Liz Earle, Urban Decay and Burt’s Bees retail therapy

I was having a kind of ‘stuck in a rut’ feeling last week, not feeling very ‘glowy’ with pregnancy, more like tired, fed up and having no energy for anything. Also me and OH went out to the cinema the other weekend, which was lovely but I was stuck with the, ‘what do I wear/I’ve forgotten how to use makeup/my hairs a nightmare’ sort of situation. So I decided it was high time I did something about it, I’m also starting a routine this week, getting up early (and going to bed earlier), drinking more water, might even try to get into the pregnancy yoga dvd I’ve had laying around and generally try to be more positive and keep on top of things more. As well as treating myself to some new things of course!

So anyway, I decided that I needed new make up as the last time I probably bought some was well before Chloe, not that I’ve ever really been ‘into’ make up but I am a sucker for trying new things! So I was delighted to see that Liz Earle were releasing a simple make up range and as I’m a big fan of the natural/not tested on animals way of things then I headed right on over. I would have loved to get everything but sadly funds aren’t unlimited and well, I just dont get on with ‘fiddly’ things like eyeliner and blusher! So I got the Natural Finish Loose Powder and the big brush to go with it and the Lash Definition Smudgeproof Mascara. I fancied getting the mascara base and a lip gloss but reasoned that they werent really an essential and I have a ton of lip balm/glosses to use up. I also got some of their Sensitive Shave Cream as OH swears it’s the best shave stuff going, giving the best/closest shave – and yes I’ve tried it on my legs and it is impressive, hence why I had to get a new tube as his was going quick!  I did want some new/summery eyeshadows but LE aren’t releasing those till later in the year.

So they arrived the other day and I am super happy with everything, all the mineral powders that I’ve tried before just sit on my skin and show up dry patches – my skin is super dry.This one doesnt, I’m not sure if it’s because I’m now using LE moisturiser which is fab and hydrating or just that the powder is just amazing but it blends in and gives a nice smooth non dry finish. The brush is nice too, big and very soft (although expensive) but I didnt see the point of buying a cheap one that would shed or apply it wrongly if that makes sense? The mascara isn’t one of those ones that makes you go ‘wow’ you’ve got huge/fat/colossal lashes or whatever but as mine are a non-existent light brown/blonde colour it does make me look like I’m wearing make up and make my eyes pop IYGWIM and no clumps or spider eyes, yay! And no I dont work for LE (I wish) I’m just loving their stuff – yes I’m still using the hot cloth cleanser and moisturiser that I raved about here, love it!

So then I was thinking eyeshadow, again I wanted something not tested on animals and thought I’d have to wait till I was next in town and pop into Boots or something. But I’ve used Urban Decay stuff before and liked it and I also follow a lot of blogs and a fair few of them are make up/skincare related. I’ll say again, I’m not a big lover of make up but when someone is passionate about something then I get interested and I like to follow all the new things even if I dont go out and buy them/have the time to try them! So anyway I know the Urban Decay palletes are hugely popular and as I’m greeny eyed then the whole brown/beiges are good for me (or so I heard) and yes you’ve guessed it the latest one Naked 2 is all about that. I ummed and ahhed for a few days about getting it as it was £32 on offer.  But you get 12 eyeshadows along with a double ended brush (as I’m not a make up enthusiast I just dont own any decent brushes and the ones that come with individual eyeshadows are pants). Oh and there’s a mini lip gloss too – again not a selling point as I dont really need it! But in the end after reading so many amazing reviews about it and youtube vlogs on it I quickly added to the basket and checked out. It hasnt arrived yet, boo, but hopefully soon. I am a little nervous about using it and getting overwhelmed but at that price I will make myself use it and hopefully I’ll not need to buy another eyeshadow for years!

