A seven-point stretch mark product checklist

The promises on the shelf all sound alike, the prices can differ tenfold, and nobody reads the ingredient list standing in the pharmacy aisle.

A short checklist makes the choice easier. Before it, two habits that cost nothing and matter as much as anything you buy.

Two free habits

Keep the area out of strong sun. New marks take colour differently from the skin around them, and sun makes the contrast stronger. On bright Malaysian days, shade and loose clothing do the job.

Try not to scratch. Stretching skin itches, and scratching roughens skin that is already under strain. Pat it, or reach for your moisturiser instead.

It is also never too late to start. Older white marks can still look softer with regular care. The change is slower, that is all.

The checklist

1. Notified and tested

Every cosmetic sold legally in Malaysia must be notified to the National Pharmaceutical Regulatory Agency (NPRA), and you can search a product's notification on the NPRA website. Be wary of creams sold without a label you can read. NPRA has cancelled the notification of creams found to contain scheduled poisons such as mercury, hydroquinone and tretinoin.

Look for "dermatologically tested", and for a brand that tells you what testing was done and on how many people.

2. Ingredients that suit the job

Moisturisers that keep stretching skin soft and supple, such as shea butter, olive oil, jojoba oil and aloe vera. For marks that are already there, ingredients that help skin tone look more even, such as niacinamide.

3. Suited to sensitive skin

Pregnancy often makes skin more reactive. Choose a product formulated for pregnancy and breastfeeding, and patch test it on your inner arm for a day or two before using it all over.

4. Easy to use twice a day

A complicated routine stops after a fortnight. A light texture that absorbs quickly is much easier to keep up in Malaysian heat and humidity, and keeping it up for months matters more than anything else.

5. Evidence you can read

Reviews tell you about texture, scent and whether the pump works. When a product quotes a figure, look for what kind of study it came from, how many people took part and when. A satisfaction survey records what people felt. A clinical test with a comparison group measures change. Both are useful, and they are different.

6. Comfort for the itch

Anyone who has been pregnant knows the itch of a growing bump. A cream that feels cool and soothes the dry, tight feeling earns its place for this alone, and scratching less spares your skin.

7. A price you can keep paying

These products work through months of use. A cream you can afford to keep buying does more than an expensive one you ration.

How our two products compare

Mama's Choice Stretch Mark Cream is the daily layer. It deeply moisturises skin as it stretches, keeps it supple and helps prevent stretch marks. Olive oil and shea butter moisturise, aloe vera feels cool and fresh, Lipobelle Soyaglycone helps keep skin soft and supple, and jojoba oil leaves it smooth. In a Mama's Choice satisfaction survey of 78 mothers in Indonesia (2022), 100% felt the texture was just right and 98% felt it absorbed easily.

The Stretch Mark Serum is lighter and absorbs faster. It is made for marks that have already formed and helps reduce their look, with niacinamide, Japanese mugwort and bisabolol. In a Mama's Choice use test with 29 mothers in Indonesia (2022), 90% agreed their stretch marks looked less noticeable.

Serum on the marks, cream over the whole area that is stretching. Both are formulated for pregnancy and breastfeeding, dermatologically tested and halal certified by BPJPH, Indonesia, and either suits anyone with stretch marks, pregnant or not. The Stretch Mark Cream and Serum set brings the two together.

What to expect, and when

In the first weeks, what changes is comfort. Skin feels less dry and less itchy. That is a real result even when the marks look the same, and it is the point where most people give up.

How marks look changes more slowly, over months, and differs from person to person. New red marks respond better than settled white ones. Your genes and how fast your skin stretches play a big part in whether marks appear at all, which is why no product can promise you will not get any.