Winter Skincare SOS - Jojoba Hydrating Day Cream

Everyone in our house is suffering from dry skin at present; the cold weather always makes it worse and poor old Holly is suffering most. My face is crying out for hydration in a response to the dark nights and the freezing conditions but at this time of year I'm really bad about treating myself, even when it is a treat I really need. The Jojoba Company sent me a little pre-Christmas treat in the form of their awesome hydrating day cream to try and combat the winter blues.

The Jojoba Company are an Australian skincare brand who pride themselves on their natural skincare solutions. Their Hydrating Day Cream is a vegan-friendly moisturiser that is incredibly light and instantly absorbed.  It comes in a pump dispenser and is compact enough to fit into a handbag so that you can apply it throughout the day if your skin is crying out for a quick moisturising boost.

And that's exactly what it is...a boost. I love the way that my skin feels like it is bounding back in a refreshing zing every time I apply it. As the brand name suggests, the day cream features moisturising jojoba oil. Alongside this you'll find Siberian ginseng extract, green tea and olive leaf extract which all add to the boosting effect. Vitamins B and E are there to support the skin and chamomile helps your skin to feel soothed after a day out in the fresh air.

My skin is feeling quite genuinely fabulous at present (this may also be related to a change in face wash). The feeling might be explained by the fact that this Jojoba hydrating day cream has been clinically proven to help your skin increase its elastin levels by as much as 97% so it helps your skin to bounce back from stresses. I'm loving having this moisturiser with me and I can picture it being just as refreshing and rewarding in the warmer months as it is right now in the depths of winter.

You can find The Jojoba Company skincare products in Holland and Barrett.  The  hydrating day cream costs £22.99.

Scrub Love #babeswhoscrub

There are very few things I enjoy more than a long, hot bath. After a run, I particularly like to extend my "me-time" with a long bath and some pampering products.  My latest post-run discovery is this Mint Temptation coffee scrub from Scrub Love.

Scrub Love make AMAZING coffee body scrubs - a gentle exfoliating scrub made from ground coffee and packed full of natural ingredients that help your skin recover from the hassles of every day life - they soften, polish, hydrate and exfoliate. In every Scrub Love sachet you'll find organic coffee (obviously!) and fine salt including Dead Sea Salt and Himalayan Pink Salt as well as essential oils.

In the Mint Temptation Scrub Love you'll find aloe vera, tea tree oil, peppermint oil and argan oil. It's an invigorating, refreshing mix that leaves your legs, arms and body feeling amazing. A 200ml sachet like this will last a good few uses. I used just a little on each leg to help breathe life back into my legs after a running club session.  The scrub felt tingly and smelled mind-blowing.  That little kick of caffeine that helps your body to start to heal and recover...it felt like I had new legs.

Scrub Love body scrub can be applied in small amounts by gently rubbing it into the skin. You can wash it off straight away or leave it on for 5 minutes to let all those oils work their magic. I LOVE the smell of coffee, and mint and it left the whole house smelling amazing.  A few hours later though, Mr. B. was complaining about the smell of coffee so I've promised to only use it shortly before bedtime from now on!  I did have to give the bath a good clean after using it...it is quite surreal to wash the scrub off and see a whole sea of coffee around you.

I'm a total convert to Scrub Love. My legs have never felt better - refreshed and smooth.

Scrub Love 200ml resealable sachets cost from £11.95.  Next time I've got my eye on the Coconut Affair flavour.

Vosene Kids - New Hair and Body products for scrumptious-smelling kids!

This summer Vosene Kids are adding three new products to their range of haircare and skincare for kids and Lara and Holly have had a chance to try them out.

In the Gentle to Skin range you'll soon find this exotic-smelling Caring Coconut & Mango Hair and Body Wash which comes in a 200ml bottle and reminds me of summer holidays!  With coconut oil to help sooth and cleanse sensitive skin it is suitable for use on both hair and body so makes an ideal two-in-one product to take with you on your travels.  Holly and Lara love this!

We also love the strong scents from the fruity goodness range, particularly the cirtussy scents of pink pomelo which you'll now find in both the Pink Pomelo & Vitamin C 2 in 1 Shampoo and also in the Vosene Kids Pink Pomelo & Vitamin C Hair & Body Wash.  Both products are paraben free so gentle on little people's skin.

