Health & Beauty Products

Erica writes …

Since having my baby boy my hands have been very dry and sometimes rough, so I have become much keener on buying good handcream than before.   Trilogy Rose hand cream targets a range of hand problems including my dry rough hands, but also ageing skin, damaged cuticles and brittle nails.

It contains a range of botanical including marshmallow and calendula to soften and smooth dry skin plus horsetail to help deal with problem nails.  It contains a base of evening primose, rosehip, jojoba and almond oils with rose oil to provide the scent.

Available from Love Lula for £14.65.

Brenda writes…

Here are a few ethical christmas gift choices that would make your friends and family very happy this christmas.

Mini Spa Bag

Bellingham Soap Company make gorgeous soaps and bath goodies, which are made from entirely natural products.  This gift bag is made from sustainable jute bag, which includes 1 creamy soap and 1 fabulous fizz bath.  You have a choice of 3.  Price £10.

Green Glass Recycled Glasses - Sol Bottles

Ethical Superstore, a favourite here at TGF, has these cool glasses on sale.  They come in a pack of two and are made from recycled empty Sol bottles.  They stand at 23cm tall and hold approximately 330ml.  Perfect gift for the hubby, who has everything.  Price £11.74.

Enlaira Recycled Glass Vase

Biome Lifestyle, have this stunning looking eco-friendly vase for sale.  Which has pink butterflies on a black background.  Made from 100% post-consumer recycled glass, which is sea-freighted in from Spain.  Dimensions are 38 x 25cm.  Price £70.

Brenda writes…

Here a few more ideas, coming from Natural Collection for xmas gifts, if you are still in the market for buying gifts this year.

NaturaLeigh Classical Organic Lavender Collection Gift Bag

Coming in a classical gift bag, is this divinely scented organic lavender bubble bath and two hand-crafted NaturaLeigh soaps.  Price £10.72.

Retro Snowflake Jumper

Available in either a Charcoal or Grey colour.  It is available in one size only and has to be handwashed.  It has a pure wool outer layer and a polyester fill fleece lining.  Price £39.10.

Medium Fair Trade Balinese Mosaic Dishes

These gorgeous decorative only Mosaic Dishes, would look stunning on your dining table.  They are 30cm in diameter, available in a choice of two colours - red/brown or turquoise/gold.  Price £14.63.

Brenda writes…

The Green Familia are proud to be members of Ethical Junction, a fabulous place for companies that are ethically minded, whether it be organic or fair-trade driven, this is a one stop website that has members from all walks of the green ethical living.

They have a website/shop, called Get Ethical, that showcases members goodies, which makes it a must visit site for all those who love to buy green/ethical/fair-trade/organic goodies.

Here are a few of the goodies available to buy this xmas from Get Ethical.

Bamboo Eco-Plunk

This is a great eco version of the old favourite kids game - Ker Plunk!  Suitable for age 4 years+.  It is made from Bamboo, which is a fantastic renewable resource and great for the environment.  It has recently been featured in Junior and Prima Magazine.  Price £19.

Solar Powered Business Bag

This cool bag, could solve your problems what to give the man in your life.  It has the power to recharge the necessary equipment, including:  mobile phones, blackberries, mp3 or mp4 players, digital cameras/camcorders etc.  It is also spacious enough for him to store his laptop.  Price £45.

Frankincense & Christmas Jewel Soap Set

This cute looking gift would be ideal for any female in your life.  It comprises of two natural handmade soaps, which are presented in a pretty chiffon bag, which is fabulously presented.  Price £9.

Erica writes…

The Maclaren Beginning Travel Bag’s name sounds like it should be something very practical to use with your buggy, but I was delighted to find out that it’s a very special pampering pack. I was sent one to review and I was very interested to try out this new product range from a trusted baby brand.

Why would you want to buy this product? Packaged in a natural coloured wipe clean bag with five bottle loops to hold your products and an internal zipped pocket, it would make a lovely gift for an expectant mother or simply be a great way to treat yourself while pregnant and have some beautiful natural baby toiletries to use after the birth.

