THAT gorgeous glow that expect­ant mothers get isn’t a myth, it’s a natural fact. Your blood circulation increases greatly during pregnancy, making your skin appear flushed, while hormones are causing your oil glands to produce more, leaving your skin with a gentle sheen. "Mums-to-be get a beautiful glow.

Looking after your skin will add to the glow that’s already there so that you’re looking and feeling better,” says Lynn Gordon, senior beauty therapist at Dublin’s Queen Beauty Emporium. “I know a lot of women can’t afford to get facials regularly or they don’t have the time, but it’s really, really impor­tant to have a therapist for your skin. The therapist can advise you on the changes it’s going through. That’s far better than going into a supermarket or a department store and guessing which products would suit. You should always seek professional advice, even if you haven’t had a facial before.”

While for many women pregnancy will have their skin looking better than ever, for others there are a num­ber of issues that can arise. Among these is a condition called ‘pregnancy mask’, or chloasma. “During preg­nancy, because of hormonal changes within the body, pigment cells called melanocytes come under pressure to work harder so the pigment comes up a bit darker, mostly on the face,” explains Gordon. “These patches are called pigmentation. Typical areas would be very close to the outline of the lips – to the point that it can look like lip liner – and also around the eyes or on the cheeks.”

Because chloasma is caused by changes within the body it cannot be completely prevented, but wearing a broad-spectrum sunscreen can greatly limit its effects. “While most women would already wear a degree of SPF in their moisturiser or foun­dation, they don’t realise that they need to be wearing a broad-spectrum block, which gives them protec­tion from UVA and UVB rays,” says Gordon. “It’s the UVA that causes most of the pigment damage. It’s also important to remember that even on a very cloudy day you can be affected by UVA rays, as they can penetrate the clouds, so you still need to be wearing a block. Even if you’re indoors beside a window or especi­ally in a car, UVA rays can be damag­ing and aging your skin.”

Gordon recommends all women, not only those who are pregnant, should wear at least SPF30 in sum­mer and SPF15 in winter, based on the Irish climate. Separate sunscreen should be applied after moisturiser and under make-up.

Another problem that may arise in pregnancy is the development or worsening of acne, due to all of those hormones and excess oil production. “Because the causes of acne are inter­nal it can be quite hard to manage topically. Again, seek advice from a therapist.There are fantastic ingre­dients that you can get in products that would be very active, but we don’t recommend them for pregnant or nursing women. However, Derma­logica has a whole range for sensi­tive skin that can be used, and MD Formulations also does a line that you can use when you’re pregnant. If your skin does start getting sensi­tive, look at what you’ve been using. Generally, if it’s a good product you should still be able to use it.”

It’s worth taking a good look at the labels in your bathroom cup­board to make sure your skincare is baby-friendly. Ingredients to avoid include retinoids (a type of vitamin A) and salicylic acid, found in many cleansers and toners. “Almost all ‘active’ ingredients cannot be used in pregnancy,” says Gordon. “Salicylic acid is the main ingredient that you get in acne products because it helps to regulate the oil, but you definitely couldn’t use that as it as it could pass through to the baby. They’re not sure that it’s harmful but all the skincare lines take extreme precautions when it comes to pregnancy. Essential oils are also not recommended as they can penetrate the skin.”

Tiny webs of redness can also sometimes appear during pregnancy. These spider veins, the result of little broken cappilaries caused by increased blood circulation, can be found on the face, neck, upper chest and arms.

“It’s hard to reverse spider veins, but covering up is the most common option for dealing with them, using concealer etc,” Gordon says. “You can get products with strengthen­ing ingredients in them for the skin, such as liquorice, raspberry or red berries – they help to strengthen the cappilaries.”

For some women, the skin all over the body can get get quite dry and itchy, and to combat this Gordon recommends an oatmeal bath. The easiest method of doing this is to put instant oatmeal in a muslin bag, drop it into a warm (not too hot!) bath and let it soak in the water for a few minutes. Rubbing the bag on your skin will get rid of any flaky patches, while the milky water will soothe the itch.

- Deirdre Nolan