I hear this one constantly the moment a customer finds out she's pregnant: "Wait, is everything I own actually safe to use now?" Suddenly every label feels suspect, every serum a question mark, and she's standing in front of her bathroom shelf wondering if she needs to start over from scratch with an entirely new set of pregnancy skincare products. This is all valid! Some products aren't safe to use during pregnancy!
Here's the good news: a real pregnancy-safe skincare routine isn't about throwing out everything you own. It's about knowing the short list of ingredients worth swapping, and building the rest of your routine around what's already safe.
What Actually Changes in a Pregnancy-Safe Skincare Routine
There are only a handful of ingredients that come up when providers talk about pregnancy skincare safety. Most clean brands don't make the list complicated, and neither will I.
Retinoids — retinol, tretinoin, and other Vitamin A derivatives — are the big one. High oral doses are linked to developmental risks, and out of caution, most providers extend that to topical retinol too, even though the amount actually absorbed from a face cream is small. Salicylic acid at high, prescription-strength concentrations carries similar caution, though the small amount in an over-the-counter face wash is generally considered low-risk. Hydroquinone, used for skin lightening, is the other one that comes up most.
We've never carried any of these — not because we built around pregnancy, but because we've never liked synthetic actives that need a caution label to begin with. A Simple Body pregnancy-safe skincare routine isn't a separate line. It's just our regular line, formulated the same way whether you're pregnant or not.
Building the Routine, Trimester by Trimester
First Trimester: Calming the Surge
Your hormones move fast here, and your skin usually reacts before you do — more oil, more breakouts, sometimes more sensitivity, often paired with nausea that makes even washing your face feel like a chore. Often times this comes with scent sensitivities too! Our products don't contain synthetic fragrance, only organic essential oils. So, most of the time these scents don't bother someone that is pregnant. And, most of our skincare line is actually scent-free so this helps greatly during pregnancy! This is the trimester to keep things simple. A gentle, oil-based cleanse like our Cleansing Oil + Makeup Remover removes the day without the foaming, stripping sensation that can trigger nausea for some women early on.
Second Trimester: The Glow (and the New Spots)
This is usually when people start asking me for a real pregnancy-safe face serum again, now that the nausea has eased. It's also when melasma — the "mask of pregnancy" — tends to show up, driven by the same hormone surge that's giving you the glow everyone keeps commenting on. Daily SPF matters more here than any product in your routine; melasma responds to sun exposure more than almost anything else you can put on top of it. Beyond that, a toner like our Brighten + Boost Tonic supports even tone without anything that needs a caution flag.
Third Trimester: Comfort Through the Stretch
Skin is working overtime now — stretching, often drier, sometimes itchy across the belly and lower back, especially if you're also dealing with the swelling that shows up late in pregnancy. This isn't the trimester to chase claims about preventing marks; nothing topical reliably does that, and I'd rather tell you the truth than sell you a promise. What we can offer is real comfort: simple plant oils and butters that keep stretched, itchy skin from feeling tight while it does what it's going to do anyway. Two products that customers love are our Belly Oil made with calendula to ease itching and our Belly Butter which is thicker and can help ease stretch marks. They both work together to keep the skin comfortable as it grows and stretches!
The One Real Swap: Bakuchiol Instead of Retinol
If there's one ingredient swap worth knowing for a pregnancy-safe skincare routine, it's this one. Bakuchiol is a plant-derived compound from the babchi plant that's been studied head-to-head against retinol — and in clinical comparisons, it produces similar results for fine lines and texture, without the irritation or the pregnancy caution. It's the active in our Age Defense Serum, and it's why I tell every customer asking about the best serum for pregnancy to start here instead of going without.
What We Leave Out of Every Formula, Pregnant or Not
Every Simple Body product skips mineral oil, synthetic fragrance, sulfate detergents, parabens, urea, DEA, TEA, and phthalates — not as a pregnancy feature, but because that's the whole point of the brand. The reason it matters more right now is that pregnancy skin is simply more reactive. The same fragrance blend you've tolerated for years can suddenly cause a reaction when your hormones are this unsettled, which is exactly when you want fewer unknowns in your routine, not more.
Insider tip: even with products you've used for years, do a real patch test before continuing through pregnancy — a small amount on the inside of your elbow, left for 48 hours. Pregnancy changes how your immune system responds to things, and a product that was fine in July can occasionally cause a reaction in December, fragrance most of all.
If you want one finished moisturizer to land your routine on, our Face Cream for Dry Skin is where most of our pregnant customers end up — recognizable plant oils and butters, free of everything on the caution list, gentle enough for skin that's changing on a weekly basis.
You can find more on building routines around real skin changes over on our blog.
FROM THE SIMPLE BODY SHELF
Skin That's Changing Every Week Deserves a Cream That Doesn't Ask Questions
Pregnancy skin can turn reactive overnight, and last year's favorite moisturizer might not feel right anymore. Our Face Cream for Dry Skin is built from recognizable plant oils and butters, with nothing on the pregnancy caution list — so it's one less thing to second-guess.
Try the Face Cream for Dry Skin →This post is for educational purposes and isn't a substitute for medical advice. Every pregnancy is different, and what's considered low-risk can vary based on your individual health history. Talk to your OB or midwife before changing your skincare routine, especially if you have a diagnosed skin condition.
xoxo, Jewels
References:
1. Research on topical retinoid absorption and pregnancy safety guidance from obstetric dermatology literature.
2. Clinical comparison studies of bakuchiol versus retinol for fine lines and skin texture.
3. Studies on melasma triggers and the role of UV exposure during pregnancy hormonal changes.