And also on another skincare theme, maybe it’s the summer like feel to the air that kicked it all off but actually I bought this before any of the above had even crossed my mind. Burt’s Bees another more natural brand had a grab bag offer going on where if you spent £20  you’d get a random bag of goodies that rrps at £55. Now I kind of liked the idea of the surprise as they do a lot of things I wouldnt pick to buy but yet I probably would like if I tried if that makes any sense. Also my supply of Body Shop goodies was running low (I always stock up when there’s a big sale on) so I thought it was a good offer to take up. I *had* to make it upto £25 to get the free delivery – I hate paying for delivery, so I got some shampoo and wash bits for Chloe. I’m not going to list everything that I got in the bag as it would be too much effort but I got a varied bag of goodies, things I’ve tried before and things that I havent but actually they all smell amazing! I havent really used much yet but the bits I’ve had a quick try of are lovely, another convert! Sorry to those that are thinking ‘oh I might get this’ but as I said I got it a few weeks ago and although I think they might still be doing it, from what I’ve heard, a lot of people ordering now are getting 2, 3 or more duplicates in their order so if you dont mind that then go ahead but I guess they might be running low on stock and pulling it soon. But next time I see them doing this then I will blog about it asap as I’ll be sure to get one again! The little mini bottles are going in my labour bag for sure and I cant wait to use up my current body lotion and start on the BB’s one!

Phew so that’s about it for now, I still need to tackle the clothes front and get a hair cut or something but I am feeling pretty good at the moment, it’s amazing how some powder on your face or what have you, can make you feel better. Maybe I just needed that something different to perk me up, a new boost for summer. But lots still to look forward to as it’s the Babyshow this friday, saturday and sunday – I’m not sure if we’ll be going on sat or sunday but I fully intend to make it a bit of a military operation (a nice one mind you) and get every stand looked at and more importantly get some bargains on the baby bits we have to get – more on that soon, excited!!

Oh and the scan is next monday!!! I have already said to OH that as I’m so desperate to know what flavour bump is, I’m betting they will have their legs crossed the whole time so they wont be able to tell us! Oh well if that’s how it’s meant to be then bring on the surprise I guess! And roll on the summer weather now please, have had enough of the rain for the time being!

Michelle xx

Review: Liz Earle naturally active skincare

http://uk.lizearle.com/

Liz Earle is a big name in skincare, they’ve been going for over 15 years and they believe in using only top quality natural, organic where possible, ingredients and nothing is tested on animals. They dont do big advertising campaigns but I would think most people will have heard the name, it is certainly one that I’ve read and heard only good things about and I’m by no means a beauty/skincare junkie.

So a bit of back history, I’ve always had quite dry skin, I’m terrible at staying hydrated during the day and especially since having Chloe I need a really great moisturiser as the ones I had previously been using just werent cutting it. I found that mid price brands, even those for dry skin would just either leave my skin feeling really greasy or within a few hours I’d get dry flakey patches on my forehead. So I tried a few more expensive brands, all sensitive types as my skin can flare up at anything (even gentle/sensitive things), they seemed to work better, no dry patches but I cant say they left me feeling radiant, glowing etc.

Then one day whilst doing some blog hopping (I forget where, sorry) I saw a post about the Liz Earle hot cloth cleanser and the name rang a bell.  I remember when I was a teen, my Mum getting some Liz Earle goodies and she was super excited. So I went onto the website and had a look around and really liked what I saw. So then I did a search for reviews and read nothing but glowing reviews so I took the plunge and found myself buying the famous hot polish cleanser, toner/tonic and dry skin moisturiser plus I also got a free little travel kit, bonus! So it all arrived a few days later and wow presentation gets a gold star! I felt like it was my birthday unwrapping all the lovely stuff and they even included another little trial size product to try, lovely!

So how did I find it, well I’ve been using everything for three months now and (I’ll try not to gush too much) everything smells so lovely, light and fresh and my skin is seriously happy! The cleanser is fab, it’s a rich cream that you put on dry skin, over makeup and rub it all in – you can rub it over your eyes and not only does it magically dissolve mascara but it doesnt sting at all. Then you put the muslin cloth (which is really stiff when you first get it but after a wash goes lovely and soft) under hot/warm water, wring out and in circles buff/polish off the cleanser, which exfoliates too and when it’s really warm it feels divine!