The 2 in 1 shampoo leaves the girls hair feeling really clean. It is designed to also help reduce tangles in the hair.  The smell of this shampoo is so zingy and fresh and the girls have really come to enjoy the smell of Pink Pomelo.  With added Vitamin C, this shampoo offers a deep clean which gets rid of the build up of several days worth of school and nursery gunk!

The Pink Pomelo & Vitamin C Hair and Body wash from Vosene kids is now Lara's favourite bathtime product. We haven't tried using this directly on the hair but as a body wash it leaves the girls feeling fresh and clean and they love the smell and always seem happy and excited for bathtimes at present.

Look out for these great-smelling, deep-cleaning kids bathtime products from Vosene Kids hitting the shops very soon.

Lanolips Lovely Lanolin Intense Body Balm Review

MY skin gets a bit of a battering these days.  As I'm running more frequently, I'm having to shower a lot more than I used to and for me (and my girls) baths and showers are, undoubtedly, one of the causes of dry skin due partly to the REALLY hard water we have in our area.  I regularly use a body lotion in the evenings just to keep on top of things and this Lanolips Lovely Lanolin Triple Buttermilk Body Balm is the perfect thing to put the life back into very dry skin.

The Lanolips body care range features Lanolips medical-grade Lanolin which is ultra pure.  Unlike the other ladies in my family, I'm thankfully not allergic to lanolin so I can really make the most of its highly moisturising and repairing properties. Lanolin has been used for eons as a nutrient-packed moisturiser - even Cleopatra swore by it!  The result of the Lanolin on your skin is a veil of protective moisture that sits on the skin and leaves it feeling smooth and soft - it's a great feeling and isn't greasy or heavy but, for a little while after application you are aware it is there.

Other active ingredients include Vitamin E and milk which are there to make this body balm into a rich, thick and luxurious treat.  The lotion smells sweet and comforting, a little bit like a traditional soap; I actually look forward to applying it before bed (often making the time for body lotion can feel like a chore).  In the few weeks that I've been using Lovely Lanolin, I've noticed my legs and arms feeling a lot less scratchy even after running.

And some of the greatest news for me is that this intense body balm isn't also padded out with nasties - its free from mineral oils (yay for my sensitive skin) and parabens and is also sulfate-free.  If you read through the ingredient list you can see all sorts of fascinating natural ingredients including shea butter, almond oil and even carrot seed oil.

At £13.99 for a 170ml tube, I think this Lanolips body balm is a great beauty buy.

Balance Me Skin Brightening Body Polish Review

If you've never tried a bath or shower with a product made with mint oils - you haven't lived!  There is something phenomenally invigorating about washing with a body product that contains mint oil.  This Balance Me skin brightening body polish is a natural, exfoliating body wash packed full of natural ingredients and scented with spearmint oil which gives is a really fresh scent and makes the whole experience refreshing and renewing.

I tend to use a body exfoliant about once a week to help brighten the skin and bring out the "new" me but I'll admit, I do like a really good scrub to help me feel as good as new.  The Balance Me body polish helps exfoliate through its main ingredient - natural sea salt.  I find it most effective when I use it on dry skin but you can use it as a more regular body wash if you apply it to wet skin.  Because the product comes in a squeezy tube, the lotion has to fit through a small hole, which means that the salt crystals can't be that large...I think this limits its ability to give a really good scrub!

However, I do LOVE the minty zingy smell when I use it in the bath - it gives an instant cooling feeling after a hot run!  The polish does also leave the skin feeling good afterward - perhaps not as exfoliated as I'd like but certainly you can feel the effects of the moisturising ingredients such as Shea Butter, sweet almond oil and coconut oil.

If you have dry skin on your feet, Balance Me body polish makes an awesome foot scrub as the combination of exfoliation and cooling mint is the perfect pedi-combo!

The Balance Me Skin Brightening Body Polish costs around £18 for 150ml.

