I am currently 28 weeks pregnant and have therefore been concerned with stretching, itchy skin on my growing stomach and bust. The label says 'Palmer's cocoa butter formula tummy butter for stretch marks'. I'm not so bothered about stretch marks as I know that no amount of lotions or potions will prevent them although some products may be able to refine the appearance so this review won't be extolling the stretch mark preventative virtues of the product!

My sister in law bought me this among other things for my birthday and as I've used Palmer's products before and been pleased with them, I was pleased to receive this and eager to try it out.

The product comes in a plastic tub with a metal screw on lid which is easy to screw on and off, even with buttered up hands. The tub contains 125g of tummy butter and according to Boots website, costs £4.68. This may seem rather steep but the product lasts for ages and I think it's worth the money and would definitely buy it again once this tub runs out. The product itself, as most of Palmer's range, contains cocoa butter which is widely known for its moisturising properties and smelling deliciously chocolatey. This tummy butter also contains vitamin E, collagen, elastin and lavender oil. The scent of lavender is noticeable but not overpowering. It seems to take some of the sickliness of the cocoa butter smell away which in my eyes (or nostrils) is a good thing as pregnancy has heightened my sense of smell somewhat and I can't be doing with really overpowering smells which make me feel sick! There are other ingredients in the butter such as liquid paraffin, tocopheryl acetate and benzyl alcohol so it does contain a few chemicals but it hasn't reacted with my sensitive skin at all.

On opening the tub, the butter has the appearance of a solidified wax, pale cream in colour. When touched it feels quite hard and it takes a little bit of rubbing to warm it up enough to get some out of the tub. I find that it doesn't come out in huge quantities unless you really dig in with your finger nails to get the product out but this isn't necessarily a drawback, a little goes quite a long way. The butter melts beautifully into my skin when I rub it onto my tummy and as it melts, it can be spread over quite a large area. It takes about four finger tips full to do my whole stomach (please bear in mind I have a nearly 7 month pregnant belly to cover!) and any excess left over can be rubbed into other areas that are also growing rapidly due to pregnancy! The scent lingers really nicely on my skin and as it's a butter, it's waterproof to a certain extent so the scent can still be detected after a shower unless you really try hard to wash it off. Unfortunately its staying power does have a bit of a drawback; it leaves your skin feeling a little claggy to the touch which I find is ok if you're applying it before bedtime and thoroughly washing the next morning but if you dress after using it, or don't wash it off thoroughly the next day, your clothes feel like they are sticking to your skin a little. I suppose it's helped to keep my trousers up ha ha!

The label says that the product is 'widely recommended for stretch marks during and after pregnancy. Penetrates as deep as the dryness and helps restore vital moisture. Smoothes marks and tones skin.' So it doesn't make any wild promises to prevent stretch marks (which is nigh on impossible anyway!).

I really like the moisturising properties of this tummy butter. I've had really itchy skin throughout my pregnancy as the skin stretches and grows and this really helps to alleviate the itchiness and help my skin to feel more supple, thus making me feel much more comfortable. I love the scent and the texture of it on my skin, I'm not too keen on the slight claggy feeling I'm left with but it shows that the product continues to work long after it's first been applied. I will continue to use this product on other body areas after pregnancy because I feel I will still have lots of it left as a little goes such a long way. Loses one star because of the claggy feeling it leaves me with.