When Sara Stokes was awaiting the birth of her first child, she was shocked to discover the high-strength retinol she was using should be avoided in pregnancy.
Faced with skin issues, and unable to use the treatment, she was shocked for a second time when she was scouring the shops for suitable alternatives.
Stokes could not find products directly addressing these types of issues that made clear they were suitable to use.
That is why Stokes, a former music industry executive, has created Skn To Skn, a company which claims to be the ‘first clinically proven skin care brand created for pregnancy’.
“My skin went from bulletproof, not even sensitive, to like it was when I was a teenager overnight,” she told Cosmetics Business.
“I had really bad hormonal acne, really bad sensitive skin, everything I was putting on my skin was reacting to it.”
“You know you are not supposed to have alcohol or sushi [during pregnancy], but no one tells you about vitamin A”
Looking online, Stokes found that it was not clear what she could and could not use, while in stores she was told to speak to her GP by shop assistants.
Or directed to the maternity or mother and baby section, where she found body care products like stretchmark cream.
“I was shocked to go from buying skin care products costing £50-plus to products next to nappies,” she says.
“It was a big shift and for someone who absolutely loves skin care, [I felt like] I had been sidelined to this [mum] category which did not have skin care products.
“There were products there for [the] body, but why not for [the] face?
“There is such a gap in the market here.
“It is crazy that in skin care, where women are the biggest consumers, that we are sidelined to
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