Salcura Bioskin Review

Lara and Holly have both being using Bioskin Junior bathtime products for a while as they are incredibly gentle on their super-dry skin.  This past month I've had the opportunity to try out a couple of grown-up skincare products for very dry skin by Salcura Bioskin - a daily moisturising serum and a daily cleansing wash.

The Salcura Bioskin DermaSerum is made from 98% natural ingredients - it is a light gel-lotion which you apply to your face as a moisturising serum after cleansing.  Unlike many thick moisturisers, the DermaSerum is suitable for use on facial skin which suffers from acute dry skin conditions such as eczema, dermatitis and psoriasis.  These days, I do still suffer from dry skin (but nowhere near as badly as I did during the first few years of motherhood!) and from occasional stress-induced psoriasis on my body.  I normally use a thicker moisuriser on my face but I've been reasonably pleased with the moisturising results when using DermaSerum.  I'm actually more impressed with how refreshed and relaxed my skin feels after application.  It's almost uplifting!

DermaSerum from Salcura Bioskin is great for applying to patches of dry, itchy skin and I can understand how its soothing effect would help prevent itching.  I think the relaxing, soothing feeling is intensified by the natural scents from the oils of eucalyptus, tea tree and sea buckthorn.

DermaSerum costs £11.99 for a 50ml bottle.

Sea Buckthorn is one of the primary ingredients of the Salcura Bioskin facial cleanser, giving it an intense orange colour!  This cleanser is a foaming face wash which I have been using in the mornings to wake me up.  Often I find that a facewash can leave my face feeling stripped of all its goodness but I think, because this is a largely natural product with a very low level of foaming (due to it having no SLS or parabens), this facewash doesn't have such a strong stripping effect.  So, even if you are not a sufferer of dry skin, this facewash is a great alternative to soap.

I'm not a big fan of the smell of the sea buckthorn in this cleanser (I know from cookery programmes on TV that its a bit of a love-hate thing) but the scent is certainly very distinctive and Salcura Bioskin products depend upon the skin-healing properties of sea buckthorn berries.  

I think its a great store-cupboard cleanser for me to use on a daily basis.  I can see that, if you are an acute dry skin sufferer, it must be really hard to find a facewash or cleansing lotion that can clean the skin without making the suffering worse.  I'd definitely recommend trying this product if you've struggled to find a suitable cleanser in the past.

The Bioskin Face Cleanser costs £12.99 for 200ml.

Oilatum Comfort Skin Tips

It is nearly 6 years since I first became a Mummy - back then, one of the very first things that I became un-mellow about as a parent was Lara's incredibly dry skin. Over the years, I've learned that dry skin is, in fact, very common and because a baby's skin is more delicate than that of an adult, it can be more susceptible to becoming dry and sensitive. I've learned a few tricks of my own for tackling Lara and Holly's dry skin over the years and so I was delighted to be involved in the creation of the Oilatum Comfort Skin Tips.

The Oilatum Daily Junior range is a set of skincare products from Oilatum, the dry skin specialists, but which is specifically designed for babies and small children with dry skin. I have, over the past few months, fallen a bit in love with the Oilatum Daily Junior Moisturising Lotion which I use on Lara, Holly and myself to keep arms and legs feeling smooth.

Oilatum Daily have teamed up with the British Skin Foundation and have listened to mums of children with dry skin in order to create the Oilatum Comfort Skin Tips, 10 easy-to-follow pieces of advice which can help parents to manage the problem of dry skin every day.

You can read the full set of tips at oilatum.co.uk/daily but here are a few of the tips to get you started:-

Tip 2. Try to keep your little one's bath time to 5-10 minutres as too much time spent playing in the bath can cause excess drying out of the skin.

Tip 5. Moisturising cream can be especially effective when your child's skin is damp, so apply it as soon as you've patted them dry to lock all that moisture in.

Top 9. Wash clothes and bedding with non-biological products that are kind to dry, sensitive skin and rinse clothes twice to be extra sure that all traces of soap residue have disappeared.

Oilatum Daily Junior Review and Competition

Earlier this year we reviewed the Oilatum Daily Junior moisturising body lotion - a thick lotion that both moisturises and acts as a barrier against further drying.  The lotion is suitable for babies, children and of course, adults with sensitive skin.  Building on the success of the body lotion, Oilatum have now launched a full range of children's bathtime and skincare products for sensitive skin - the Oilatum Daily Junior range.

