Part of our guide to Skincare Routines and Results.
Retinoids and hydroquinone come out of your routine. Most of what's left can stay. The rule that matters is the precautionary one: where there's no good safety data, and for pregnancy there rarely is, leave it out rather than reason your way into it. Nothing here is medical advice, and your obstetrician's answer beats ours every time.
What to stop using
Retinoids, in every form. Retinol, retinaldehyde, retinyl palmitate, tretinoin, adapalene, tazarotene. Oral isotretinoin causes severe birth defects, and while topical retinoids absorb far less, the advice from dermatologists is to avoid the whole category during pregnancy and nursing. This is the one nobody argues about.
Hydroquinone. It absorbs readily through skin, which is exactly the property you don't want in a pregnancy, and the safety data isn't there. Several countries restrict it for general use anyway.
Salicylic acid in strength. Peels and high concentration leave on treatments are the concern, since oral salicylates carry pregnancy risks at dose. A cleanser that rinses off is a different situation again. Low concentrations in a leave on product are generally considered acceptable, and the number is what matters, so check the concentration rather than the ingredient name.
Some essential oils. Rosemary, sage, juniper, pennyroyal and thyme are the ones most often flagged, on the basis that they may stimulate uterine contractions or act hormonally. Natural is not a safety category, and this is the clearest example of it.
Endocrine disruptors. Parabens mimic oestrogen and absorb easily. Phthalates hide inside the word fragrance on an ingredient list. Oxybenzone and octinoxate, both chemical sunscreen filters, are suspected disruptors with high absorption. Formaldehyde releasing preservatives such as DMDM hydantoin and diazolidinyl urea belong on the same list.
What you can keep
Bakuchiol. A plant active from Psoralea corylifolia with no vitamin A activity, which is why it sits outside the retinoid restriction. A randomised double blind trial published by Dhaliwal and colleagues in the British Journal of Dermatology in 2019 found it matched retinol on wrinkling and pigmentation with fewer reports of stinging and peeling. It's the reason anyone pregnant has a route to collagen support at all.
If you've had to stop tretinoin, our bakuchiol guide covers the pregnancy safe alternative to tretinoin in more detail.
Peptides and hyaluronic acid. Large molecules, minimal absorption, and hyaluronic acid is something your body already makes.
Alpha arbutin, niacinamide and vitamin C. The brightening trio, all generally considered fine in pregnancy, which matters because pregnancy is when pigmentation tends to arrive. Our guide to how they work has the detail.
Azelaic acid. Mostly a prescription conversation in pregnancy, for pigmentation or acne, so take it to your doctor rather than to a shelf.
Ceramides, glycerin and squalane. Barrier support with nothing to debate.
Mineral sunscreen. Zinc oxide and titanium dioxide sit on the surface rather than absorbing, which makes them the straightforward choice while pregnant. We don't sell sunscreen, so that's not a pitch.
About our own products, plainly
Our formulas contain essential oils. PURIFY carries geranium oil, and ILLUMINATE and REJUVENATE carry lavender and elemi, all naturally derived and at low levels. They're free of synthetic fragrance, which is a different claim, and we'd rather draw that distinction than let you assume the stronger one. Lavender and elemi aren't among the oils usually flagged for pregnancy, and the full ingredient list is on each product page if your doctor wants to see it.
MERACLE contains salicylic acid at a low concentration. Our essence is a leave on product with a lactic and salicylic acid complex, and its salicylic acid sits well below the level that raises concern in pregnancy. Mention it to your doctor along with everything else you're using, and if they'd rather you paused it, pause it.
REJUVENATE is formulated without the ingredients restricted during pregnancy and nursing, and is free of hydroquinone, parabens and drying alcohols. ILLUMINATE's actives are on the safe list, including its vitamin C, which is the stable magnesium ascorbyl phosphate form rather than L ascorbic acid. PURIFY is built on the world's first pre and postbiotics blend for skin microbiome balance, which supports the skin's own microbiome rather than stripping it. That suits skin that has turned reactive during pregnancy.
Melasma, which is why most people read this
Pregnancy hormones plus equatorial sun is the combination that produces the mask of pregnancy, and Singapore supplies the second half generously all year.
