After my third pregnancy in five years (I work fast), I gave Mederma Stretch Marks Therapy a try.
As I write this, I can hear my youngest (now just 3 months) cooing in the living room. That sound is compounded by the 17 month old playing ABC games on an iPad nearby and a 5 year old practicing his karate moves. Lightly put- there’s simply too much going on in my home and my life to invest a ton of time in erasing the stretch marks (read: battle wounds) that happily left their mark on my hips after babies #1 and #2. I have no idea how, I assume it was youth-related, but I got off scott-free the first time.
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I was introduced to Mederma Stretch Marks Therapy just before popping #3 out, and figured “yup, this’ll do.” After my first C-section with baby #1 in 2009 I used the cream on my nasty surgery scar and saw great results, so I knew this cream would at least do something. The claims were impressive:
- Clinically shown to improve the overall appearance of stretch marks by reducing discoloration, improving texture and enhancing softness in just 12 weeks, with noticeable improvement as soon as four weeks.
- Mederma® Stretch Marks Therapy features a paraben free nourishing cream formula that combines a unique blend of ingredients, including the proprietary botanical extract, Cepalin®, hyaluronic acid and centella asiatica plant extract.
- Mederma® Stretch Marks Therapy is available in the Skin Care section at drug stores and mass retailers nationwide. It is sold in a 5.29-oz tube and retails for about $40.
- If dissatisfied with the product after 12 weeks of use, Mederma® offers a 100% money back guarantee.
The cream glides on smoothly, and I started using it post-morning shower from about 1 week post-baby. That first week was so tiring and I was so bleary-eyed I don’t think I even made ANY effort to beautify any part of myself, so, it had to wait. By 2 weeks post-partum I started to do a quick application with the cream on the tips of my fingers, rubbed in a circular motion on both hips as I counted to 15 Mississippi. I remember a plastic surgeon once telling me that part of the trick to reducing scars is the right products, and part is gentle massage because it breaks up the bad tissue and lets the product really get in there. I’d do another application every night before bed, after brushing my teeth and wishing on eyelashes that my little guy would give me a minimum of 2 hours of sleep at a time. By about 4 weeks I noticed a difference. The marks had turned from deep, shiny magenta to more of a mauvey pink. I kept thinking “whatever, it’s progress.”
By 8 weeks, most of my stretch marks (and really, they were BIG BAD WOLVES when I first started) had noticeably reduced discoloration, and the texture had become completely smooth. My husband once remarked “wow, the marks on your left hip are totally gone, and the ones on your right hip are WAY better.” Maybe I had used the product more vigorously on my left side? Whatever, it was working.
8 weeks post-partum with some definite toning to do, but the marks are so light you can hardly see them. ZERO photo retouching or filters were used.
By 12 weeks my marks were so light that unless you went out of your way to look for them, you wouldn’t notice. Truthfully, I’m sitting here at 13 weeks post-partum more concerned over when my linea negra will totally fade (the dark vertical line that some women get during pregnancy that takes up to 6 months to vanish), and if I can officially get my abs back into Pilates so they take a proper beach-appropriate shape again. (That’s a whole OTHER goal)
My fave parts of using this light, velvety cream were how effortless it all was, the gentle scent, and that the paraben-free formula was totally safe during breast feeding (still going strong)! When it’s time for baby #4 I’ll have enough forethought to start using it in advance.
Although this post was sponsored, these are my real experiences and opinions.
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