The Oilatum Daily Junior range includes Shampoo, Head to Toe Wash, Bath Foam and the original moisturising body lotion.  Bathtimes really are a struggle in our house for my two girls who really want to use all the brightly coloured shampoos and body washes they see in the supermarket but when we are tempted, both girls suffer a lot with blotchy dry skin.  For this reason, we always prefer to use bathtime cleansing products designed specifically for sensitive dry skin and this new range of Oilatum Daily Junior products is well suited to our needs.

The Oilatum Daily Junior range is not free from all of the chemicals that are commonly associated with irritated skin - in fact the use of mineral oils in their products is one of the things that they boast because these can act as a barrier against other irritants and prevent drying of the skin through things such as central heating or air conditioning.  We have found the Oilatum Daily Junior products to work well for us - I like the Soothe & Protect Junior Bath Foam best.

To celebrate the launch of the new Oilatum Daily Junior range, I'm giving away a beautiful Oilatum Daily Junior Bathtime Kit for baby and you.  In the kit you will find everything you need to keep your tiny person's skin soft and pampered as well as a relaxing treat for you.  The kit includes:-

A luxury hooded baby towel

A baby bath thermometer

A complete set of Oilatum Daily Junior skincare products

A selection of Sassy Baby bath toys
A gorgeous soft animal blankie

A gently scented candle to add a little relaxing touch for you and baby

To be in with a chance of winning this kit, all you need to do is to leave a comment below with a baby bathtime tip that you would share with other new parents.  The competition closes on the 25th January.

TERMS and CONDITIONS:

1. There is no cash alternative.
2. The competition is open to UK and Ireland residents only.
3. Only one comment entry per person. Multiple, automated or bulk entries will result in immediate disqualification
4. The winners will be contacted by email.
5. Entries will only be deemed valid if a valid email address is provided when commenting - people who just log into intensedebate with their facebook account will not qualify for entry because it is too difficult for me to contact the winners
6. The winners will be selected at random from all valid comments received by 11:59pm on 25th January 2015.
7. The judges decision is final and no correspondence will be entered into
8. The winner's names will be published on this site

World Vegan Month - Lavera Cleanser and Toner Review

You know me, I love a good cleanser and toner combo and what better way to celebrate World Vegan Month this November than with a Vegan Society registered skincare routine from online eco retailer, Big Green Smile.

The Lavera Gentle Cleansing Milk is a creamy cleanser but it isn't thick - just thick enough to stay put on a cotton pad.  It is a very mild cleanser so is suitable for sensitive skins; I've found it effective at removing the general grime of the day from my face but I've yet to give it the challenge of a full face of make-up.  The active, soothing ingredients include organic almond milk and organic mallow flower.  I like it, its everything I look for in a cleanser and, combined with the Lavera toner, makes a perfect first step in my daily cleansing routine. This cleanser currently costs £7.50 at Big Green Smile for a 125ml bottle.

The Lavera Purifying Facial Toner is intended for oily to combination skin but I think it is gentle enough to use on most skin types.  This toner is packed full of ingredients known for their soothing and cleansing properties - ginkgo bilbao, witch hazel, aloe, grape and calendula.  It has a soft, planty scent and leaves my skin feeling gorgeous afterwards.  A great toner like this always leaves your skin feeling a little tighter than normal after its astringent properties (probably the witch hazel in this case)  closes down the pores to protect against dirt. Lavera Purifying Toner currently costs £7.90 for a 125ml bottle at Big Green Smile.

If you are looking for vegan-friendly skincare products then Big Green Smile have a whole host of products from moisturisers and make up through to toothpaste and deodorant.  There are also lots of cleaning products in the Vegan Society registered range of products that includes soap, laundry detergent and dishwasher powder.

