DIY Stretch Mark Cream Recipe
For my first pregnancy, I LOVED having stretch marks, mainly because I miscarried for my first baby, so I enjoyed every second of this pregnancy.
After the first child, when I was pregnant with my second, I was ready for a change. These stretch marks became SO itchy and I didn’t want to get any more. So I decided to make my own DIY stretch mark cream!
This homemade stretch mark cream is genuinely easy to put together, even if you’ve never made anything like it before.
You only need a handful of ingredients, most of which you can order online or find at a natural food store, and the whole process takes maybe 20 minutes 🙂
Whether you’re pregnant, postpartum, or just dealing with stretch marks from growth or weight changes, this is the kind of thing worth having around!
Now I want to be upfront. It will not get rid of stretch marks you already have. It may not prevent 100%. But, it does nourish and help your skin to help prevent ones you would get without using anything.
Benefits
Here’s what each ingredient brings to the table, in simple terms:
- Tallow is rendered beef fat, and it sounds weird until you realize it’s actually incredibly close to the lipid profile of human skin!
It absorbs well and has been used for skin care for a long time for a reason. It’s deeply moisturizing without sitting on top of your skin all day. - Shea butter is one of those ingredients that shows up everywhere because it genuinely works. It’s rich in fatty acids and vitamins that help keep skin soft and elastic, which is exactly what you want when your skin is stretching or recovering 🙂
- Cocoa butter is thick, protective, and smells amazing. It helps lock moisture in and is traditionally associated with stretch mark prevention, which is probably why it shows up in so many commercial creams.
- Castor oil is a slower-absorbing oil that helps draw moisture in and supports skin healing. A little goes a long way, which is why this recipe only uses a tablespoon.
- Essential oils are optional here, but lavender, frankincense, and helichrysum are worth knowing about.
Lavender is soothing, frankincense is known for its skin-supporting properties, and helichrysum is one of those oils that shows up in skin care specifically for scarring and healing skin.
Learn about some of the best essential oils for postpartum!
Together, these ingredients make a rich, nourishing cream that’s free of the synthetic stuff and actually good for your skin barrier.
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DIY Stretch Mark Cream Recipe
Makes: 4 to 6 ounces
Ingredients
- ¼ cup tallow
- ¼ cup shea butter
- ¼ cup cocoa butter
- 1 tablespoon castor oil
- 6 drops essential oil (I used lavender)
Instructions
Melt the tallow, shea butter, cocoa butter and castor oil on a double boiler until it is all melted. Stir frequently.
Remove and let cool for a few minutes.
Then add, in your essential oils. It is best at or below 135 degrees F.
Pour into your container.
Let cool completely.
Notes
- Essential oils are optional, but lavender, frankincense, and helichrysum essential oil are great options.
- You can use mango butter instead of shea butter if you want!
- If you want, you can whip this after it cools down and hardens. I just mixed it with a stir stick afterward. Next time I will definitely whip it up!
How to Use It
Apply a small amount to your belly, hips, thighs, or anywhere you want to target, and massage it in gently.
The best time to apply it is right after a shower when your skin is still slightly warm, because your pores are more open and will absorb it better. I make this a part of my shower self care routine!
For prevention during pregnancy, once or twice a day is ideal. For fading existing marks, consistency matters more than quantity, so a daily application will do more than a heavy application once in a while. But again, it is not a guarantee it will fade existing ones.
Store it in a glass jar with a lid at room temperature. It should stay good for several months.
If your bathroom gets really warm, you can refrigerate it, though it will firm up and you’ll just need to let it soften before scooping some out.
A note: if you have any known allergies to tree nuts or any of these ingredients, do a small patch test first before using it all over!
Stretch Mark Cream
Ingredients
Method
- Melt the tallow, shea butter, cocoa butter and castor oil on a double boiler until it is all melted. Stir frequently.
- Remove and let cool for a few minutes.
- Then add, in your essential oils.
- Pour into your container and let cool completely.
Notes
- Essential oils are optional, but lavender, frankincense, and helichrysum essential oil are great options.
- You can use mango butter instead of shea butter if you want.
- If you want, you can whip this after it cools down and hardens. I just mixed it with a stir stick afterward.
- Coconut oil works instead of tallow as well.
Final Thoughts
This is one of those homemade skincare recipes I wish someone had handed me earlier in my first pregnancy instead of finding it on my own through a lot of trial and error.
It’s simple, it smells incredible especially if you go with lavender, and it has great natural ingredients with no fillers like ones you find at the store.
I’ve also made a batch and put it in a little jar as a gift for a friend who just found out she was pregnant, and she loved it 🙂 I added it to my pregnancy must haves for sure!
If you have some leftover, it also works beautifully as a general body butter on dry elbows or heels, so nothing goes to waste.
Let me know if you end up trying it, and especially if you experiment with different essential oil combinations!