There are 6 products in the travel bag - three for mum and three for baby. They are 100ml Connecting Massage Oil for Mother; 100ml Alleviating Leg Lotion for Mother; 100ml Balancing Facial Mist for Mother; 100g Absorbing Dusting Powder for Baby; 100ml Comforting Room Mist for Baby; and 100g Protecting Nappy Change Balm for Baby.

What are the products like to use?

After a long and tiring day, I tested the mum to be products and found them very soothing and relaxing. I particularly liked the Connecting Massage Oil and Balancing Facial Mist. The massage oil was warming, relaxing and moisturising, without being too oily or sticky. A spray of facial mist left me feeling relaxed and refreshed, but it wasn’t too bracing and you could use before sleeping. The Alleviating Leg Lotion soothed and moisturised my legs, but didn’t seem to have a huge impact on the aching of my limbs. All the products have a lovely aroma and are very easy and pleasant to use.

I tested the baby products on my little boy. The Comforting Room Mist was lovely to use. It filled the room with a pleasant, homely and comforting scent which seemed to help calm my son in the run up to bedtime or naptime. Maclaren suggest using it when travelling to help your child adjust to unfamiliar surroundings and I think this could be helpful. I’ve never used any sort of powder on my son before, but the Absorbing Dusting Powder has converted me. It’s a really quick and easy way of getting all those crevices dry and it leaves his skin silky smooth. I also like the Protecting Nappy Change Balm which I used successfully on mild nappy rash and a facial dribble rash.

All the products are made from natural ingredients and use organic essential oils. Also, they have been dermatologically tested on sensitive skin.

Any negatives? The carrying case that the products come in, is a slight letdown from the outside as it is fairly dull to look at. Inside it has very clean lines which have a calming, but pleasant look and the bottles and tubes have very simple and elegant styling.

Available to buy from Maclaren for £34.26 here.

Brenda writes…

Here are a few of the best sales around at the moment.  If you know of anymore, please get in touch with us via the contact page.

Sones - Have on sale their Tunic Tops and Frill Bootlegs, just perfect for this time of year.  Both are available in sizes 18-24 months to 4-5 years.  The tunic tops are available in berry pink and denim blue and the frill bootlegs are available in purple/mink.  Both reduced to £8.50.

Arabella Miller - Have on sale their funky ladybird baby t-shirts. Available in sizes 6 - 24 months.  Now reduced to £9.99.

Natural Nursery - Have a great sale on babies and childrens organic clothes.  Available for both boys and girls and available in sizes from newborn to 4 years.

Buy Organics - Have a brilliant special offers page, which includes sweat shirts from the Tatty Bumpkin range and organic herbs to name a couple, all at reduced prices.

Ethical Superstore - This is your one stop eco-friendly superstore.  It has a special offers page, which includes products from the following departments: groceries, fashion, electrical appliances, beauty and many more, all at reduced prices.

Sue writes…

I have always felt a bit ‘guilty’ about using disposable wipes on my 18 month-old daughter, so I was really pleased to try Beaming Baby Certified Organic Baby Wipes. Beaming Baby have even thought about us busy mums too, and I was lucky enough to be able to try their Organic Facial Cleansing Wipes too.

Why would you want to buy these products?

There are lots of baby wipes and facial cleansing wipes available in the shops, so why choose Beaming Baby products? I have never felt happy about using traditional baby wipes as they often have a variety of nasty ingredients listed and they are rarely bio-degradable. The Beaming Baby Certified Organic Baby Wipes are free from parabens, alcohol and sodium laureth sulphate. They are also flushable, hypoallergenic, 100% biodegradable and and totally chlorine free. Perfect!

Beaming Baby also support several charities. 10% of the profit when buying these wipes go to SANCCOB, a charity which rescues penguins form oil slicks on the African Coast and to ‘Baby Lifeline’, giving hospital equipment to baby care units.

What are the products like to use?

Both products are very convenient to use, so are great for when you are in a hurry, or for when you are out. The Certified Organic Baby Wipes come in a neat little pack with a very secure peel open lid. They are great for keeping in your changing bag so that you can use them to clean your baby when you are out or when you are travelling away from home. The Organic Facial Cleansing Wipes also come in a very small, neat pack, so can easily be packed into a washbag for overnight stays away from home.

