Pregnancy skincare checker: what the AAD says to avoid or limit

This pregnancy skincare checker flags every name in a pasted ingredient list that the American Academy of Dermatology (AAD) lists to avoid, or to discuss and limit, during pregnancy, plus mercury and minoxidil from two FDA documents. It cannot declare a product pregnancy safe: an unflagged ingredient is only absent from these lists.

What the checker flags, and who says so

Every flag names its source, because “pregnancy safe” is not a property anyone certifies. The backbone is a single AAD page that sorts ingredients into two lists — avoid, and discuss with a dermatologist and limit — and the checker keeps that split rather than turning it into one score.

The essential-oil row is narrower than it looks. The AAD names four oils, so the checker flags Rosmarinus Officinalis (Rosemary) Leaf Oil and leaves Rosmarinus Officinalis Leaf Extract alone: an extract is a different material, and a match by shared words would attribute to the AAD something it never said.

Retinoids: the one family extended by class

Retinoids are the only group the checker extends beyond the names a source prints. The AAD lists retinoids as a class and gives examples; ACOG advises avoiding topical retinoids as a class. Esters such as retinyl palmitate belong to that class without being named, so their flag says exactly that.

Drug labels show the range of positions behind that one word. The FDA-approved tazarotene label states that the drug is contraindicated during pregnancy. The 2026 label for a tretinoin gel says published observational studies have not established a drug-associated risk of major birth defects, and the professional bodies still advise avoiding it.

A retinyl ester is flagged because it is a retinoid, and the result says that no source names it. Membership of a class and a name on a list are different statements, and the checker never prints one as the other.

Where the sources disagree

The sources this page draws on do not agree on every ingredient, and the disagreements are printed rather than averaged. Where the AAD and another body differ, the checker follows the AAD list and the flag carries the dissent in its text.

Oxybenzone shows why a flag needs a source that holds still. The FDA has proposed that oxybenzone needs more safety data, and states that this proposal is not a conclusion that it is unsafe. A checker that flagged it would be making a claim no cited body makes.

Ingredients ACOG names as usable

ACOG names a short list of over-the-counter acne ingredients that can be used during pregnancy: topical azelaic acid, benzoyl peroxide, glycolic acid and salicylic acid. Two of them sit on the AAD discuss-and-limit list; azelaic acid and glycolic acid sit on neither AAD list.

None of these is a clearance of a product. A cream built on azelaic acid can still carry a retinoid or an essential oil further down the label, which is why the checker reads every line rather than looking for one reassuring name.

How to read the three answers

The output separates three states, and the middle one matters most here. “Nothing from the list was found” over four unreadable lines would turn a gap in the checker’s vocabulary into a statement about a product used in pregnancy, so the tally at the top says how many lines were read.

The same three-state reading runs the pore-clogging ingredients checker, which matches a different published list for a different question, and the other skincare ingredient guides explain individual materials in more depth.

The full list this checker matches against

Every name the checker can flag is printed below, grouped by what the source says to do. The right-hand column says who names it, so any flag can be checked by eye against the same table.

What this page will not tell you

This page is not medical advice and does not assess what any ingredient does in one pregnancy. Pregnancy changes which treatments are appropriate in ways only a clinician who knows the person can judge, and the AAD’s own advice for the second list is to discuss those ingredients with a dermatologist.

It also says nothing about breastfeeding, oral medicines or prescription regimens, and nothing about any named product from any named brand. The checker reads only text you paste in, the result is generated in your browser, and it is never stored or published.