Afterwards my skin is soft and not dry or tight, and then it’s time for the toner (skin tonic), which I got in the spray bottle, which is alcohol-free and it’s lovely to use, especially in the morning, super gentle and refreshing. I bet in the summer I’ll be using it all day as a cooling mist and yes it smells lovely and light and heavenly too! Then it’s onto the moisturising and this is my favourite thing ever, it feels really rich but isnt greasy and just sinks straight into my skin. Which is left feeling soft and looking radiant, dewy – all those things which everything always claims to do!

It sounds like a lot to do but it really doesnt take long and for those few minutes in the bathroom I feel like I’m having some kind of pampering treat! Which with Chloe in the other room playing the ‘let’s emptying all the drawers for Mummy’ game is quite amazing!

I have to say you’re meant to use it morning and night and well I only really use the whole routine it in the morning, unless I’ve been out and have had make up on – then I’ll use it before bed. With other moisturisers I might have to use them morning and again during the day, but with the Liz Earle dry/sensitive skin one, I’ve been using it once a day and it’s been fine, only now it’s getting wintery and cold am I putting it on again occasionally when I’ve come in from being outside etc. My skin has 100% never felt better and when I did actually have a sunday when I was being lazy and didnt use any of it, my skin looked terrible – dull, flakey and dry, so back to using it I went asap! I even actually used this on my skin after I got badly sunburnt (yes I know naughty) and it was very soothing and didnt irritate it at all.

In fact I love it so much that I’m going to be buying some more now, like right this second, as I cant bear the thought of running out of it (especially the moisturiser) and going back to dry flakey skin, and I want to treat my Mum to some – plus there’s a christmas offer where if you spend £70 you get another little cute treat bag of goodies worth £27 (which I might have to keep for myself!). I’ve only brought from Liz Earle direct and I think it’s worth it for the lush packaging and little freebies but it is also sold on QVC and in John Lewis stores.

Okay so gushing over, the prices, the cleanser comes in a 100ml pump starter kit for £13.75 and you get a muslin cloth with it, you can buy it in a tube, but I think the pump dispenser is better. The toner/skin tonic is £12.25 for a 200ml bottle or £12.50 for the spritzer spray bottle – which again I prefer. And the moisturiser which comes in a 50ml tube or jar is available in light, normal/combination, or dry/sensitive. There is also various set the hot polish cleanser comes in and different sizes, including mini sizes to try. They also do a tinted moisturiser – which again I’ve read rave reviews on, treatment masks, hand and foot creams, a shampoo and conditioner range – which I’ve tried and love, review to follow, and a men’s skincare range which I shall be treating Daddy to at Christmas. I’m completely in love with it and if you’re stuck with what you want for Christmas then I suggest directing your partner to the Liz Earle website and casually dropping hints how you’d love to try it or just ordering some goodies on their card!

Michelle xx

I bought the products mentioned in this post and did this review because I wanted to, no one asked me to and no compensation was received for reviewing them.

Update February 2012

I’m still loving my Liz Earle goodies and have tried the Superskin moisturiser (for super dry skin) and it’s lovely – I wish it had the same smell as the dry/sensitive one though. Daddy has been converted to the men’s range and the shaving cream is the best he’s ever used! It’s like he has baby-soft-never-had-stubble-before-in-his-life skin after he’s used it. I thought he’d used a new razor or something, it was incredibly close shave but it was just the cream and its still giving amazing results use after use. And yes I did actually sneakily use it on my legs and it was lovely too, I might have to get my own tube! Also I’ve been using the haircare range which they very kindly sent me to try, and the review is here, I love it and have been converted again – I think I need to start working for them! I cant recommend Liz Earle highly enough and I love buying from their website as my orders arrive so beautifully packaged and I love getting a little sample of something new to try! Sorry for gushing again but love, love, love them! That is all 🙂

Fluffy mail

Well, this isnt all cloth nappy related, but I love saying ‘fluffy mail’ as it just sounds so lovely and happy! So here’s our round-up goodies that have arrived this past week and some bits we picked up at the weekend in town.

