WNAC: Your Baby Today

Product Review

Beautiful Belly Balm

CATEGORY: Stuff for Mom

(Wise Ways Herbal)

When I was young, I asked my mother about the very visible scar on her belly. "That's a stretch mark," Mom explained, "You and your brother did that."

Poor Mom, her pregnant body was about a decade too early to benefit from Miriam Massaro's natural products. In response to her patients' requests, Massaro (a former midwife) whipped up Beautiful Belly Balm to prevent and heal stretch marks. Made from a slew of oils extracted from herbs and flowers, Balm absorbs quickly to repair and nourish the skin. According to Massaro, founder of Wise Ways Herbals, what makes Balm so effective is the combination of allantoin (found in comfrey and used to promote tissue growth) and calendula. Together they pull the skin smoothly together.

In addition to sesame, cocoa butter, sage, and lavender, Balm also contains carnation oil. That funny flower you so frequently see dyed has more than an ornate function. Not found in many cosmetic products because the flower's essential oil is so costly. But that special ingredient hasn't inflated the Balm's cost. It's affordable ($14.95) and a small bit goes a long way. And Massaro has learned one reason Balm has become her best-selling product: Mothers also use it on baby, especially for diaper rash.