If you’re like me and on your second or third (or more!) kid, you already know which products will keep you feeling beautiful while you’re pregnant, and keep baby bouncy once she’s out in the world. You probably also hiss and hide behind your arm like a vampire from sunlight when you hear words like “phthalate” and “paraben.”
But there are plenty of parents who have yet to learn how to tailor their bath and beauty routines to pregnancy, much less to which pastel bottle of lotion is better for baby.
Good news: this book’s got the low-down, not to mention lots of extras for those of us already in the know.
Belli Beautiful was written by two moms with the help of a doctor dad, who want to try and protect babies from the more harmful bath and cosmetics ingredients on the market. And can I just say that I wish someone had used a time machine to give me a copy the day I took that first pregnancy test? I was so terrified of harming my baby, but ugh, there were so many sources of misleading information.
Fortunately, Belli Beautiful makes it very clear which ingredients are potentially dangerous and why, backing up each entry with careful footnotes and explanations from trusted MDs. It ranges from face and body products to hair, makeup, salons, massages, and of course, baby products.
There are also lists of carefully vetted products used by the authors themselves during pregnancy– and, yes, some of them are by the Belli Skincare company which is owned by one of the writers. My only complaint is that I would have liked to have seen more products on these lists than the three to nine listed, because there are so many more good options–we cover a lot of
non-toxic bath and beauty products right here.
Still, it’s a good start, and I found myself nodding along more often than not, recognizing many of these products from my own shelves.
To be honest, if you’re a long-time member of the Mom Club, you might know a lot of this information. And certainly a lot of it is online on sites like
EWG.org. But I did learn several new things, especially regarding topical absorption and why petrolatum products are worse than just a bucket of crude oil. The interviews with famous figures and doctors are also informative. And if I were pregnant today, I assure you I would be curled up in a corner, reading every single word with a pencil and a highlighter and making a nice, long shopping list.
My advice? Grab a copy for the mom-to-be on your list and gift it to her with an
EOS lip sphere. She’s going to need it during labor.~
Delilah
