Last updated: August 23, 2026
There is an entire shelf built on one unspoken promise: buy this, apply it twice a day, and your skin will come through pregnancy unmarked. It is a comforting story, it is sold gently rather than aggressively, and it puts the responsibility for an outcome you do not control onto a bottle you bought and a routine you might miss.
This page is the version we would want a friend to read. It covers what stretch marks are, what the evidence says about topical products, what a moisturizer genuinely does, and why we do not sell anything on this particular promise. There are no product recommendations here on purpose.
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Quick Answer
What can skincare products actually do about stretch marks?
- They moisturize. That is a real and useful thing when skin feels tight and itchy, and it is where the honest claim stops.
- A Cochrane review of topical preparations used in pregnancy found no good quality evidence that any of them changes whether marks develop.
- The marks form in a deeper layer of skin than a lotion reaches, which is the mechanical reason the promise does not hold.
- The American Academy of Dermatology notes the marks usually become less noticeable over time on their own.
Bottom line: buy a butter for comfort if your skin feels tight, and do not buy one as insurance.
What the Marks Actually Are
Stretch marks, called striae in the medical literature, are scars that form in the dermis, the layer beneath the surface, when skin is stretched faster than the collagen and elastin in it can accommodate. They start as red, purple or brown lines depending on skin tone and gradually become paler and flatter.
That location matters more than anything else on this page. A moisturizer works on the outermost layer, the part you can feel drying out. The tearing that produces a mark happens well below where any over the counter cream is designed to act.
Who Gets Them
Family history, how fast the skin stretches and how much it stretches are the factors that come up repeatedly in dermatology guidance, and none of them is something a shopper controls. Plenty of people who moisturized religiously get them, and plenty who never bought a tub do not.
What the Evidence Says
The most cited assessment is a Cochrane review of topical preparations used during pregnancy, which looked at the trials of creams, oils and butters and concluded there was not enough good quality evidence to say that any of them makes a difference to whether marks develop. That is a review of the research, not one study with an inconvenient result.
Since then the marketing has changed more than the evidence has. Products now use softer language about appearance and elasticity, which is legally safer and tells the reader just as little.
Why Softer Claims Are Still Claims
Phrases about improving the appearance of skin or supporting natural elasticity are doing the same job as the older promises while staying inside advertising rules. If a product could reliably change whether marks form, the claim would be stated plainly and it would be tested, because that would be worth a great deal of money.
What a Moisturizer Genuinely Does
It holds water in the outer layer of skin, which makes a stretched bump feel less tight, less papery and less itchy in the evening. That is not a consolation prize. Dry, taut skin is one of the more relentless discomforts of the third trimester, and a thick butter addresses it directly.
That is the entire reason our belly butter guide exists and the only basis on which it recommends anything. Comfort tonight, judged by how your skin feels an hour after you apply it.
Claim Against Support
| What the shelf says | What that means | Evidence behind it | Our position |
|---|---|---|---|
| Stops marks forming | An outcome promise | Cochrane review found no good quality support | We do not make it |
| Improves appearance | Vague, unmeasured | Not established for drugstore topicals | We do not repeat it |
| Supports elasticity | Marketing language | No clear consumer evidence | Ignore it |
| Moisturizes dry skin | A physical effect | Well understood | This is the reason to buy |
The last row is the only one we build product recommendations on anywhere on this site.
What Dermatology Points To Instead
For marks that have already formed and that someone wants addressed, dermatology guidance points toward prescription topicals and in office procedures rather than the drugstore aisle, and it is candid that results vary and that nothing returns skin to its previous state. The American Academy of Dermatology’s public guidance also notes the marks tend to become less noticeable over time without any intervention.
All of that is a conversation with a clinician, and it is usually a conversation for after pregnancy and after nursing, because some of the options are not used during either. A dermatologist or your OB-GYN can tell you what applies to you.
Why We Sell Nothing On This Page
Because a product card here would turn an explanation into a recommendation, and there is no product we could recommend for this purpose honestly. That is a straightforward decision rather than a principled sacrifice: the category we can stand behind is comfort, and we cover it properly elsewhere.
If your skin feels tight and dry, our belly butter guide is the useful page. If you are trying to work out what to keep off your skin during pregnancy, our ingredient guide covers what people commonly skip and why the panel is the only part of the packaging worth reading.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is there anything I can do to reduce my chances? Not reliably, and that is the honest answer. How fast and how much your skin stretches, plus family history, are the factors dermatology guidance keeps returning to, and none of them is a purchase.
So is belly butter a waste of money? Not at all, if you buy it for the right reason. It makes dry, tight, itchy skin considerably more comfortable, which is worth the money on its own terms.
Do the marks go away? They generally become paler and flatter over time. The American Academy of Dermatology’s guidance is that they tend to become less noticeable, though they do not disappear entirely.
What about the products that cost a lot more? Price is not evidence. The Cochrane review looked at topical preparations as a category, and no drugstore or premium tub has since established the outcome the marketing implies.
Can I use a retinoid cream on them while pregnant? This is exactly the question to put to a clinician rather than to a search engine. The retinoid family is the one most consistently named on pregnancy avoid lists, and our ingredient guide explains why we do not rule on it here.
Why do so many sites say creams work? Because the category is lucrative and the language has been softened to stay inside advertising rules. Read any claim about appearance or elasticity as a marketing sentence rather than a finding.
If you want to do something about marks that have already formed, or you are worried about a change in your skin, speak to a dermatologist or your OB-GYN rather than working through the shelf.
The Bottom Line
Buy a thick butter because your skin feels tight, not because you were promised an outcome nobody can deliver. The evidence for topicals changing whether marks form is not there, the marks usually settle in appearance over time, and anything beyond comfort belongs with a clinician. Read next: which belly butter to buy and what to do about an itchy bump.