Calendula Nappy Change Cream Review

Another product that is 30 years young, it seems to be the case as I get a little older that I seem to back to products that have been on the market for a long time. I am big supprter of Weleda and have used their products on myself and on Beth. I was sent this as part of their 30 year celebrations and the timing was perfect.

Nappy rash affects us at some point during our childs lifetime, midwife and baby skincare expert Sharon Trotter says, "Nappy rash is quite common in babies, but it's usually mild and clears up without prescription creams. When the skin in the nappy area comes into contact with poo and wee it can become inflamed, and that's when babies may develop nappy rash."

Nappy appears as  sensitive red patches of skin on bottom, gentials and inner theighs. It can also have spots and shiney, raised red areas. Treatment is keeping the area clean (regular nappy chagning as well as using clean hands to stop bateria transfer), dry (patting dry skin after cleaning as well as some nappy free time), and of course using the right protective barrier on the skin.

We have been using this on Beth since the arrival (as her White Mallow version has finsihed), and I prefer it to the senstive skin version. This has the calendula and camomile extracts that help with healing while having a pleasent, delicate scent. The healing time was within a day for any rashes and I still use it on her ezcema skin as a protective barrier between using antibiotic cream (poor things been poorly with skin infections including her bum), with no effects.

You can purchase this from Boots etc Currently through the Weleda website it has £2 off at £4.95

Weleda White Mallow Range

I have previously shown love for the Weleda range, founded in 1921 it's holds a philosophy of using pure natural substances to maintain, support and restore human health. It also wants to increase it's business in a  sustainable way. The body's oils are my favourites of the range and was deeply interested in the baby range for Bethany.

Beth has recently been suffering with sensitivity with the ranges I had been using and Weleda saw my SOS tweet on Twitter and offered an opportunity to try out the new White Mallow range. The range is developed for babies with over sensitive skin, baby eczema, sensitive skin, rash on baby skin and neurodermatitis.

The body lotion, nappy cream, and face cream has extracts of organic White Mallow and pansy soothe skin prone to irritation. The organic coconut oil and organic sesame oil provide intensive care moisturising, cooling and soothing. They have National Eczema Association Seal of Acceptance™ and are 100% certified-natural.

The body lotion is the right consistency of being thick so it feel it would moisturiser but when applied it sunk in without leaving any residue. After a few days use Beth's dry patches felt like they had a springy feel like they had moisture back. The nappy cream also battled teething nappy rash within one use, it left a good barrier between the skin and nappy so no rash has returned.

Personally I loved the products to the point that I have 'borrowed' them as adults can also use the range. The skin on my legs get really dry and itchy, this relives the itch and is neutral enough that I can use fragrance over the top without affecting it. I have also used the nappy cream to relieve an itchy bite I had one day.

I had the body lotion RRP £11.95 and nappy cream £8.95 and both still have a large amount left in the bottles after having for a couple of months. I like the fact that a range is now made with something for people who have over sensitive skin, my skin can flair up with anything and I suspect that I have passed this on to poor Bethany. I now have a weapon to help.

Steamcream Moisturser - My new Skin Love

I fell in love with Steamcream before I got my hands on it, I love the limited edition design concepts of the packaging. I know from training and experience that the product can come second to packaging, modern, sleek designs that can suit every taste. I do not want to take anything away from anything that is inside the tin, that is something of a beauty in itself.

Steamcream have a simple concept, use high-quality, natural ingredients that are bought together using steam. This leaves a light weight but super nourishing cream to apply to the skin. My nose instantly brought out lavender, a soothing anti inflammatory alongside chamomile, these also calm fraught nerves and help unwind for sleep (or applying like I do in the morning a fraught night feed). Jojoba Oil is an emollient so it stops moisture escaping, cocoa butter and sweet almond oil are skin softeners, Oatmeal infusion is high minerals that brighten and even skin tone. You also have orange flower water and blossom oil which will balance out skins sebum production and lift your mood. To complete you then have Neroli and Rose Absolute oil to help skin elasticity for the more maturer skins. They do make sure that in one tin you have all skin tones/needs complete.

For me I like the keep it simple concept, using unadulterated ingredients to provide a product that hit all the needs that your skin will need at one point or another. I know in the past year my skin has needed balancing, nourishing as well as brightening. It's also lightweight that it doesn't cause a grease film over my nose and forehead, which is the problem trying to use a product that covers my T-zone successfully. I also love the scent as it reminds of my aromatherapy training when I used to turn into George from Roald Dahl's George's Marvelous Medicine.

Steamcream does say you can use it over the body, I wouldn't use it as all over body moisturiser as you race through tins, more on the areas that need a little extra like knees and elbows. I also rub the excess into my hands to give them a dose as well. I do also like that it works alongside my facial oil rather than clashes as some high street moisturisers do. At £12.95 for one tin (they do run 2 for £20 offers too) I think it's competitive to somewhere like Lush, as well as the high street. I won mine in a blogger competition but would be more than happy to replace once it runs out.

www.steamcream.com

Stérimar Congestion Relief Adult & Baby

It was ironic that the week that the cold attacked our house infected Husband, Mum and Dad in law as well as myself, that I would recieve an email asking if I would be interested in trying some nose degestents for baby. Not only was it a yes but they also kindly sent adult versions for Husband and I to use as well.