Firstly our (woolly) fluffy post arrived from Babysmalls, a new pair of acrylic longies for Chloe as the old ones are getting a bit short and a pair of acrylic shorties. They all fit perfectly and although I do like normal wool too, it’s nice to have something that can just be popped in the normal wash and doesnt need lanolising, super easy to look after and very pretty! Do take a look at the site as Karen sells fleece soakers, bibs and other goodies besides woolly things!

My order from the Bodyshop arrived too, (something for me for once!). I love, love, love their body butters, especially good for moisturising my poor neglected dry feet and if I put some on before bed and pop cotton socks over top then my feet are silky soft in the morning. A tub usually lasts ages but when I saw they had launched a new Body Butter Duo, where half the pot is a rich cream and the other half is a light one, then I of course *needed* it. It solves having to have one normal moisturiser and the body butter out on the side, and the new scents (I got Floral Acai) sounded yummy and well yes I’m a sucker for a new gimmick!!

On Sunday we popped into town and got Chloe’s feet measured again, she’s now a 4F, so some new shoes were had at Clarks. These dont have velcro on (thank god) as Chloe used to think it was very amusing to take her old shoes off every 5 mins. I hate to think what we’ll end up spending on shoes by the time she’s old enough to be buying her own! It would be great if Clarks did some kind of loyalty card or say if you traded in an old pair of Clarks you’d get something off a new pair, and then they could recycle the old shoes or send them off to children who needed them, oh that would be lovely! I hope you’re reading this someone from Clarks, take note!!

We also popped into the Early Learning Centre and bought a new jigsaw for Chloe and a Play Doh factory thing, which we all had a lot of fun with (mummy and daddy possibly more so than Chloe maybe!). Everytime we go in there I keep eyeing up the Happyland range, I’m dying to get Chloe the Fairy Castle but it’s only 4 months till her birthday so I’m sure she (and I!) can be good and wait. After town we bought a loaf of bread and fed it to some ducks and geese by the river. And we’ve vowed to go back and see them again soon as they tiny baby duckling were so cute, I promise to take pics as well as I forgot!

And then today we got some actual cloth nappy fluffy mail, yay! We havent had any new nappies for a few weeks, everything had been on preorder or a custom so is still being made, so I was more than happy to get new fluff!! This lovely parcel of fluffiness was from Baby Bum Boutique and is more of the amazing Bright Star Baby nappies. If you can remember from our review, we loved them so I ended up ordering 2 more in the lovely Miami Jazz and Hooty Tutti print, a Tshirt to match the current Girly Pirates print nappy we have and some of the hemp snap in boosters. Expensive haul but gorgeous, nice and bright for summer too, these are my current favourite nappies and I think if I had some spare pennies then they would go on a few more!!

So that has made me fluff happy for a bit, I think our custom Wee Notions are in the process of being finished so hopefully will be here end of this week or next, happy days! I’ve ordered 2 custom Monkey Foot wetbags too, with double pockets, which will be fantastic for keeping clean and dirty nappies all in one place when out and about, hopefully they shouldnt be more than 3 or so week, doubly exciting! The only new fluff left is my custom Dunk n Fluff order (which I need to pay for this week, eeek!), 2 nappies and a matching top/dress, I havent seen them yet but they should be here soon, more exciting stuff!!

So that’s us all updated, have possibly 2 reviews to get out this week, plus the CJ’s BUTTer giveaway closes soon so please go enter if you havent already!

Michelle xx

 

Review: CJ’s All Natural BUTTer range

I’m a sucker for new things and when I saw that Babybots were stocking a new baby skincare range called CJ’s BUTTer that was all natural and came in an amazing range of scents, then of course I found it jumping into my basket. And as if luck would have it I was also lucky enough to win some! So here’s our review of it and a mini giveaway.

It’s especially hard when using cloth nappies to find a cream to use on your LO’s tender bum that wont clog up your gorgeous nappies and causes repelling and staining issues. But CJ’s is completely safe to use with cloth nappies, so no worries there! I also loved the fact that it was completely natural, as there’s so many chemicals and things in everyday life I dont want to use them on Chloe unless there is no other option.