Edition Edelweiss Cosmetics Review

I am a self-proclaimed lover of luxury cosmetics AND also an enthusiastic user of natural, organic and gentle cosmetics - quite often these two loves are at loggerheads with one another and it is unusual to find a luxury cosmetics brand that I feel pulls off the 'natural' or 'organic' thing well.  I think this Edition Edelweiss range of luxury skincare products is about as close as I have yet come to an effective, luxury skincare regime that ticks plenty of the natural cosmetics boxes.

Edition Edelweiss cosmetics are made by cosmetics company Siin in Austria using the iconic Edelweiss flower (organic, of course).  The Edelweiss plant was chosen for its naturally occurring active ingredients which have an antibacterial effect, are high in antioxidants. This rare and protected plant species includes ingredients which help with skin tightening and stimulate blood circulation and encourage cell renewal - perfect for reducing the signs of ageing.  An added bonus is that the products are free from parabens so suitable for sensitive skins.

I tried out this duo travel set of cleanser and moisturiser to get a feel for the Edition Edelweiss range.  Both products had that 'feel' about them that a luxury skincare brand does - a silky special feeling that reminds me of the very first bottle of big-brand cleanser that I saved up my hard-earned pennies for.  The Edition Edelweiss Milky Cleansing is a very gently foaming face wash which is perfect for use at the start of the day.  A facial wash has been part of my skincare routine for a very long time and this is as good as any I've tried, leaving my skin feeling squeaky clean, tight and ready for the day.

To follow up the cleansing wash I've been using the Edition Edelweiss 24 Hour Essence Cream which is almost mousse like in texture.  It is recommended as both a day and night cream (boasting 24 hour moisturisation) but I think I most prefer to apply it during the morning because it is such a light moisturiser that I barely feel that I have it on. Beyond the alpine spring water and edelweiss extract, this Essence Cream boasts aloe vera, olive tree, goji-berry, wheat germ and jojoba oil.  The ingredients are all clearly there to help kick start your skin into doing the things that it needs to do to start combating the signs of ageing.  So, while I don't come away from my Edelweiss experience feeling like this is the most effective moisturiser I've ever tried, I do have confidence that it has changed my skin over the past few weeks and that I've got a new bounce to my skin (but that may of course be the 2 stone I've lost this summer and the new energy I have from running!!!)

You can find out more about Edition Edelweiss on Twitter, Facebook and Pinterest.

Dermaoil Review

I had hoped I wouldn't need to worry about stretch marks again... at least not for a while.  However, since starting running back in June, I've lost nearly 2 stone and my body is fairly rapidly changing shape so yes, the stretch marks from two babies are really very noticeable again!  Thankfully, Dermaoil asked me to try out their skin repair and stretch mark oil - perfect timing!

Dermaoil is a gentle oil which can be used on all sorts of different areas of the body to increase firmness and elasticity of the skin; not only is it recommended for use in the reduction of appearance of stretch marks but it is also proven to be effective at reducing the signs of ageing and for reducing the appearance of scars.

I've been using Dermaoil for about a month.  I use it on my tummy, the tops of my legs, the tops of my arms and on my face and neck.  The oil is a mix of different natural oils such as sunflower (the base oil), jojoba, macadamia and argan oils - all of which bring different restorative properties.  There are no artificial fragrances but the smell is gorgeous, a mix of calendula flower and mandarin oil extracts which is why I particularly enjoy using Dermaoil on my face.

I shall be very honest and say that, in the month that I've used Dermaoil, I haven't seen any ground-breaking results but then I don't think I have any particular problem areas that need to be addressed; the stretch marks are still very much as they were before but I'm going to keep applying the oil because Dermaoil recommend using it for at least 3 months.  I don't find Dermaoil to be a stand-out rehydration oil (although I do enjoy the feel of my skin when I use the oil as a base for my evening moisturisation routine).  Obviously, results will vary depending on your skin.

The place in which I've noticed the most difference is my knees and the funny bit of dry skin on the outside of my ankle... both feel less nobbly than before!

The oil is naturally a yellowy colour (it has no added colour, no preservatives and no wheat or yeast unlike some stretch mark oils).  The oil applies very smoothly to the skin and it is up to you how much you want to rub it in, but I like to perform little massage movements to help it absorb (very mellow when you are applying it to your temples!)