Any negatives? None.

Price: Both products are great value for money. The Baby wipes cost £2.93 for 72 wipes and the Facial Wipes cost £2.44 for 25.  Also remember you can buy in bulk from Beaming Baby and if you buy 11 you get the 12th free.

Overall Rating: 5/5

Erica writes …

We were lucky enough to be sent some of these lovely baby bath products from Beaming Baby for review - see what we thought below.

Why would you want to buy these products?

If your baby has sensitive skin or if you prefer to use natural products, then this certified organic range could be the one for you. The company are actively working to reduce their carbon footprint and offset by investing in third world reforestation projects. They also give 10% of their profits to a baby charity and to rescue penguins from oil slicks.

What are the products like to use?

I tried the products out on both myself and my baby. As I live in a hard water area, we often have problems getting products to lather up and produce bubbles. I used a generous slug of bubblebath in the bath, but was pleasantly surprised by how many bubbles were produced and particularly by how long they lasted - they were still there after half an hour’s soak. I hadn’t expected this from a product that wasn’t full of nasty chemicals!

The shampoo is very mild and gentle and didn’t seem to cause any problems with my baby’s eyes while rinsing.

All the products are unperfumed, but I found that the baby lotion had a slightly flowery scent. Some mothers might object to using this on little boys, but I had no problem using it on my little man and he seemed to have no objections.

Any negatives?

None, apart from potentially the scent of the baby lotion.

Price

Normally £3.99 for the shampoo and bubble bath and £4.99 for the baby lotion. You can buy any three bottles for £10.99. Available from Beaming Baby.

Overall

Lovely products that you can use on your baby and be confident that they won’t irritate delicate skin and are produced to high environmental standards.

Rating

4.5/5

Brenda writes…

Recently in the news, there has been a few headlines about the dangers of mass produced cosmetics, with the toxic chemicals that are composite in the makings of our cosmetics. So it got me thinking that, even though I am not a big user of cosmetics (I prefer the natural look), I should really have a tidy up of my make up bag and instead of keeping lots of old make up ( which is one of the worst things you can do), I would throw them away and just buy the few essentials that I will use on a regular basis.

I was lucky that it was my birthday recently so I got my girlfriends to each buy me one item. It is a great idea and helps cut the cost down and now I have a new make up bag filled with wholesome cosmetics that I actually want to use.

Inika Mineral Bronzers

If you are on the pale side like myself, sometimes we need a little extra help to look healthier. So for me I like to go for a bit of artificial help. This bronzer gives you a warm tanned look; use it on your face or mix it with your body moisturiser, to help create an all over tan, all year round. Coming in a choice of 3 skin tone colours, it is certified 100% vegan and cruelty free. Available from Buy Organics for £17.99. Continued

Sue writes…

Love Eco is an online store where you can shop for wonderful products which reduce the impact we make on the world. They make a point of understanding their suppliers, who are typically small scale producers sharing Love Eco’s passion and values.

I particularly like the Love Eco Organic Range, espcially the Pants to Poverty Women’s Underwear (£10 per pair). Not only do these briefs look very comfortable, they are made from organic, fairly traded cotton. There are also boxer shorts available too. They are also £10 a pair.

I also like the look of the Bamboo towels. We have a bamboo baby towel for our daughter and it is beautifully soft and very absorbent. Bamboo is also very environmentally friendly. I have been looking for some bamboo towels for myself and my husband too, and these look perfect. The Bamboo Towel Set costs £55 and consists of 2 bath towels, 2 hand towels and 2 face cloths.

As well as organic underwear and towels, Love Eco also has some gorgeous organic Figs and Rouge bath and skin products. Figs and Rouge products use nourishing botanicals from the traditional English garden to help us restore and retain our skin’s natural blossom. The whole range is free from parabens, sulfates and synthetic aromas, and all products are approved by The Vegan Society. My favourites are the Figs and Rouge Camelia and Chamomile Hand Cream (£9.95 for 250ml) and the Figs and Rouge Organic Day Cream (£18.95 for 60ml).