Chloe’s skin is a little sensitive, she does get the occasional flare up of dry skin/eczema on her legs and we have had some bad cases of nappy rash due to teething. Nothing has ever needed medication *touch wood* but I’m also always on the look out for that magical cure that will instantly fix any sore problems and redness asap. CJ’s has also been recommended to use on eczema, rashes, dry/chapped skin, rug burns (sore ‘crawler’ knees), mechanics’ hands and cuticles, hang nails and even rub a small amount on your hands and use as a leave-in conditioner for your curls! So pretty much everything (I’ve found its perfect as an overnight hand/foot cream too!).

The range of scents is amazing and I cant possibly pick which is my favourite out of Lullaby, Cucumber melon, Pink Sugar and Love Spell!! They also do an unscented version if your LO has really sensitive skin.

• Lullaby Baby Lotion: This is a gorgeous, soft, irresistible designer baby fragrance! With soft notes of leafy green, peach, melon, coconut and honey, and reminiscent of Johnson’s Baby Magic lotion, this fragrance is a tribute to the softness and innocence of babies.
• My Pixie Pie:  A beautiful mixture of cherries, toasted almonds and finished with a touch of vanilla and coconut, this sweet fragrance is aptly named.
• Cucumber Melon:  Top notes of fresh cucumber, ripe melons, apple, and pear lead to a floral heart of muguet, rose, jasmine, and cyclamen. A rich, sweet drydown is provided by oakmoss and vanilla.
• Warm Vanilla Cake: Quite simply the richest, most buttery vanilla in the entire universe!
• Oatmeal, Milk & Honey: This blend is a perfect marriage of oatmeal, milk, and honey — mellow, soothing, with just a hint of sweetness.
• Lavender EO (alone or combined with Tea Tree Oil or vanilla)
• Pink Sugar:  This boutique best-seller begins with notes of sweet, sugary lemon drops and pink cotton candy. A fruity-floral middle of red fruit, fig leaves, caramel and raspberry leads to a sweet vanilla-musk base.
• All Natural Mango Sugar Mint: Sweet, ripe notes of mango with the tiniest kiss of mint to keep things crisp and fresh.
• Blueberry Crumble: A pleasing blend of plump summer ripened blueberries, and crispy oatmeal topping warm from the oven. Rich and buttery, with a hint of spice and vanilla.
• Love Spell: Top notes of peach, mango, strawberry, and mandarin flow into a complex middle of apple blossom, rose, tamarind, and coconut milk. The fragrance is completed with smooth notes of musk, vanilla, and precious woods.

It also comes in a few different formats, there’s the typical tub (or tube for ease), then there’s the spray – which is fab, a quick spritz and no mess. There’s also the Carcass Cleaner – which I also ended up buying a bottle to try and it’s great for both as a wash in the bath and as a wipe solution. Babybots have just got in some lip balms as well which I will definitely be getting to try in the Peachy Mango-liscious flavour next time I shop there.

Here are the prices for the various goodies in the CJ’s BUTTer range:

The original cream in a 4oz Tub or a 4oz Tube £7.39.

The liquid version of CJ’s BUTTer in a 4 oz fine mist spray bottle £7.49.

Carcass Cleaner/bath and wipe solution in a 8.5 oz foamer bottle £7.99

Lip Balm in a 0.15oz tube £2.49

The original BUTTer is really great on Chloe’s dry skin, if shes got a bit of a dry/red patch I just pop a bit on, and as it’s slightly greasy/buttery it protects it from further rubbing or getting worse and gives it time to get better. But if she’s having a teething/sore nappy rash attack then I just give her bum a spritz of the spray at every change, its great when you dont need to rub it in. Both have worked just as good as anything else I’ve tried and I do love the spray and the yummy scents. The Carcass Cleaner is fabby for using as a wipe solution, much easier to use then wipe cubes, no dissolving, just a few squirts in water and again it smells yummy!

They are a totally scrummy way to look after your LO’s skin, (and yours too if you’re sneaky and use it as hand cream when no one is looking!), the spray and wipe solution are my favourites and will definitely be in full time use for us. I’d love it if they brought out a lotion version to use on Chloe after her bath and before bed, that in the Lullaby scent would be amazing! This is definitely a range to look out for, works great, smells fab and isnt full of nasties!

