Whether you are considering trying to get pregnant, or have found yourself in the first trimester, you've probably already found the lists. You know, the ones that tell you to avoid retinol, avoid hydroquinone, avoid salicylic acid above 2%, avoid, avoid, avoid. They're not wrong, exactly, but they also don't tell you the thing you actually want to know: what do I use instead?
This is a question we often get from clients as they begin their pregnancy journey, so, we're answering it here where you can refer back to it whenever you need. Rather than giving you a list of ingredients to fear, we want to give you usable recommendations on what you can use at each stage from the moment you start trying to conceive through to the third trimester and beyond. We see the effects of pregnancy on real skin, month after month, and the pattern is pretty consistent: your skin doesn't change once during pregnancy, it changes in phases, and in each phase, your skin asks for something a little different.
Studies of pregnant women have found that the majority experience some kind of physiological skin change, and hyperpigmentation is by far the most common one¹. If your skin feels like it's doing something new and slightly unpredictable, it isn't just you, and it isn't a sign anything is wrong. If you only remember one thing, remember this: what you're experiencing is common, and we are here to help!
Why Your Skin Changes During Pregnancy
Before we get into the stages, it helps to understand why any of this is happening in the first place. During pregnancy, hormones such as estrogen and progesterone levels rise significantly and can contribute to many of the skin changes women experience¹. Progesterone increases oil production, which is why so many people notice a shift toward oilier, more reactive skin early on. Estrogen affects collagen and water retention, which is part of why skin can look plumper in the second trimester and then feel tighter as it stretches later on. And a melanocyte-stimulating hormone rises too, causing the pigmentation changes so many people notice by the second trimester.
None of this is random, and none of it means your skin is ‘misbehaving’, as we hear so many people put it. This is your skin responding exactly the way it is designed to respond to a completely new hormonal environment. Knowing that tends to take some of the anxiety out of it. And, the good news is that because this is a known and well-documented pattern, there are solutions and products available to support you.
Trying to Conceive & First Trimester: The First Shift
If you've come off retinol the moment you started trying, you already know the effects: oil production increases, reactivity spikes, and breakouts can show up in places they haven't visited since your teenage years. It's disorienting, especially if you'd finally landed on a skincare routine that works.
Just remember: this phase is temporary, and during it, your skin responds really well to restraint. The goal isn't to replace your retinol with something equally aggressive. It's to support the barrier while your skin recalibrates.
What we recommend:
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A gentle, milky cleanser. Anything that leaves your skin feeling tight or squeaky-clean is working against you right now, not for you. Read more about why we love milky cleaners →
Try Biologique Recherche’s Lait S.R. It's a milky, sebum-regulating cleanser that clears away the day without ever leaving skin feeling tight or stripped. -
Gentle Exfoliation. This is not the time to throw in the towel on exfoliation entirely. It's the time to switch to something gentle and consistent, like a low-percentage lactic or mandelic acid used a few times a week, instead of anything aggressive or retinoid-adjacent.
Try Biologique Recherche’s Masque Vivant. Its lactic acid gently resurfaces and rebalances oil production without the aggression of a daily acid toner. -
A barrier-support serum, rather than an active-forward one. Ceramides, peptides, and hydrating humectants do more for reactive, first-trimester skin than anything exfoliating.
Try Biologique Recherche’s Gel ADN Silkgen. A fresh, silky fluid that does one job well: keeping skin hydrated, with zero actives to worry about. -
Patience with the breakouts. Spot-treating with a pregnancy-safe azelaic acid formula tends to calm active spots without the irritation that comes with benzoyl peroxide at higher strengths.
Try Biologique Recherche’s Serum Vivant. Serum Vivant is a daily blemish-focused serum built on yeast extract, inulin, and other microbiome-supporting ingredients. It targets active breakouts and redness directly, without any drying or irritation.
