Pregnancy causes a number of changes to occur in the skin and, unfortunately, your complexion won’t bounce back to normal once you’ve given birth. Instead, between hormonal swings, fluctuations in blood flow, and glandular and structural changes, the body, including the skin, still has several transitions to make while it recalibrates.

The good news is that you can provide a helping hand. Sure, you’ll now be busy with a new baby to care for but postpartum skincare doesn’t need to be difficult or complicated. Instead, a simple routine with the right products is all you need to restore your skin’s natural radiance and glow. Read on as Venofye talks you through how to put together an easy postpartum skincare routine.

Cleanse Gently

Dehydrated skin is extremely common after pregnancy. Not only is this caused by hormonal changes but, if you’re breastfeeding, then this places more demand on your body’s water supply. This means that less of the water that you consume gets diverted to your skin cells, leaving your skin thirsty.

For some people, dehydration shows up as dryness and flaking. Others experience an increase in oiliness when their skin is dehydrated. Either way, you need to try to boost your skin’s hydration levels as much as possible, which means being gentle with your skin when you cleanse.

Using an overly harsh cleanser will quickly strip away your skin’s natural oils and its protective barrier. It won’t be long before this affects your skin’s moisture retention abilities, resulting in severe dehydration.

So, keep things gentle with a mild and creamy cleanser. Look for one that has been formulated with hydrating ingredients. The Venofye Blossom Bee Clarifying Cream Cleanser, for example, is filled with a quenching blend of glycerin, aloe vera leaf extract, moringa seed oil, and argan oil. Each use will leave your skin feeling soft and smoother.

With that said, don’t overuse your cleanser either. Most new moms choose to save their cleanser for evening use, using just water to wash their faces in the mornings. Once your skin gets back to normal, which could take several months, you can then return to using your cleanser twice a day.

Use a Vitamin C Serum 

Acne breakouts, hyperpigmentation in the form of dark spots and melasma, dehydration, the loss of elasticity, increased sensitivities…all of these delights often arise during pregnancy, and many will stick around for quite some time after.

There aren’t many ingredients out there that can help with the appearance of every single one of those issues, which is what makes vitamin C such a superstar antioxidant. Not only will it help to counter the look of the skin concerns that arose while you were pregnant, but it will also work to prevent them from worsening, which often happens after pregnancy. This is why most dermatologists recommend including a vitamin C serum in postpartum skincare routines. 

Since the visible effects of vitamin C are more noticeable when the ingredient is combined with other antioxidants, look for a vitamin C serum that does just that. In the Venofye Blossom Bee Vitamin C Serum, you’ll find two forms of vitamin C combined with vitamin A (speak to your doctor about this ingredient if you’re breastfeeding) and vitamin E, both of which are also antioxidants. The plant oils in this formula are great sources of antioxidants too.

If You Have Time, Layer on a Hydrating Serum

As we mentioned earlier, dehydration is a big problem after pregnancy. This is why your postpartum skincare routine needs to be as hydrating as possible. 

If you don’t have time to apply multiple serums to your skin, then go ahead and skip this step. However, if you have an extra minute to spare while carrying out your postpartum skincare routine, taking the time to layer on a hydrating serum could be just what you need to give your skin the dewy glow that you’re seeking.

One of the most hydrating ingredients out there is sodium hyaluronate. You’ll find it in several Venofye skincare formulas, including the Serpent ThermDeluxe Serum from our Serpent Thermatox Collection. This ingredient is revered for how it binds moisture to the skin, immediately leaving it looking plumper and fuller.

Other moisture-binding ingredients worth looking into are glycerin, aloe vera, jojoba oil, allantoin, ceramides, and shea butter.

Apply an Eye Serum If You Have Noticeable Dark Circles

This is another step that you can skip if you’re short on time as it isn’t essential. However, if you’ve been dealing with the appearance of dark circles, it’s worth paying some extra attention to your eye area.

Dark circles are extremely common during and after pregnancy. This is mainly down to the lack of sleep and general fatigue that new moms experience. Iron-deficiency anemia can also contribute to the appearance of dark circles and shadows under the eyes.

While any medical problems, like anemia, should be treated by your doctor, an eye serum may be all that you need to lighten the look of dark circles caused by fatigue.

