Everyone promises you the pregnancy glow. For some women it arrives on schedule. For others, pregnancy brings shine, breakouts or a face that simply looks tired and the compliments start to feel like pressure. This article explains what the glow really is, why it happens for some women and not others and how to care for your skin in pregnancy either way. For the bigger picture across all nine months, see our guide to how skin changes during pregnancy.
Is the pregnancy glow real?
Yes, the pregnancy glow is real, and it has a physiological basis that dermatologists can describe. The most plausible mechanism in the research is a combination of two changes: more blood flowing beneath your skin and more oil being produced at its surface.¹
Skin changes in pregnancy are close to universal. More than 90% of women experience noticeable changes to their skin during pregnancy, driven by shifting hormone levels and the demands of a growing baby.²
What is not universal is the glow itself. The same hormonal changes that give one woman a bright, dewy pregnancy face can give another oiliness, breakouts or dullness. Both outcomes come from the same biology, and neither says anything about how healthy your pregnancy is.
So the glow is fact, not myth. It is just not a promise. Let's walk through the mechanism, and what to do if your skin has taken the other path.
What causes the pregnancy glow?
Two changes work together to create the glow: increased blood flow and increased oil production.¹ Here is how each one works, and why the second can turn against you.
How does blood flow change your skin during pregnancy?
During pregnancy your blood volume increases by around 40 to 50% to support your baby.³ More of that blood flows through the small vessels near the skin's surface, which is what creates the flushed, rosy look people read as a glow.
Rising oestrogen adds to this by increasing the number and activity of tiny blood vessels in the skin.¹ This is also why some women notice facial flushing, redness of the palms or small visible vessels on the face and chest during pregnancy.
These vascular changes are normal, well described in the dermatology literature and mostly settle in the months after birth.¹ The glow, in other words, is partly just your circulation working harder than it ever has. If your skin looks rosier than usual and feels warm, that is the expected result of a system doing exactly what it is designed to do.
Why does your skin look shinier during pregnancy?
Your oil glands become more active during pregnancy, particularly in the third trimester as progesterone and androgen levels rise.¹ The result is a thin film of oil across the skin that reflects light, which reads as dewiness and shine.
Combined with the extra blood flow underneath, this is the pregnancy glow in full: a brighter surface over a rosier base.¹
Sweat glands also become more active across most of the body during pregnancy.¹ For some women this adds to the fresh, luminous look. For others it simply feels like being warmer and shinier than usual, especially in an Australian summer. Both experiences are the same physiology expressed differently. Whether the extra oil reads as radiance or as shine depends largely on the skin you started with.
Why do some women get breakouts instead of a glow?
The same rise in oil production that gives some women a glow gives others clogged pores and breakouts. The evidence reflects this split, with studies reporting that acne improves in some women during pregnancy and worsens in others.¹
Breakouts during pregnancy are common. In a study of 295 pregnant women with acne, most cases were mild, but around 4 in 10 women had moderate to severe acne.⁴
If this is your experience, you are not alone. Skin that was oily or breakout-prone before pregnancy is simply more likely to respond to the extra oil this way. Our guide to pimples in early pregnancy covers what is happening and which ingredients are appropriate to treat it while you are pregnant.
What if you do not have the pregnancy glow?
Not having a pregnancy glow is completely normal, and it says nothing about your health or your baby's. The glow is one possible outcome of pregnancy hormones. It is not a health indicator, and there is no evidence that glowing women are having healthier pregnancies.
Other skin changes are far more common than the glow. Some form of darkening of the skin affects 85 to 90% of pregnant women, and melasma, the patchy facial pigmentation often called the mask of pregnancy, is reported in up to 70%.¹ Dryness and sensitivity are common too.
If pigmentation is your version of the pregnancy face, a serum for pigmentation during pregnancy can help, and our guide to hyperpigmentation vs melasma explains what you are seeing. If your skin simply looks flat or tired, that is one more normal answer to the same hormonal question.
How to care for your skin, glow or no glow
Good pregnancy skin care can be the same whether your skin is glowing, breaking out or somewhere in between. Adjust the emphasis, not the whole routine.
If your skin is oilier than usual, cleanse twice daily with a gentle cleanser for pregnancy rather than stripping the skin, which prompts it to produce more oil. Niacinamide is a useful daily active here. In clinical testing, 2% niacinamide reduced how much oil the skin produced within four weeks.⁵
If your skin looks dull, focus on hydration and brightness. Our vitamin C serum for pregnancy pairs two gentle forms of vitamin C with niacinamide to support a more even, luminous tone.
Either way, your skin is responding normally to pregnancy. Work with the version you got.
References
- Motosko CC, Bieber AK, Pomeranz MK, et al. Physiologic changes of pregnancy: A review of the literature. Int J Womens Dermatol. 2017;3(4):219–24. doi:10.1016/j.ijwd.2017.09.003.
- Vora RV, Gupta R, Mehta MJ, et al. Pregnancy and skin. J Family Med Prim Care. 2014;3(4):318–24. doi:10.4103/2249-4863.148099.
- Costantine MM. Physiologic and pharmacokinetic changes in pregnancy. Front Pharmacol. 2014;5:65. doi:10.3389/fphar.2014.00065.
- Kutlu Ö, Karadağ AS, Ünal E, et al. Acne in pregnancy: A prospective multicenter, cross-sectional study of 295 patients in Turkey. Int J Dermatol. 2020;59(9):1098–105. doi:10.1111/ijd.14999.
- Draelos ZD, Matsubara A, Smiles K. The effect of 2% niacinamide on facial sebum production. J Cosmet Laser Ther. 2006;8(2):96–101. doi:10.1080/14764170600717704.
This article is intended as general educational information and does not constitute medical advice. Always consult your healthcare provider or dermatologist before making changes to your skincare routine during pregnancy.