Prevention beats treatment here, and it isn't close. Mineral SPF every day, reapplied if you're out for hours. A hat and the shady side of the street. Heat alone can trigger it, so a hot kitchen counts. A tinted mineral sunscreen adds some protection against visible light, which ordinary sunscreen doesn't cover and which matters for melasma specifically.
Alongside that, alpha arbutin, niacinamide and a stable vitamin C are safe and useful. What they won't do is outrun the hormones while the hormones are still running. Melasma often improves in the year after delivery, and expecting to clear it before then usually leads to abandoning something that was working.
Ordinary dark spots behave differently from melasma, and the difference is worth knowing before you judge any product.
A routine that holds up
Morning: cleanse, essence, brightening serum, moisturiser, mineral sunscreen. Evening: the same, with the bakuchiol serum in place of the brightening one and no sunscreen.
SATURATE holds hydration for over 6 hours, which handles the barrier changes pregnancy brings without sitting heavily on skin in this climate. If you want the sequencing logic, the routine order guide covers it.
Skin often turns reactive during pregnancy even if it never was before. If yours has, introduce one product at a time with two weeks between, and read what causes sensitive skin before adding anything new.
Nursing, and afterwards
Most of the restrictions carry over. Retinoids stay out while you're breastfeeding, and so do the endocrine disruptors. Bakuchiol, alpha arbutin, niacinamide, vitamin C and peptides remain fine.
Keep actives off your chest and breasts, since that skin is in contact with your baby.
After weaning you can reintroduce whatever you want, one thing at a time, because skin is often more reactive postpartum than it was before. Plenty of people stay on bakuchiol rather than going back to retinol, and the comparison covers why that's a defensible choice rather than a compromise.
When to ask a doctor rather than us
Anything prescription, including something you were using before you conceived. Severe acne, where the pregnancy safe options are mostly prescription. Any flare of eczema, psoriasis or rosacea. And any ingredient you're unsure about, including ours.
Bring the actual ingredient list to the appointment. It's a faster conversation than a product name.
Questions we get asked
Which ingredients should I stop using in pregnancy? All retinoids, hydroquinone, high strength salicylic acid treatments such as peels, essential oils such as rosemary, sage and juniper, and endocrine disruptors including parabens, phthalates, oxybenzone and octinoxate. Formaldehyde releasing preservatives belong on the same list.
Can I treat fine lines while pregnant? Yes. Bakuchiol, peptides, hyaluronic acid and vitamin C are all available to you. The Dhaliwal trial found bakuchiol comparable to retinol on wrinkling with fewer side effects, which is the route most people take once retinol is off the table.
Is bakuchiol actually safe in pregnancy? It carries no vitamin A activity, which is what the retinoid restriction is about, and it's widely treated as suitable. It has not been studied in pregnant women specifically, because almost nothing is. Ask your doctor before you start it.
Are natural or organic products automatically safe in pregnancy? No, and this is where people get caught. Several essential oils are natural and unsuitable in pregnancy. Check ingredients rather than claims on the front of a bottle.
Can I use vitamin C and niacinamide together while pregnant? Yes. Both are generally considered safe, they work well in the same formula, and they're useful against exactly the pigmentation pregnancy tends to produce.
Do Byra products contain essential oils? PURIFY contains geranium oil, and ILLUMINATE and REJUVENATE contain lavender and elemi, all naturally derived and at low levels. They contain no synthetic fragrance. Lavender and elemi aren't among the oils usually flagged for pregnancy, and the full ingredient list is on each product page.
Can I use MERACLE while pregnant? Yes. Its salicylic acid sits well below the concentration that raises concern, and the caution in pregnancy is about peels and high strength leave on treatments rather than low percentages. Mention it to your doctor along with the rest of your routine.
Will my melasma go away after the birth? Often it improves over the following year, though not always completely. Sun protection while pregnant does more to determine how it looks afterwards than any treatment you use during.
Where to go from here
Read the back of everything currently on your shelf and pull out anything with a retinoid in it. That single pass handles most of the risk.
Then put sunscreen where you'll actually reach for it. Of everything on this page, that's the one that changes what your skin looks like in a year.