Over the coming weeks I'm going to try using Dermaoil as a nail and cuticle conditioning treatment as I have been suffering from broken nails for a few weeks - it'll be interesting the see whether Dermaoil can give my nails a boost.

Dermaoil is suitable for use during pregnancy (from the start of the second trimester) to aid elasticity of the skin and help prevent stretch marks.

Dermaoil is available from chemistdirect.co.uk; 200ml for £15.99.

Nathalie Bond Organics Review - Soaps, Balms and Candles

There is nothing that makes me more mellow than a relaxing bath filled with beautiful scents and, most importantly, without the interruptions of little people.  Since I started running a few months ago, all of my baths have had to be post-run and hence, post-bedtime; this is a very peaceful time of day.  To make bathtimes even more mellow, I've been trying out a few luxury skincare items and candles from Nathalie Bond.

The Nathalie Bond brand was born when Nathalie first became pregnant and, like many mums-to-be her skin became sensitive to strong chemicals and fragrances and she tried to move over to more natural products.  Then, when baby arrived it became even more important to try and find natural skincare products that could still make you and your family feel wonderful.  Nathalie and Andy started making handmade soaps and candles in their own kitchen using natural ingredients and the business has grown from there.

A little candle in the bathroom is a luxury I can only afford when I know that there won't be toddlers rudely interrupting me.  The Nathalie Bond natural candles come in a couple of different sizes and in a range of scents.  My candle is a strong Siberian Fur scent which smells exactly like Christmas trees!  In fact, it makes me feel all festive when I light it.  The small candles cost £11 and last for approximately 12 hours when they burn.  All of the Nathalie Bond candles are made using essential oils and sustainably sourced wax.

These days, I more or less only use natural soaps - handmade from natural ingredients using traditional techniques, this is what soap used to be about.  Naturally occurring moisturisers, cleansers and healers.  This gorgeous lavender soap bar is one of around six different "flavours" of soap made by Nathalie Bond.  It is made from 100% natural and 98% organically sourced materials.

My soap has a gentle lavender scent from lavender essential oils but it also packed full of lavender blooms which, as you use the soap, create a sightly rough surface that helps to exfoliate the skin (and they make the bath look pretty as they fall out!).  The soap itself is made with olive oil, coconut oil and shea butter and leaves my skin feeling both clean, and soft.  Times like these, I wonder why I ever use a shower gel?!?

I absolutely love this 100% natural grapefruit lipbalm from Nathalie Bond.  Small enough to slip into my pocket, this cute little metal tin is filled with a firm balm.  Apply it by finger to the lips (and to little patches of dry skin on your hands and face - if you like!) to soften, nourish and protect.  I always find that a natural lipbalm gives a longer lasting result and I don't seem to need to re-apply it very often.  I've taken to applying this lipbalm last thing at night to give my lips an overnight boost.  

My lipbalm is a white grapefruit flavour and the scent makes me think of summery breakfasts - it is totally grapefruit!  Once applied, you can't really taste or smell the grapefruit much but you can feel the oily goodness doing its job.  As a natural balm, you need to rub your finger over the balm in the tin a couple of times to soften it enough to apply.  I felt that the lipbalm was the superstar in the Nathalie Bond range because it was so gentle, yet effective.

I really enjoyed trying out these beautiful natural skincare products and candles - I wish more evenings could be this mellow!

Find out more about the range at nathaliebond.com and on Facebook.

Lovea Shower Gel and Lovea Avocado Oil Review

At this time of year I'm normally prepping for an overseas holiday and I have a little ritual every time I go abroad - a brand new bottle of shower gel.  This year we are holidaying in the UK but I'm not going to let that stop my shower-gel tradition!  As a Mypure blogger, this month I chose to review the Lovea Monoi Shower Gel because I thought it might bring a tropical feel to my very British seaside holiday.

This organic and natural shower gel by one of my favourite brands, Lovea, is a 100% natural gel which is totally clear.  The gel has a beautiful heady scent of Tahitian Monoi flowers which reminds me of the smell of tropical flowers from my childhood and it definitely makes me thing summery thoughts when I'm in the shower.

