Years of yo-yo dieting, one glorious baby boy, and now a pregnancy that is threatening to make passing through a doorway an impossibility, has left my tummy and thighs covered in stretch marks. Although none of these are fresh and most have faded to a silvery colour, they still bother me. Gone are my hot pant wearing days and I doubt I’ll ever bare my tummy in a bikini again.

In truth, I’ve given up trying to be body beautiful. I’m (sometimes) fun to be around, am not unhappy when I apply my make-up in the morning, and (at 30) still occasionally get id’ed for alcohol. Personally, I think this is good going. As long as Craig still holds my hand in public, I don’t feel the need to turn any heads down the high street.

I have much the same attitude towards cellulite. Had I the time, I would be body brushing for an hour every evening, slopping on the Bio-Oil and wrapping myself in Cling-flim. But I simply don’t. Having said that, given my worst affected areas resemble a map of all the highways in the US, I’m always happy to try new potions to minimise their appearence. Anything that takes less than five minutes, won’t leave me smelling like a funeral home, and has some encouraging stats on the bottle works for me.

So, when I was kindly sent a tube of Dr. Ceuticals Stretch Mark Solution to try, I wasn’t overly hopeful, but was happy to give it a bash. The box has a vaguely medicinal appearance and the solution itself has a reassuringly expensive price tag (£14.99) which appeals to me. I’ve used cheaper and more commercial products before and noticed precious little change - perhaps you get what you pay for and Dr. Ceuticals might fare better.

Here’s what they say…

Simple steps such as regular moisturisation are often recommended to aid in the prevention of stretch marks but a harder-hitting solution is needed to target existing marks that lie deep within the tissue of the skin. This cream boosted with high levels of Shea Butter and Cocoa Butter acts directly on the problem area to help reduce both the size and depth of colour of existing stretch marks. With continued use, the cream will also help to improve skin firmness and tone.

Sounds encouraging. And with claims that within 28 days of prolonged use it will decrease the surface area of stretch marks by 7%, and fades them by up to 32% - it sounds even better.

Well I’m now 14 days into the programme and can now report back as to its efficacy so far.

I’m actually fairly impressed. It smells inoffensive (think cucumber, orange and a hint of cocoa butter), leaves your skin feeling really soft and firm, and despite feeling quite greasy when you first rub it in, it dries to a matt finish within 30 seconds of applying. As far as convenience goes, it’s therefore scored highly with this busy mummy.

As regards my stretch marks, it’s had mixed results. On the old scars on the top of my thighs - it’s made them smoother but there’s no visible difference. I’m not sure if this is because I carry lots of cellulite on my thighs and therefore the lotion has further to go to blast through to the scar tissue. On my tummy, where the skin is thinner, it’s actually had more success - the scars are significantly lighter and less noticeable.

I’m actually a tricky candidate to give a stretch mark lotion a good worming as I’m pregnant and my belly is growing. This means old scars are evening out where my skin is stretching to accommodate baby. It also means a few fresh ones are cropping up under my breasts. Keeping up with the changes, applying the cream, and giving an honest appraisal is therefore difficult.

As a post-baby solution, I think Dr Ceuticals could really work. Combine it with a light exercise programme and tons of water, and I can see it helping to firm your skin and taking the redness out of your battle scars. It certainly has its advantages over many of the other solutions I’ve tried in the past.

To find out more, and discover the rest of the range, head on over to the website. There are several products which aim to tone, firm and sculpt problem areas, and given that’s the one thing I can honestly say the Stretch Mark Solution has achieved, I’d recommend it for this alone. The entire range is available to buy from Boots.

DISCLAIMER: I was provided with a full size sample of Dr Ceuticals for the purposes of this review. All views and opinions are my own.