In the treatment room, this is when we slow everything down. Extractions get gentler, actives get swapped, and pressure gets adjusted. We're not looking to make huge changes to your routine, we're adjusting what you already have to fit what your skin needs in this trimester.
Second & Third Trimester: Pigmentation Takes the Lead Role
Somewhere around the second trimester, the starring skin concern shifts. Oil and breakouts often settle down, and pigmentation moves to center stage. This is the stage where melasma (sometimes called the "mask of pregnancy") tends to show up, and it's more common than most people expect. Depending on the population studied, research puts melasma prevalence during pregnancy anywhere from around 15%² to as high as 70%³, with hormonal shifts and sun exposure both playing a role. Add in skin that's stretching and tightening as your body changes, and heightened sun sensitivity on top of it, and it's a lot to manage at once.
What we recommend:
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A brightening serum built on pregnancy-safe actives. Vitamin C, niacinamide, azelaic acid, and tranexamic acid are all good options. Hydroquinone is the one to sit out until after you're done breastfeeding.
Try Biologique Recherche's Serum PIGM 400. A daily serum, built around watercress sprout extract, soy-derived genistein, and sea lily extract to actively limit new dark spots while fading what's already there. -
A rich, hydrating cream. As skin stretches, it needs more lipid support, not less. This is not the moment to switch to something lightweight just because it's warm out.
Try Biologique Recherche’s Crème Masque Vernix VG. Rich in ceramides and peptides, it's the kind of barrier-repair cream skin can lean on daily without ever feeling heavy. -
Mineral SPF, and a lot of it. This is the single best thing you can do for pregnancy-related pigmentation. Sun exposure is one of the main drivers of melasma getting worse, and a broad-spectrum mineral formula (zinc oxide or titanium dioxide) is the pregnancy-safe gold standard. Find one you like the finish of, because the SPF you will use consistently and reapply is the one that works best.
Try Solara Suncare’s Guardian Angel Super Peptide Sunscreen SPF 50. A 12% non-nano zinc oxide formula that gives real broad-spectrum protection with a lightweight, serum-like finish that makes reapplying it easy. - Realistic expectations. Brightening actives can slow new pigmentation and soften what's there, but full correction usually has to wait until postpartum, when your ingredient options open back up.
Postpartum: Patience Becomes Part of the Routine
If anyone tells you your skin snaps back the moment the baby arrives, they haven't been through it. Hormones take time to recalibrate. Dryness can linger longer than you'd expect, especially if you're breastfeeding. And any pigmentation that showed up during pregnancy tends to fade slowly.
What we recommend:
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Gentle, consistent hydration. A barrier-repair moisturizer used daily, without skipping days when things look "fine."
Try Biologique Recherche’s Crème Masque Vernix VG. Rich in ceramides and peptides, it's the same barrier-repair cream that supported your skin through the third trimester, and postpartum skin needs exactly that same steady support to recalibrate. -
A slow reintroduction of actives. Once you and your provider have confirmed what's appropriate for your feeding choices. Retinol and higher-strength acids can typically come back into rotation, but there's no rush, and we often recommend reintroducing them slowly.
Try Biologique Recherche’s Lotion P50T. It's the gentlest entry point in our P50 range, making it the natural first step back into acids once your provider has cleared you and your feeding choices are settled. - Consistency over intensity. Don’t start too aggressive. This is the phase for steady, reliable care that gives your skin room to recover on its own timeline.
The start of each stage can be the perfect moment to come in for a facial. A professional assessment can tell you what's happening under the surface, what's a hormonal shift, what's leftover pigmentation, and what's just needing a little TLC.
Our favourite facials for pregnancy
You might notice we don't have a treatment on our menu called the "Pregnancy Facial." That's not an accident.
