Topical Retinyl palmitate when pregnant

[AriadnaOla]

I'm 12 weeks pregnant. I believed to be super careful, checking all my medications and Dermo-cosmetics prior to pregnancy. I stopped drinking and smoking well before pregnancy ...
somehow it never occurred to me before, that I should examine my makeup kit. I have just done it and my bb cream has retinyl palmitate among ingredients, it's like 20th ingredient in inci but still. It's normal OTC Beaty product, no drug or pharmacy bought expensive formula.
Now I am afraid that I have hurt my unborn child despite best intentions, I feel so stupid.
I made my research but articles are contradictory, like: experiments showed no birth defects with topical retinoids but do not use under any circumstances.

wHat is the truth, is this ingredient save during pregnancy in topical use in cosmetics?

How can I check if any harm was done?

[alicia]

According to Hale's Medications, "Topical tretinoin appears not to increase the risk of congenital anomalies due to the small amount absorbed from the skin with normal use. But if the absorption of tretinoin is increased by such factors as application of dressings or application to a large surface area, there is a risk of causing congenital malformations.[2, 3, 7-9] In summary, tretinoin should not be used during pregnancy especially during the first trimester unless the benefit to the mother outweighs the risk to the fetus." Try to avoid it in the first trimester. There is really no way to see if harm was done until after you have the baby. If you apply it topically, sparingly, and occasionally it should not increase the risk of congenital anomalies because only a small amount can be absorbed from the skin.

Alicia Nelson RN Certified Breastfeeding Specialist
Infant Risk Center

[AriadnaOla]

Thank you for your reply however I wasn't asking about tretinoin but different substance - retinyl palmitate much less concentrated and less potent. Tretinoin in many countries is considered prescription drug even for topics use and I was asking about substance that is used in cosmetics and food industry in us and eu as mentioned. Therefore I cannot say the answer helped in any way.

[stunningnitz]

I was asking the same questions and my husband heard them and built this free tool that tells you if a product is safe to use based on its ingredients:
[url]https://www.pregsafebeauty.com[/url]
(PregSafe Beauty)

You can search for most skincare brands and product and it tells you if the product is safe based on the analysis of its ingredients. 15minutebeauty is also good but the interface is a bit challenging and the data is not always up to date.

I hope it will help some of you!