Michelle xx

I purchased (and won) the products mentioned and did this review because I wanted to, no compensation was received for doing it and no one has told me what to write, all words (including spelling mistakes) and opinions are 100% my own and genuine.

Giveaway! (closed)

I have a tube of CJ’s BUTTer in the My Pixie Pie scent to give away and a few mini tester pots that Lynsey at Babybots has very kindly sent me. The winner will receive the full size tube and a mini tester pot in another scent (perfect size for change bags). And a runner up will receive 2 of the mini tester pots.

To be in with a chance of winning all you have to do is leave a comment below saying you would like to win.

One entry per person/household please! You dont have to follow me on Twitter but it is the best way to keep up to date with winners and new giveaways.

Terms and Conditions:

• This is open to anyone in the United Kingdom.
• And closes at 11.59pm on Wednesday 8th June 2011.
• The winner and runner up will be chosen by Random.org on Thursday 9th June.
• And the winners will be announced on this page and Twitter.
• The prizes are non-refundable and cannot be transferred. No cash alternative is available.

Good luck!

And the 2 winners as drawn by random.org are:

1st Joanne Greenhalgh (6)

2nd Natasha Groves (11)

Congrats I will pop you an email for your address details, if you havent heard from me then please get in touch! xx

Review: Jackson Reece Herbal Baby Wipes

http://www.jacksonreece.com/

Firstly a quick sum up of the story behind Jackson Reece wipes that you might not have heard about. Janet and Colin, struggled with eczema on their son Jackson and normal baby wipes did nothing but exacerbated the condition. They ended up using cotton wool and water whilst searching for a nature wipe and eventually came to the decision that they would have to develope their own. After the birth of their second son Reece, Herbal Wipes were born.

I’m sure their story of a LO with eczema or even just very sensitive skin can be found in a lot of homes but when I’ve been seen by other mum’s using Jackson Reece wipes, most have never heard or seen them before. I first came across Jackson Reece wipes some time last year in my search to find a more eco baby wipe for use when out and about (as we usually use washable cloth wipes at home). They appeared to tick all the big and important boxes; bio-degradable wipes and degradable packaging, suitable for sensitive skins, not tested on animals and dermatologically and hypoallergenic approved. But when I had a further look I saw that there was a another huge list of great things about the wipes:

• They are manufactured in the UK thereby reducing their carbon footprint.
• Certified Organic Aloe Vera naturally hydrating, healing & cooling.
• Certified Organic Tea Tree Oil, naturally antibacterial.
• Certified Organic Lavender Essential Oil, soothing and calming.
• Bio-degradable wipes made from wood pulp which is a sustainable resource.
• Compostable wipes which will degrade in twelve weeks in aerobic conditions and are registered by DIN CERTCO in Europe as compostable.
• Cloth is made from nature and will degrade by nature
• Our cloth is not chlorine bleached
• Contains High Purity Water
• Formula uses renewable natural plant resources derived from a unique vegetable based preservative system which is suitable for vegans.s.
• Formula has a balanced ph.

And better yet, they actually list every single ingredient they use on the back of the packet and tell you what it does, so it’s not just a long list of mumbo jumbo scientific sounding names. I so wish more brand were so honest and open about things!

They also dont contain any of the ‘nasties’ that you hear about in the news, which can be bad for various reasons, including being drying, harsh or in some cases cause rashes:

• No Alcohol
• No Parabens
• No SodiumLauryl Sulfate (SLS)
• No Sodium Laureth Sulfate (SLES)
• No Phthalates
• No (MIT) Methylisothiazolinone
• No Triclosan
• No Propylene glycol
• No Petro Chemicals
• No Benzoates
• No Phenoxyethanol

So after the run down of what’s in and not in them, what are they actually like? Well we were sent a pack of each of their wipes, the original Herbal Wipes, the unscented version and the newer handy travel pack. Now I have used Jackson Reece wipes before but I hadnt seen the unscented ones, so I was eager to take a look at them.

