Is There Really Such a Thing as a Pregnant Glow?
By Elizabeth Angell, Allure magazine
Perhaps this is what they mean by a pregnancy glow: Victoria Beckham (who graces our March cover!) apparently credits her fourth pregnancy with doing more to improve her skin than any treatment or product ever has. Lucky her-plenty of women experience just the opposite. The rush of new hormones causes breakouts, spider veins, and even melasma (a nice word for unsightly discoloration). Here, a few other myths and truths of pregnancy beauty.
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Your hair gets thicker. This one is true-with a significant "but." Normally your hair alternates between an active growing phase a resting phase. During pregnancy, more hair enters the resting phase, which means it won't be falling out to make room for new hair growth. The result is thicker hair. Here's the "but:" the end of pregnancy means your hair will probably go back to its usual pattern. Don't be surprised if you notice more hair than usual in your brush.
It's dangerous to dye your hair during pregnancy. False. It's understandable that people are more cautious about using any chemicals while they're pregnant, but the consensus on this one amongst doctors is that you probably have nothing to worry about because very little of the chemicals in hair dye are actually absorbed into your system.
Your nails will grow. True. Again, credit goes to the hormones-they cause your nails to grow faster and in some cases stronger.
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You should apply moisturizer regularly to prevent stretch marks. False. Stretch marks are probably determined by your genetics as much as anything else. And while moisturizing regularly may help keep skin supple-and will definitely help with the itchiness that constant stretching can cause-there's not much you can do to prevent stretch marks if you're genetically predisposed to them.
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Photo Credit: Getty Images
