Are beauty treatments safe for pregnant women?
It's no secret that a pregnant woman’s hormonal balance is all over the place – throughout the whole pregnancy, and sometimes even after the baby is born too. Hormones are chemicals which coordinate and regulate all different bodily processes and functions. So as soon as our hormones are off balance, this means that certain processes are affected during pregnancy – hair growth being one of the most important ones in this area.
So, let's take a look at some of the different treatments we may offer as eyebrow and eyelash technicians, and see if they are safe to offer pregnant women.
Are Eyelash Extensions safe for pregnant women?
Due to a lot of changing factors during pregnancy, some people prefer not to offer this treatment to pregnant women. While it’s not something we advise against, its important to treat it on a case-by-case basis and patch test your pregnant clients again if they haven’t had the treatment since being pregnant.
The biggest risk for pregnant women getting eyelash extensions come from the eyelash adhesive. It is an extremely strong product, and all eyelash glues produce small amounts of formaldehyde as a by-product of the curing process. While this is a toxic gas, because we are exposed in such small amounts there usually wouldn’t be any problems. However, with the limited amount of research on this gas and unborn babies – sometimes it is better not to go ahead.
Another risk is the risk of an allergic reaction. While these can happen at any time to anyone, hormones can change the way our bodies react to certain products and conditions, meaning it can be more likely for clients that weren’t previously allergic to become allergic when pregnant. When pregnant, women are also advised against using a number of various medications, due to potential harm to the baby. Therefore, if your client was to have an allergic reaction, they would be unable to take medication to alleviate the symptoms.
Pregnant women will also experience a change in hair growth. Some may have thinning hair or heightened lash shedding – which will mean that retention will not be as good for pregnant women.
Clients that are past their 20-week mark, are actually advised against laying on their back. So, it’s really important that if you do go ahead with the treatment, that you are taking all essential measures to make sure your client is as comfortable as possible. Some great ways to do this is;
Putting a pillow underneath their lower back, and knees, to support the curvature of their spine and put their legs in a neutral, comfortable position.
Allowing time for breaks throughout the appointment, for them to sit up and move around if they need to.
Put your lash bed on an incline so they aren’t laying on a flat bed – they will find it much more comfortable.
Putting a wedge under their right side to tilt them slightly to their left side.
Are Lash Lifts Safe for Pregnant Women?
We mentioned earlier that there are lot of hormonal changes going on with pregnant women’s bodies, and this can really affect the effectiveness of a lash lift.
In the same way that it works with eyelash extensions, hormones can heighten your client’s risk of a reaction to the products within a lash lift. However, as the lift solution is absorbed by the eyelash hair, should a reaction take place, you can’t just remove the lashes like with extensions. And as pregnant clients are restricted as to what medication they can have to treat the reaction, there is a high risk involved when offering this treatment to a pregnant client.
There are also no proven studies to show whether this treatment can harm or have an effect on an unborn child. Therefore, we do strongly advise against offering this treatment to pregnant or breastfeeding clients. While we can’t control what people choose to do with our products when they use them, if you were to decide to go ahead with the treatment, we strongly recommend checking with your insurance company to see if you are covered should anything happen, or if they would be happy with written consent should a reaction occur.
Are Henna Brows safe for Pregnant Women?
Dyotics Henna dyes contain small levels of PPD (paraphenylenediamine), which is a chemical used to make sure the natural henna stains the skin and hair. As the product can penetrate the skin, trace amounts may also make its way into the bloodstream and throughout the rest of your body. Due to the fact that this chemical has not had much research done into effects of exposure to unborn babies and the possible risks of this, we do not recommend using henna on pregnant or breastfeeding women. If your client is also undergoing IVF, they do need to be made aware of the risks before going ahead with the treatment and should be advised against going ahead.
It is important to take hormones into consideration in this case too, like we have mentioned before, pregnant client’s risk of reacting to the products do increase due to their hormones. And as they aren’t able to take certain medications, it is best not to risk a potential reaction.
If you did decide to go ahead, it's important to keep in mind that the hair of your pregnant client will change texture and condition. So, where the colour you applied was previously okay, it may come out darker or even slightly tinged a different colour due to a different reaction that may have occurred. So, it is really important to make your client aware that these things can happen should you/they decide to go ahead.