We’ve been using them pretty much non stop around the house and in the change bag when out and I am impressed with them all. The wipes are lovely and moist – they have a foamy feeling to them which I find really nice and helps to get messes cleaned up easily, without leaving a sticky residue. They are quite stretchy and thick as well, I havent torn a wipe or put my finger through one, which has happened with other wipes before, so they are lovely and strong. The handy pack ones are a slightly different texture but a really great things when out and about is they are flushable (and degrade in 8 days!) which is fab!

They have a gorgeous smell to them which is quite strong and yes it does remind me of a herbal/aromatherapy kind of fragrance. Which although some might find a bit strong, I love, as it covers any nasty wafts that Chloe might present me with at change time. But if you do find the smell a bit much then the unscented version is for you and it doesnt have a chemically smell at all, just well clean!

I’ve used them on mucky hands as well and have found them great for cleaning quickly, they aren’t so wet that you’re just soaking her skin and moving the sticky mess around, they do pick it up. And as they have aloe – a natural healer, lavender – a natural disinfectant and tea tree oil – also a natural disinfectant and cleaning agent I dont feel bad when using them on Chloe’s face.

I have noticed that the lid on the unscented pack is slightly different and well, superior to the others. It’s thicker and opens upwards rather than sideways. Now nearly all baby wipes I’ve tried use the sticky sideways opening, which on cheaper brands, does tend to lose its stickiness and the wipes inside end up drying out. This hasnt happened with any of the packs we’ve used but I do prefer the opening on the unscented pack. Usually we dont use baby wipes as often as we have the last few weeks testing these out, so a big pack does last ages but I’m pretty sure we’d never have the drying out issue with the thicker newer closure, I hope the bring it out of the other packs.

I love these wipes, the story behind them, the ethos and ethics of them and the wipes themselves! It’s great to find an eco product that works better than the mainstream versions. The downside, well they arent always as readily available as other wipes, I usually add a pack to an order when I’m buying cloth nappies as most of the shops I buy from stock them. But I have seen them about in John Lewis, larger Tescos, and Mothercare stores (a full list of retailers can be found here). And yes price, they are on par with the big brands and you can expect to pay anything from £2-3 pounds for a pack and around £1 for the handy pack. They are occasionally on offer and when I see them I generally stock up!

And lastly, the only thing I would change about them? Well I would love it if the handy ‘flushable’ wipes pack was bigger, it contains 10 wipes which sometimes I can easily go through in a week if we’re busy! A pack of about 30 would be great for the change bag, not too big/heavy but enough to not run out too quickly.

So these are a big hit with us and I can honestly say that I will continue to use them and feel that I’m doing something good for planet earth and Chloe at the same time.

Michelle xx

Giveaway! (Closed)

As part of our ongoing celebrations for Real Nappy week, we have kindly been given 2 sets of wipes to give away to 2 lucky winners. Each winner will receive a pack of the normal Herbal wipes, the unscented and a handy pack.

To enter, all you have to do is tell us what scent you would love in a baby wipe. (feel free to be a wacky as you’d like!)

Please write your answer in the comments to this post and you can gain extra entries for doing any (or all) of the below:

• Follow Jackson Reece and me on twitter (@JacksonReece and @Fluffy_Mummy) and post your twitter ID in the comments here.

• Tweet “I’ve entered to win Jackson Reece Herbal Wipes at @Fluffy_Mummy here: http://wp.me/p10ad1-nB” and post saying you’ve tweeted and your twitter ID in the comments here.

• Read and comment on any review on the blog and leave a comment here saying you have.

Please use a separate comment for each entry and there’s a max of 4 entries per person.

Terms and Conditions:

• This is open to anyone in the UK.
• And closes at 11.59pm on Thursday 26th May 2011.
• The two lucky winners will be chosen by Random.org on Friday 27th May.
• The winners will be announced on this page and Twitter.
• The prize is non-refundable and cannot be transferred. No cash alternative is available.

Good luck!

The 2 lucky winners are:

Lucy Taylor (3) and Laura (53) I have sent you emails, please make sure you reply so we can get your wipes sent out!

Thanks for all the entries xx