"Pregnancy can be a trying time: you can't tell whether you're nauseous or hungry, your body is working at close to the sustainable limit of human endurance, your organs are rearranging to make space for a growing alien. There are myriad indignities: nosebleeds, swelling feet, back pain, and, if you're unlucky, ceaseless vomiting that goes full Tarantino. That's all without having to contend with a sudden onslaught of luminous pregnant influencers, surfaced by omniscient algorithms, who lovingly massage various creams into their gravid bellies."
"Targeted advertising for pregnancy-specific skincare begins to stalk you around the internet, offering products with asinine names: mummy's tummy, bump love, belly butter. There's a lot to think about when you're expecting but stretch marks don't have to be one of them, proclaims the advertising copy for a deluxe set of organic belly products (RRP $75). For $68, another Australian skincare brand sells a firming oil that contains as its primary ingredient sunflower oil, of frying pan fame not exactly the cooking expectant mothers might have in mind."
Pregnancy imposes dramatic physiological changes and common symptoms include nausea, fatigue, nosebleeds, swollen feet, back pain, and severe vomiting. Pregnancy-focused marketing saturates online spaces with influencers and products promising to prevent stretch marks, often using trivialized names and low-cost ingredients like sunflower oil despite high retail prices. Many skincare items claim to boost elasticity, reduce redness, and soften skin, but evidence of preventive efficacy is limited. Three main factors determine stretch-mark likelihood: genetics, younger maternal age, and rapid weight gain. Skin structure comprises epidermis, dermis (collagen and elastin) and hypodermis; when the dermis stretches too quickly it can tear, producing stretch marks.
Read at www.theguardian.com
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