Of course, you don’t want to use any eye care products that contain chemical lightening agents. Instead, find yourself an eye serum that uses gentle and natural complexion-lightening ingredients, like licorice root extract, green tea extract, and peptides. You’ll find all three in the Venofye Royal Jelly Bee Luminescent Eye Serum. Not only will this silky solution lighten and brighten the look of your eye area, but it will also smooth away the appearance of puffiness and soften the visibility of wrinkles.

Slather on a Moisturizer

While you can get away with skipping the eye serum and only using one facial serum, moisturizing needs to be an essential part of every postpartum skincare routine. This will help to counter several of the visible skin concerns that the postpartum period brings. It will also help to maintain hydration levels in your skin while keeping your skin feeling protected from environmental damage.

When choosing a moisturizer, keep your postpartum skincare concerns in mind. After all, some people experience severe dryness while others struggle with oily skin and the appearance of acne. Everyone’s skin reacts to this period in different ways.

If your skin is dry, then it would benefit from a rich moisturizer. This will form a thick layer between your skin and the environment around you, which will help with moisture retention. A moisturizer containing plant butters, like the shea butter in the Venofye Blossom Bee Quenching Night Cream, would work particularly well at keeping your complexion soft and supple.

Meanwhile, if your skin has gone to the opposite extreme and is producing too much oil, then you’ll need to moisturize with a lightweight cream. After all, you don’t want to add even more grease to your skin as this will only trigger breakouts. Look for a moisturizer that doesn’t contain any comedogenic plant oils and butters, like the Venofye Iron Bee Transforming Cream. Instead, it moisturizes with humectants while providing an array of antioxidants.

Apply a Mineral Sunscreen During the Day

With so many changes to handle, your complexion works hard to rebalance itself during the postpartum period. The last thing that it needs to be dealing with is sun damage. 

Of course, let’s not forget that UV rays can make melasma, which is common during pregnancy, worse. If you’ve already been suffering from this and have been hoping that the appearance of your facial discoloration will fade postpartum, then sun protection is a must.

While that may be the case, be careful when choosing a sunscreen for your postpartum skincare routine. Some of the ingredients in chemical sunscreens, such as oxybenzone, are potential endocrine disruptors, which is particularly dangerous during and after pregnancy. Research shows that these ingredients can interfere with lactation, which is why a mineral sunscreen would be a better alternative.

Rather than containing chemicals, mineral sunscreens protect the skin from UV rays with the use of minerals. Instead of being absorbed into the skin, these sit on the skin’s surface and deflect UV rays.

For maximum benefits, make sure that you go with a broad-spectrum SPF30 sunscreen. You’ll also need to reapply it every few hours to keep your protection topped up.

Extra Postpartum Skincare Tips to Keep in Mind

Now that you know what your postpartum skincare routine needs to consist of, here are a few extra tips to keep in mind:

Care For Your Neck But Avoid Your Chest If Breastfeeding

It’s usually a good idea to bring your facial skincare products down to your neck and chest. The skin in these areas is quite fragile and delicate, meaning that it would really benefit from the powerful products that are applied to the face.

However, if you’re breastfeeding, avoid applying anything to your chest for a while. You don’t want to change the scent or texture of your skin in any way as this could put your baby off feeding. 

Supplement Your Skin From Within

It’s not just your skin that benefits from a helping hand postpartum – the rest of your body will be healing too. At this point in time, adequate nutrition is so important. This is why many new moms turn to vitamin supplements. 

These supplements can be a game-changer at a time when you’ll probably be too busy to craft healthy and wholesome meals each day. They’ll give your postpartum body a boost in the nutrients that it needs the most, and these will filter out into your skin cells to leave your complexion glowing.

Consider Professional Treatments

Whether it may be severe melasma, loose skin, or anything else, it’s always more effective to deal with new skin concerns ASAP, rather than letting them fester for a while. If you’ve been struggling with skin concerns that topical products won’t be able to help with, it could be a good idea to seek a professional opinion.

There are a number of treatments out there that could really boost your postpartum skin. Laser therapy, microneedling, and microdermabrasion are just three that could make a huge difference to your skin. However, every woman’s body handles the postpartum period differently, so speak to your doctor about which options would be suitable for you.

Summary

There’s nothing wrong with keeping your postpartum skincare routine as simple as possible. After all, this is when you’ll want to focus on your new baby, rather than your skin! However, with all of the changes that your skin goes through during and after pregnancy, a small amount of extra attention wouldn’t go amiss. Follow the steps that we’ve shared above and your complexion will find it so much easier to rebalance itself, leaving you with healthier-looking skin so much sooner!

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