The nose is the firt line of defence against germs so it is important that it is kept in the best condition possible. Using sea water from Fench coast of Brittany, it has no presertives or additives. It uses Hypertonic solution, a solution with a higher salt concentration than cells in the human body for a natural decongestant effect, called the osmotic effect. It is also safe to be used in pregnancy, breast feeding, doesn't interfer with other medication and in the adult version, children from age 3 (the baby version goes up to age 3).

Husband and I used them for a week as needed up to 6 times a day during our colds, and it was a huge relief to be able to breath. It took me a while to get used to the spray up the nose but that is because I haven't used sprays before. We now keep these for when both of our hayfever allergies flare up during Spring/Summer.

You can also use the sprays as a prevention and this we did with Bethany so she didn't get our colds.  I will admit she did cry at the spray (it is a finer spray version), but soon settled afterwards with no after effects. Most importantly she came out of it all cold free. You can use the spray as a nasal maintence, I use it more if Beth get sniffles during the night that are keeping her awake.

The adult version is RRP £7.14 for 100ml or £4.49 for 50ml. The baby version comes as a 50ml for £4.07. They both can be purchased from leading high street chemists. For more information you can go to their website http://www.sterimarnasal.co.uk/

Purepotions Skin Salvation

As my pregnancy develops I have notice that my skin has got drier and more itchy. My poor suffering lips are as flaky as when it is Winter. I received this from Natures Healthbox when they asked for constructive advice on Facebook how they can improve their service, I was happy to be offered this even through I wasn't the main winner for this.

Natures Healthbox only deal with products that are as close to nature as possible, I have been a customer for a while after working with them to review Weleda's Pomegranate Body Oil (Currently using their Stretch Mark Body Oil). The small team have always been helpful and encourage any feedback from their customer to improve services.

Skin Salvation comes in a 15ml glass jar (classed as a trail size -£3.50). It has a mixture of beeswax, hemp seed oil, Calendula Officinalis Flower Extract, Olive fruit oil amongst the ingredients. These provide a barrier to the inflamed skin as well healing agents that help with the process.

I have kept this by my computer screen to apply to lips as and when, as well as any parts of skin that need that help. On my lips it doesn't leave much residue and does leave my lips more softer and nourished than before. When applied to the skin, it healed up any redness that happened and reduced the itchiness that I had within a few minutes. Its also light enough that I didn't notice wearing it until I gave Hubby a kiss and he whine that I had lip stuff on.

It does provide value wise, you only need to apply a small amount warmed between fingers to the area. The entry size 30ml is £7.49 while the largest is 120ml for £16.99 (currently on offer 2 for £25). They do recommend a patch test before use and each pot comes with a best before date so you can ensure that it is at it's best.

Concrete Mineral Eye Shadows

It's not often that I spot something on Twitter and stalk the website until something is launched, it's also even rarer after telling everyone how much I want the new launch that the company goes, "OK, we'll give you a few to play with as you like the look of them that much". This is honestly a dream come true and I cannot thank the company enough for the opportunity, they did not disappoint.

Concreat minerals were launched in 2009 with the purpose of providing pigment rich mineral make up that fun and funky, as well as preservative free they are 98% vegan friendly. For me the biggest pay off is the bright colour, which is rarely seen in a mineral make up. I wanted to wear them for a few weeks before actually writing about them. I would recommend putting a primer underneath just to extend the wearing life, but other than that they last well.

From top to bottom: Kinky, Smut, Hi-Fi and Bulletproof (In dull daylight, no primer)

In the Concrete range there are two sections: Concrete Minerals, which are you're shimmer everyday wearable colours, then the Pro-Matt which are you're screaming bights with a matt finish. The colour palette is the first one where I can look at all the colours and genuinely want every single one (even the Pro-Matt lime green called Toxic). When my skin finally behaves, I'm really wanting to for looks with these especially those bright matt colours!

They are available now at CutECOsmetics £6 for the Concrete Mineral and £7 for the Pro-Matt. Great value sets with brilliant names of Zombie Girl Collection, Sugar Skull Collection, Sugar and Spice Collection and Naughty and Nice Collection (Starting at £22 -£25).

Sorry Balance Me, You Are Just Not For Me

And believe me, I've tried...

Over the past few months I have collection numerous samples of Balance Me products after seeing other beauty bloggers talk about how they like this range of natural skin care. I got balancing face moisturiser in my Latest In Beauty Editor's box. Being stuck one night after losing my regular moisturiser I dug into my sample bag and grab this.

After the normal cleanse I put this one, the smell was Rosy (and this is for someone who likes rose as a scent). It just seemed to sit on my skin and leave a film on it, now considering I have combination skin I found it strange that my dryer parts didn't drink this up as normal. I tried this a few times to see if  it was a one off and every time it was the same - In the bin that went.

The next I tried was radiance face mask which I cannot remember where this came from except it was in my sample bag. I really like a good mask one that general gives the skin a good clear out. This was good, it has exfoliation crushed walnut shells and sebum wiping kaolin. To me it didn't have that wow factor to it, I feel that the mask wasn't thick enough to cover and so I didn't feel 'clean' as normal. I did however, finish the whole sample tube.

And lastly, I got the Rose Otto lip balm in the Glamour magazine offer last year. I really like a lip balm, I have a small bag of them (but never have one on me when I need one) so i was excited to add another one to it. I hated this, I tried and failed to try this 6 times. I dislike the smell, to me it's not of delicate roses but of the main ingredient - Lanolin. For also this ingredient also makes it taste disgusting, and as soon as I put it on I am wiping it off. This is now in the bin.

 

So Balance Me I'm leaving you to your fan base, but for me it wasn't meant to be.