How to reduce the appearance of stretch marks

At Clarins, we believe in loving the skin you’re in and caring for it as best you can. For us, this means embracing stretch marks as part of a beautiful journey into parenthood, for example, or simply appreciating your body and the incredible things it can do.

While stretch marks are common, natural, and completely unharmful, some people may wish to limit their appearance if it makes them feel more confident in their skin. Many people experience stretch marks, so finding answers to questions such as do stretch marks go away and how to prevent stretch marks during pregnancy is useful in helping you understand, appreciate, and embrace your body, just as it is.

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Firstly, what causes stretch marks?

Stretch marks are usually the result of your skin over-stretching and losing its elasticity. Excessive weight gain or pregnancy often go hand-in-hand with stretch marks, though hormonal changes can also cause them to appear.

What do stretch marks look like?

Stretch marks appear as lines on the surface of the skin, though their length, width, and depth will vary from person to person. They look red when they first appear (due to swelling), then gradually fade to white. Stretch marks appear on areas of the body where volume can increase significantly, such as the breasts, hips, buttocks, thighs, abdomen, arms, and lower back.

How to remove stretch marks

While it’s unlikely you’ll be able to remove your stretch marks entirely, there are steps you can take to help prevent stretch marks from forming in the first place and to reduce the appearance of stretch marks already present. Here are a few options.

1. Choose a targeted body treatment

Targeted body treatments are perfect for minimising the appearance of stretch marks and restoring beautiful skin. That’s why we’ve created Clarins Body Partner Stretch Mark Expert to help soften the effects of weight fluctuations and pregnancy. Using our new PhytoStretchComplex — Organic Green Banana to stimulate collagen production and Centella Asiatica to reinforce and protect elastin fibres from breaking down — Stretch Mark Expert improves the skin’s elasticity to visibly reduce the appearance of blemishes. With a comforting texture that quickly absorbs into the skin, stretch marks become less visible over time, and skin feels silky-soft and expertly nourished.

You can boost the effects of your targeted stretch mark treatment with our best-selling Tonic Body Treatment Oil. Made with 100% pure plant extracts — such as Rosemary, Geranium, and Mint — this healthy formula helps firm, tone, and improve your skin’s elasticity to soothe and soften over-stretched skin.

While there’s no stretch mark cure, their appearance does fade naturally over time. Many people find that regularly applying a stretch mark cream helps create a visible difference within a matter of months.

2. Exfoliate your skin

Regular exfoliation helps to prevent the build-up of dead cells on the skin’s surface. This allows your stretch mark prevention cream to work harder by absorbing deeply into the skin, while also helping to exfoliate away any new blemishes that form.

3. Keep an eye on your weight

Though it’s natural for your body to grow and expand, especially during pregnancy, one way to help reduce stretch marks is to limit the extent to which your skin tissue changes. Eating healthily and ensuring you don’t gain unnecessary or excessive weight is a good way to do this.

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How do I take care of my mature skin?

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Aging skin is the result of both internal and external factors and can result in wrinkles, sun spots, and dark circles under the eyes. Luckily, we have the best anti aging products available to help you care for your mature skin. Read on to find out more for mature skin.

When you were younger, it’s unlikely that you gave too much thought to your skin care routine and how it could affect you later on in life. When we are filled with the glow and blissful state of being that comes with youth, we tend to not let a little bit of sunburn put us off spending the day in the pool or at the beach.

While an anti-aging routine may not have been part of the plans all those years ago, it’s clear now that everything you have done in your life has left some sort of impression on your skin. We also have to accept the inevitable skin changes that come about with aging; wrinkles, sagging, thinning, and dryness are all part and parcel of growing older. Hormones also play a big part in the character that is added to our skin as we age.

While it’s impossible to stop the aging process or completely undo the damage to your skin, the great news is that we know how you can look after your mature skin. By paying just a little more attention to your skin care routine and lifestyle, you can nourish and soothe your skin until it is glowing once more.

1. The signs of mature skin

Before investing in the most expensive mature skin care products, it’s important to understand what mature skin looks like. Knowing what your skin is going through is essential to finding the best anti-aging skin care routine for your face.

