, with all of our hours put in stressing out over our babies, losing sleep when they're young or sick and watching our bellies bulge over the months that we carry them, deserve to NOT have the scars to prove it.
Pregnancy, although it does have MANY, MANY beneficial effects on our bodies and lives, does take a toll on us. Oh, yes. Stretch marks. Now, if you're carrying triplets, you may not be able to prevent them entirely but I want to share with you the two products that I swear by to reduce or completely rid yourself of these stripes.
First off, and I cannot stress this enough, bio oil! This sh*t is amazing. I've heard people go on about cocoa butter or specialty lotions, no. It's this. Holy freakin' grail.
For the first few months of my pregnancy I neglected using this. Then, one day when I really started to notice my belly growing, I had some sort of hormone induced anxiety attack about getting fat and feeling ugly (you know exactly the freak out I'm talking about) and I started using it religiously. Every morning. Every night. Do this. Make it a part of your daily routine. Make a point to have a 10 minute bonding/relaxing time with your parter and have them put it on you. Whatever you feel you need to do to get it done every day. I just rubbed it all over my mid section and chest. Get your lower back too. I swear this stuff saved me. I did not get one single new stretch mark in this pregnancy literally until 3 days before I went into labour. I got 3 teeny tiny little purple marks on my right hip. That's all.
Another very, very important thing is to make sure you are applying it to your breasts as well, especially during the last few months of pregnancy. If you're not a first time momma then I don't have to tell you how insanely quick those bad boys fill up. This will help soften the blow, so to speak, when it does happen.

Now, just because my tummy didn't look like a preschool finger painting post-pregnancy doesn't mean I don't know a thing or two about getting rid of them. When I was young I was a little bean pole. Straight up and down. Then I hit puberty and it felt like I just woke up with Jessica Rabbit hips. Seriously, it was like *BAM!* you're now a woman. I got really big purple stretch marks all over my hips and love handles. So those being 12 or 13 years old now I figured they were pretty well set in stone. Old, scarred and now white, I basically accepted them as my own. Wrong! During the few months of me using the bio oil, I noticed them gradually, though not completely, disappear. So, keep using this even after having your baby if you do happen to gain a few scars. It's just so good!
For Christmas, I made my sister a personalized basket of skin care goodies. As always, I did quite a bit if research on each product that I purchased. Lately, I've been hearing lots about the brand Soap & Glory. Particularly, the breakfast scrub. You can get your hands on some things from their line of goods but this one didn't seem like it was available anywhere but in the UK. I ended up ordering it from Amazon.com (of course paying way more than if I could find it in a store *sad face*) and since I'm paying for shipping anyway, I got one for myself as well. As soon as it came in I tore open the package to get at this "insanely great smell" it supposedly had. Ummmm, can you say freakin' amazing?! Seriously, like damn fresh pancakes. Sooooooooo goooooood. I went and had a shower almost immediately to test it out. I swear, ONE use and I was born again. I don't think my skin has ever felt this soft. It's unreal. I feel like it actually helps my moisturizer do what it's supposed to. I've used a loofah for over 10 years and I really thought that would be enough exfoliation for my body. Well, my orange puff has been very neglected for the past month.
I've been back in my dry skin city home for almost a week now and you wouldn't be able to tell by my skin. It's so smooth and hydrated. This morning, while applying body butter after my shower I noticed that I can barely even notice any of my old stretch marks. The bio oil had erased them quite a bit but there hasn't been any change in them for probably over 5 months. I never would have thought that a body scrub could help with that.
Ill also add that I have chicken skin on my arms. You know, those little red bumps that some people get on their arms or face sometimes? The breakfast scrub has nearly rid me of that too. And I have tried everything for it. Let me tell you, as soon as I notice I'm getting close to the bottom of this fantastic little jar, I'm gonna be stock piling 5 more from Amazon. Amazing.

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