The Pregnancy-Belly Salve That's Still Saving My Skin From Itch (Months After Giving Birth)

As fall descends upon sun-worn skin, itchiness, irritation, and those small red bumps that make you tilt your head to the right and go huh? begin to signal that summer's solutions just won't cut it anymore. Now is the time to reach for all the unsexy stuff sold in big giant tubs — ceramides, colloidal oatmeal, petroleum jelly. To my surprise, when I was looking for these necessary-but-less-exciting skin-care actives, I stumbled upon the velvety, nourishing Summer Fridays Babymoon Belly Balm ($29) meant to help stretching pregnant bellies and super-dry, angry skin.

Summer Fridays Babymoon Belly Balm

From

$29

$29 at Sephora

So let's back up a bit, yes? Last year, I found myself pregnant with twins, and my body was really going through the ringer as it made room for two new lives. According to Mona Gohara, MD, a dermatologist based in New Haven, CT, stretched-out bellies often itch due to the skin's expansion. And one tried-and-true antidote is belly balm, which can soothe your skin by providing hydration and relief from inflammation.

It's these anti-inflammatory properties that made me continue slathering the stuff from head to toe after I gave birth. The stress we put our skin through (be it pregnancy, UV rays on beach days, or cool wind that cuts through skin) can cause inflammation, which can lead our skin barrier to not function optimally.

Take UV (the easiest environmental aggressor for beauty editors to pick on): when your skin absorbs the sun's rays, skin cells are damaged. You may not be dealing with the immediate effects of sunburn, but regular exposure to UV radiation that takes place over time can add up and actually lead to a compromised skin barrier. When skin is compromised, it isn't as able to hold onto water as easily to help it stay supple and moisturized; it also means that itch-associated nerve fibers get flipped on, so that your skin is dry and can feel insufferable to be in.

Now you might be thinking: big whoop. It's fall, and I'm not spending all day lying in the sun. But you would be wise to understand that this same stress-induced, chain-of-events-type reaction occurs over and over again, each time your skin is exposed to an aggressor. Cold air, a stretched tummy, scratchy fabrics, and other stimuli can all compromise your skin barrier, leaving you feeling itchy, red, aggravated, and on the hunt for all the skin-care actives that most resemble butt pastes.

Enter this balm. Packed with a blend of sunflower seed and avocado oils to help ramp up collagen production and repair the skin barrier, alongside vitamin E to boost elasticity and calendula oil to soothe stressed-out skin, the vegan Babymoon Balm is a multitasker that helps to combat the woes of summer and the threats of colder weather.

"Since pregnancy balms are so nourishing, they not only help soothe the skin and alleviate itchiness, but will also help protect the barrier from further damage and moisture loss," says Dendy Engelman, MD, a New York City dermatologist.

When you first slather it on, the balm feels like velvet, melting into skin somewhere in between the texture of a lightweight argan oil and Aquaphor. But make no mistake, this stuff doesn't feel like it will stick to everything you touch once it's on your bod. Instead, it just helps to go about its business of repairing and hydrating while interfering with your life as little as possible (the highest praise for a product like this one).

I usually apply the Babymoon Belly Balm at night before I go to bed on the parts that get chapped — sort of like slugging my entire body — and when I wake up, my skin is really soft and itch-free. You know, like the midsummer-taking-a-dip-in-the-deep-blue-without-a-whisper-of-fall-in-the-air kind of skin that is now a faint memory. Babymoon, indeed.