By age 50, hormonal changes due to menopause cause the fibroblast matrix to become thin and fragile, impeding the skin’s ability to protect itself during the day, and reenergize itself at night—resulting in slackening, wrinkles, dullness, dryness, and an uneven skin tone.

Here are some signs that your skin can be considered mature:

Skin that has become dry and fine
Dehydrated skin
Dull skin
Visible lack of tone and firmness
Deeper wrinkles
Wide pores
Age spots/dark spots/hyperpigmentation

2. Beauty routines for mature skin

Luckily, anti-aging skin care has improved remarkably over the last couple of years and you can now use the best anti-aging skin care products to get your glow back. It’s important to have a comprehensive skin care regimen that takes extra good care of your mature skin. What is the best skin care for aging skin? See more below.

Everyday replenishing moisturizer

Your skin care routine shouldn’t be reserved for special occasions; it must become an aspect of your daily morning habits. The core foundation of an effective anti-aging skin care regimen is having the best anti-aging face cream in your repertoire that moisturizes and replenishes your face every day, such as Clarins Super Restorative Day Cream. Apply the cream to cleansed skin during the day. The super power behind this anti-aging cream is organic Harungana extract, which is the base of all our powerful anti-aging products in Clarins’ Super Restorative Routine Range.

Add some of our Super Restorative Treatment Essence for when your skin feels extra tired. This energizing essence is the perfect skin care foundation for mature skin. It gently exfoliates with Hibiscus Flower acids and Harungana extract to help your skin look more smooth, refined, and soft - leaving it looking radiant and feeling refreshed for the best anti-aging cream in your cupboard.

Skin firming lotion while you sleep

The best anti aging night cream will do the work for you while you sleep. The Super Restorative Night Cream will help you wake up fresh and glowing, with skin that feels ultimately replenished.

Anti aging serum

Our Double Serum and Super Restorative Remodelling Serum are the best anti aging serums to add to your skin care routine. Best used in the morning, the Double Serum has the power of two serums packed into one. It has 21 plant extracts, including Turmeric, to boost your face’s radiance. You’ll feel more youthful and fresh in just a few short days. For a nighttime skin treat, the Super Restorative Remodelling Serum is powered by plant science to visibly lift, and promote a youthful-looking complexion.

Exfoliate weekly

Exfoliating your skin has a plethora of benefits. It can boost circulation and brighten your skin, while cleansing and purifying pores. Keep in mind, however, that you shouldn’t exfoliate too often, around one to three times a week is ideal. Removing dead skin cells is an essential aspect of any good anti-aging routine, and you should reach for a product like the One-Step Gentle Exfoliating Cleanser with Orange Extract.

Don’t forget about your neck and hands

The skin around your neck and eyes are particularly susceptible to the signs of aging because the skin is extra thin and is often exposed to the sun. Ensure that you take advantage of a good anti-aging hand cream for the tops of your hands.

Clarins’ Super Restorative Décolleté and Neck Concentrate is powerfully replenishing and filled with organic Harungana and Montpellier Rock-rose extracts.

To complete your routine, add Total Eye Lift, specially designed for the eye area.

3. Protect your skin

Protect your skin from the risk of premature aging by using a cream containing an SPF every single day, whatever the weather. Try the Clarins UV+ SPF 50 Anti Pollution Sunscreen. This multi-protection cream helps to decrease the risk of premature signs of aging from harmful external factors.

Remember that lifestyle plays a big role too

Even if you use the best skin firming cream daily and an excellent serum at night - lifestyle cannot be undone by beauty products completely. The importance of sleep, hydration and exercise cannot be overstated when it comes to looking after mature skin.

Your skin is trying to repair itself while you sleep and you’ll give it a much-needed boost with good quality sleep. Of course, the amount of sleep everyone needs varies from person to person, but it’s essential to try to wake up and go to sleep at the same time every day, and to avoid caffeine later in the day too.

Exercise is also important for healthy, rejuvenated skin. Regular exercise, even if that’s just walking, helps your circulation and gets much needed oxygen to your skin. Exercise can also help stimulate oil production in your skin, to improve its smoothness.

Of course, getting enough water is absolutely essential when it comes to the health of your skin, particularly as you mature. Hydration helps to maintain your skin’s elasticity, which helps with the signs of aging.