Belli Pregnancy Essentials

Belli Cosmetics makes a line of pregnancy products, including Belli Pregnancy Essentials. These products are created to be safe during pregnancy while pampering pregnant women and new moms.

Belli Cosmetics were created by a physician. Belli's philosophy is to offer "total therapy for the pregnancy and motherhood lifestyle, promoting beauty, comfort, safety, and wellness." With that in mind, they've designed their pregnancy products to be safe for both mother and baby. The company incorporates ideas from massage therapy, aromatherapy, and other holistic practices.

Belli's products address the special needs of expecting moms. Basic skin-care products include moisturizing and exfoliating creams, but there are also products to help with stretch marks, calm aching feet, and ease morning sickness.

Belly oil is designed to prepare your skin for stretching. As the baby grows, the skin on your belly will stretch to make room. When skin stretches quickly, stretch marks can develop.

Elasticity Belly Oil contains vitamin E, collagen hydrolysates, and gotu kola extract to help the skin become more elastic. Lavender, cocoa butter, and almond oil add a calming scent.

Once stretch marks develop, getting rid of them can be tough. Belli makes a cream containing darutoside, a plant molecule which is said to help minimize stretch marks. The cream also moisturizes skin.

Chloasma, also called melasma, is a darkening of facial skin that can occur with pregnancy. Sun exposure can make it worse. Belli's anti-chloasma cream is an oil-free sunscreen containing titanium dioxide and zinc oxide to block UVA and UVB rays.

When you're pregnant, your feet and ankles tend to swell. The extra weight can be hard on your feet, especially if you have to do much walking or standing. Belli's Foot Relief Cream combines peppermint and menthol in a soothing massage cream just for feet and ankles.

Belli Soothers are little candies with flavors to help relieve morning sickness. They come in lemon and peppermint, flavors which can soothe upset stomachs. Each flavor is packed in a round silver tin.

Belli Pregnancy Essentials combines two of the company's most popular products. The Elasticity Belly Oil and the Anti-Chloasma Sunscreen are packaged together in an attractive kit.

Product-rating web sites are full of testimonials about the Elasticity Belly Oil, but there are some disappointed customers, too. Medical journals don't have much information, but one high-quality review suggests that a similar cream did help to prevent stretch marks. The truth is probably somewhere in the middle. Some women are simply more prone to develop stretch marks. Some will find the oil helpful, while others will be disappointed.

Staying out of the sun and using sunscreen are well-known ways to minimize chloasma, so the company's claims for the Anti-Chloasma Facial Sunscreen make sense.

The flavors of peppermint and lemon are old folk remedies for nausea; each woman will have to see for herself if they help.

Darutoside, the ingredient touted in the stretch mark minimizing cream, is a plant extract and another folk remedy. Cosmetics companies do claim that clinical research supports its use, but these studies do not appear in any of the usual medical databases.

Belli partners with spas across the U.S. to offer pregnancy-specific services. A Belli Pregnancy Essentials spa experience involves soft lighting and gentle music. Aromatherapy is offered to calm the senses. Treatment includes skin care to help prevent stretch marks. Massage is directed at pregnancy-related problems including low back pain and sore feet.

It's easy to forget your own needs after your baby is born. Belli follows up its Belli Pregnancy Essentials kit with a line of cosmetics to keep new moms glowing. Products include:

• An eye brightening cream for those up-all-night undereye circles
• A cream meant to help C-section scars fade
• A moisturizing hand sanitizer to use after diaper changes, when soap and water aren't handy

You'll find Belli products at many upscale maternity stores and some Bath & Body Works shops. The Belli website has a store locator function which lists retailers by state. You can also order directly online.

• Winter Maternity Clothing
• Maternity Polo Shirts
• Summer Maternity Fashion
• Gender Selection and Conception
• Conception Myths

• How Soon Can I Take a Pregnancy Test
• Natural Ways to Induce Labor
• How to Conceive a Boy
• How to Conceive a Girl
• Early Pregnancy Symptoms

• Maternity Scrubs for the Tall Woman
• Maternity Night Gowns and Robes
• Free Catalogs for Maternity Clothes
• Maternity Resale Store
• Noppies Maternity Pants