Stretch Marks: The Truth Behind The Treatments

I’M skeptical that any cream can really change your body. Unless of course, that cream is of the full fat, iced or whipped variety. But the bottled, bathroom shelf-ers are often little more than all package and no balls. They lure you in with their glossy packaging and thick, attention-demanding fonts; they taunt you with pseudo-medical language and celebrity endorsements; you need this product; you are ugly without this product; you will never compare to Jennifer Aniston without this product. But illusions of grandeur aside, what’s actually within these can often leave you wanting. 

This is particularly true when it comes to stretch marks. Lorena, of Dermaeaze spa, admitted that, “No treatment which does not penetrate the skin will actually get rid of stretch marks.” So why do these creams sell on doing just that? After many hours spent researching, I road-tested a few products that claim to both prevent and repair stretch marks to find out if any of them actually work.

StriVectin-SD^® Intensive Concentrate for Stretch Marks & Wrinkles
StriVectin-SD^® is a skin repair cream, which claims to tackle not only stretch marks, but also wrinkles and aging skin. My editor has previously informed me of many a New York editor caking it onto their faces to retain a youthful complexion. It is formulated with a proprietary complex of 8% Actives (NIA-114+ Peptide) to improve the appearance of stretch marks in as little as two to eight weeks. NIA-114™, discovered in skin cancer research, helps rebuild skin layers, and according to StriVectin, the results are documented in multiple global patents and years of clinical studies. Sounds pretty convincing, right?

But does it work? 

YES. It totally does. This cream is actually amazing, and I recommend it to any reader who is conscious of their stretch marks. After only a few weeks, I noticed that the texture of my skin had completely changed and all of the little discolorations had faded. And my skin just keeps improving with each application. Now, I can hardly see any of the marks at all.

£135 for 5oz at Harvey Nichols

This Works Stretch Mark Oil
This Works Stretch Mark Oil is 100% natural. It contains a highly concentrated blend of pure essential oils, chosen for their strengthening and repairing qualities, including nourishing rose hip seed, passion fruit seed oil and chamomile. So you can imagine, it smells like a dream.

However, after using the oil for over a month, day and night, I have not seen any visible improvements. My skin does feel replenished, but the stretch marks have not changed at all. To be fair, I feel as though if these were recent marks, for example, just after pregnancy or weight loss/gain, then I’m sure the oil would have made a considerable difference. However, if like me, your marks have been there from your teenage years, this is not the treatment for you.

£25 for 60ml from www.thisworks.com/

Shiffa Pregnancy Oil
With calming chamomile and regenerating evening primrose, Shiffa Pregnancy Oil is not so dissimilar to This Works in its ingredients. Yet, thrown into the mix is also avocado oil to condition the skin and apricot and macadamia to soften, moisturize and allegedly prevent/repair stretch marks.

Again, this oil did absolutely nothing except provide a little added moisturisation. However, it is, as its name suggests, a pregnancy oil and therefore best-suited to pregnant mothers to help prevent stretch marks during maternity. And I would recommend it for this purpose, if only for the lovely, calming smell it emits. However, as a stretch mark healer, this does no matter a job than some household olive oil.

£50 from www.shiffa.com