Muslim Parenting

The Healthy Shopper offers e-coupons for a range of natural and organic products. The coupons are free, but do require sign-up to access. Alternately you can order an actual coupon book - the book is free but you pay $4.50 CDN for shipping. If it’s for something I was going to buy anyway, I always think coupons are good.

Santa Cruz Organic - they make organic juices, fruit sauces, nut butters, dessert toppings and “natural” sodas - is offering coupons on its various products to US residents. The coupons on offer change monthly, so you’ll want to bookmark the page and check back for more deals.

Stonyfield Farm, an organic dairy company, is offering e-coupons for a number of it’s products (organic milk, various kinds of yoghurts, smoothies, and frozen desserts). From what I’ve seen, their products don’t contain gelatin (or stabilizers and preservatives), an ingredient that renders a lot of yoghurt products off limits for those of us concerned with buying halal.

The coupons are for US residents only. They rotate the coupons on offer, so they may or may not be for a product you use.

Organic Valley, another organic dairy company, has also made e-coupons available (on soy milk, cheese, cottage cheese, regular cow’s milk, lactose-free milk, butter, etc.) to US residents.

I try to only buy organic when we do buy dairy, because unfortunately milk cows are so fiddled with by non-organic producers (bovine growth hormone, antibiotics, dubious feeds…) and often nasty chemicals are concentrated in animal products and in fat sources, such as butter.

It used to be that there was little that you could do to lessen stretch marks. They were just the badge of motherhood. But now there are a range of products that do a good job of fading and minimizing all kinds of scars (including stretch marks and Cesaerean scars). They work best on newer scars but still have an effect on stretch marks or scars that you have had for awhile.

You can also use these remedies on kids’ scars.

Silicone strips and sheets

These are gel-like strips and rectangular sheets or resemble Bandaids. They can flatten and normalize the color of a scar over a number of weeks or months.

The packages don’t explain what the mechanism behind them is, so I can’t share that. Though, from what I’ve read it seems that when you cover a scar as with a bandaid or silicone strip (particularly a newer one) you increase your chances of having it shrink.

I can say that I have used this method with success on the vaccination scar on my arm, which I’d had since an infant. The scar did shrink, flatten out and turn a more normal color.

I’m a bit hesistant to use the silicone strips now, because I don’t like the thought of the silicone possibly being absorbed by my skin and accumulating in my body (again the manufacturers don’t tell you how the strips work) - but do know that in a pinch, this is a very effective method for lessening a scar (and I would guess that subcategory of scar, the stretchmark).

Onion skin deriviative gels and creams

The most commonly known brand here is Mederma, though I buy the generic /store brand. You apply the gel or cream several times a day over a period of several weeks before you can expect to see significant results,though I have seen improvement in less time than that.

What I do not like about these gels/creams is that besides their active ingredient (the onion skin extract) they usually include a lot of junk besides. I’m usually quite dilligent about selecting cosmetics and toiletries that include ingredients that God (swt) has directly blessed us with, so I’m not happy with an ingredient list that includes chemicals like phenoxyethanol, methylparaben, disodium EDTA, etc. As I breastfeed my daughter, these are a no-no for me. But, if you don’t have these concerns, the onion extract creams can be very effective.

Apparently, it is possible to use actual onion skin (the papery, silvery outer skin; not the thick inner layers) to treat scars as well. You can read more about that here.

High potency vitamin E cream, gels or oils

You may see some success with vitamin E supplement capsules but they won’t be as effective as a high potency (12,000 IU, 20,000 IU, etc.) cosmetic grade cream, gel or oil. I chose a cream from Derma-e because I recognized most of its ingredients.

Essential Oils

There are a number of essential oils that are supposed to help normalize skin. On the list are neroli/bitter orange, ylang-ylang, jasmine, orange, grapefruit, helichrysum (this is supposed to be extremely effective but I’ve been unable to find it at any of the stores in my area), rose and lavender. There are, of course, others, but this is a short list. To use, you’d mix a few drops of these oils with a “carrier” oil such as jojoba, almond or coconut and apply as often as possible.

Other Oils

Rosa mosqueta (also known as rosehip oil), borage seed and evening primrose, all of which contain high levels of essential fatty acids, all got top marks in terms of their ability to reduce stretch marks. The rosa mosqueta oil has to be kept refrigerated after opening, so I haven’t found it as convenient to use as some other remedies, as I can’t keep it with my other toiletries and I have to remember to fish it out of the fridge to use it.

Other remedies

I’ve also read of success with fresh aloe vera pulp (you may have aloe as a houseplant chez vous and so could just harvest a leaf), and with calendula oil, gels and creams.

And then there are the tried and true - cocoa butter, olive oil and traditional for some, new to others shea butter.

Something else I’ve read about is keeping the stretch marked area bandaged so that the skin underneath is kept constantly clammy (you know, that Band-Aid effect). This is supposed to encourage the development of new skin in the area. I don’t know whether it works or not, but may give it a try.

In Due Time

One thing that the references I read underscored is that most stretchmarks will vanish or lessen in appearance on their own in time anyway (alhamdullilah). So, at best the remedies I’ve mentioned may just speed things along.

**Please note that my mention of certain brands isn’t necessarily an endorsement. I think that cosmetics/toiletries are usually parity products, so I think it’s important to shop around, read labels and then go for the product that works best for you in terms of price and ingredients.

First posted in July 2006.