Every facial at Skin & Tonic is customized around what your skin is doing that day. That's true whether you're 28 weeks pregnant, six weeks postpartum, or none of the above. When your skin changes, your treatment changes with it. Our estheticians are trained to adjust technique, pressure, and product selection for pregnancy and postpartum skin as a matter of course, which means there's no separate service to search for and no box to check. You tell us where you are in your journey: trying to conceive, first, second, or third trimester, or postpartum, and we take it from there.
That said, a few practical notes for anyone booking with us during this stretch: most chemical peels above a gentle maintenance strength get paused or modified. However, treatments like Dermasweep are still very much on the table and can even help with melasma. And if you're looking for a specific treatment but not sure if it’s appropriate, just ask when you book! We'd rather help you find the right treatment ahead of time.
Some extra helpful tips for pregnancy safe skincare
A couple of things worth mentioning, because we'd rather you hear them from us than piece them together from a dozen different sources:
- Retinoids (retinol, tretinoin, adapalene) are the one category with real consensus around avoiding during pregnancy and while breastfeeding. Everything else on the "avoid" lists (think chemical exfoliants, most vitamin C, physical SPF, most peptides) has pregnancy-safe replacement options to consider using instead of just skipping the step entirely.
- "Safe" doesn't mean "does nothing." A gentle routine, applied consistently, still supports your skin health. No one should have to put their skincare on pause for nine months or more.
- Your skin, your provider, your call. We're happy to talk through what we're seeing when we look at your skin in the treatment room, but any product or ingredient question with real medical weight belongs with your OB or dermatologist, especially if you're managing a specific skin condition alongside pregnancy.
FAQs
Is it safe to get a facial while pregnant? Yes, in almost all cases. The adjustments are in the details like product selection, positioning, and which techniques we skip, not in whether you can come in at all.
What ingredients should I avoid completely during pregnancy? Retinoids have the most consensus to remove. Hydroquinone and high-strength salicylic acid (above about 2%) are typically avoided too, along with a small handful of essential oils. Beyond that, most "avoid" lists are more cautious than the evidence actually requires, making a conversation with your esthetician far more useful than a blanket list.
When does pregnancy skin usually go back to normal? The short answer: it varies. Oiliness and breakouts often calm down within a few months postpartum. Pigmentation is the slower one. It can take months to fade and, for some people, never fully disappears without targeted treatment once breastfeeding ends.
Can I still use my skincare products while trying to conceive, before I'm officially pregnant? Most people treat "trying to conceive" the same as early pregnancy for skincare purposes, since you may not know you're pregnant right away. If you're actively trying, it's a reasonable time to start easing off retinoids rather than waiting for a positive test.
Do I need different products for each trimester, or can I use the same routine the whole time? You can absolutely simplify and use one gentle, barrier-supportive routine the entire time. The stage-by-stage recommendations here are about what tends to help most at each point, not a requirement to keep switching products every few months.
Is melasma permanent? Not usually, but it can be stubborn. Some fading happens on its own in the months after delivery as hormone levels normalize, though a meaningful share of cases persist for years without treatment. Once you're done breastfeeding, options like hydroquinone, stronger peels, and certain lasers reopen, and that's typically when we see the most noticeable improvement. In the meantime, consistent SPF is what keeps it from getting worse.
What about stretch marks, itching, and everything below the neck? Everything above applies mostly to the face, but the same hormonal shifts affect your body too. Hydration is the main lever for both stretch marks and pregnancy-related itchiness. Keeping your body moisturized daily will help, but for stubborn areas it is worth speaking to an esthetician about. If itching becomes severe rather than mild, that's worth a call to your OB, since it can occasionally signal something that needs medical attention rather than a skincare fix.
If you're navigating any of this and want a second set of trained eyes on what your skin needs right now, book a consultation or come in for a facial. We'll help you give your skin what it needs to navigate the challenges of pregnancy.
Stay glowing, Robin & Lori
¹ https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC4689069/
² https://my.clevelandclinic.org/health/diseases/21454-melasma
³ https://www.medboundtimes.com/medicine/melasma-during-pregnancy-causes-treatments
