Pregnancy skincare products target women at a vulnerable time. Do any work or do they just stretch the truth?

Pregnancy lotions variously claim to prevent stretch marks, boost skin elasticity and reduce redness. Composite: Guardian Design/Getty Images for Alex's Lemonade Stand Foundation

Pregnancy can be a trying time: you can’t tell whether you’re nauseous or hungry, your body is working at close to the sustainable limit of human endurance, your organs are rearranging to make space for a growing alien.

There are myriad indignities: nosebleeds, swelling feet, back pain and, if you’re unlucky, ceaseless vomiting that goes “full Tarantino”.