The Lovea Tahitian Monoi shower gel comes in a lovely large bottle (400ml for £5.84 at Mypure at present).  One of the active ingredients is aloe vera leaf extract which has a million and one health uses but in this case is designed to help prevent the skin from drying out after using a shower gel (an occupational risk when using many high street brands!).  I've used this new shower gel for a couple of weeks now and I'm really happy with how it leaves my skin feeling.

Feeling in a Lovea mood, I also plumped for a little 50ml bottle of  Lovea Avocado Oil (currently £4.94 at Mypure).  I'm not sure there are any hard and fast rules about what you should use pure avocado oil for but I chose it to act as an all purpose face and body oil.  Avocado oil can act as a very gentle moisturiser for sensitive skin and, although my facial skin is slowly returning to normality post-motherhood, I do find the skin on my arms and legs needs a bit of love and care these days so I have been using Avocado oil after a shower.

I like it.  The Lovea Avocado oil doesn't leave my skin feeling oily - it seems to absorb very quickly.  There is pretty much no scent at all so it doesn't leave me feeling that floral post-shower glow but at least it doesn't leave me smelling of fruit and vegetables.  On my arms I think it is helping to calm the skin down a little and I found it particularly refreshing after a day out in the sun this week.

These Lovea Bio products and lots lots more are all available online at Mypure.

You can follow MyPure on Facebook , Twitter , Google+ and Pinterest.

Madara Cleansing Milk and Clarifying Toner Review - from MyPure #bbloggers #naturalbeauty #organic #review

Long time readers of Mellow Mummy will know quite how strongly I believe in my daily ritual of cleansing, toning and moisturising.  To me, a good cleansing milk and matching toner are two beauty staples that every mellow mummy should have in their armoury of beauty products.  And, likewise, loyal readers probably know that when it comes to skincare products I like to sing the praises of brands that (a) actually work and (b) offer a natural or organic alternative to the big high street names.  Madara skincare products tick both of these boxes for me.

Madara Clarifying Toner and Madara Cleansing Milk

Madara cosmetics are entirely natural cosmetics certified by ECOCERT. ECOCERT prohibits the use of synthetic perfumes and preservatives like parabens, mineral oil and propylene glycol. We have used Madara baby shampoo in the past and loved it but thanks to Mypure, this is my first opportunity to try out the facial skinscare range from Madara for adults.

Madara Cleansing Milk

I love this cleanser!

This Madara Cleansing Milk left my skin feeling fabulous after use.  It is thick, but not so thick it feels gloppy - it comes in a pump dispenser which worked well (often they don't!).  I applied the cleanser with my fingers and wiped off using cotton pads and I found it worked particularly well when finished off with the toner and my skin felt fabulously clean.

The active ingredients of the Madara cleansing milk include oat kernel extract and linden flower extract which are both known for their soothing properties and calendula which is not only soothing but cleansing too.  I thought the scent was gentle and refreshing which adds to the feeling of cleanliness.

The Madara Cleansing Milk costs £15 for 200ml at Mypure.

Madara Clarifying Toner and Madara Cleansing Milk

Madara Clarifying Toner

To me, a good toner has to be refreshing and zingy yet soothing - it has to leave my skin feeling clean and ready for action. The Madara clarifying toner is a nice and gentle lotion that definitely achieves my"refreshing" and "soothing" goals.

I found the product easy to dispense onto a cotton pad but it smelled a bit too much like witch hazel to me to meet my "zingy" expectations.  Interestingly the ingredients don't seem to include witch hazel but instead has active ingredients such as rose flower water, cucumber extract and oak bark.  Admittedly, I had to look the ingredients up online on the Mypure website as the text on the bottle was printed in the same colour as the green lotion inside so I couldn't read it!!!

The Madara Clarifying Toner costs £12 for 200ml at Mypure.

You can find out more about Mypure on Facebook, Twitter, Google+ and Pinterest.

Mums - What Makes You Feel Mellow?

If there was one thing I would ask for as a Mother's Day gift this year, it it would be a whole afternoon of just me.  Nobody else. No noise. A chance for me to do whatever it is I want to do and not have to rush.  The thing that makes me feel most mellow is a long hot bath with lots of time to spend pampering.  As I write this on a Tuesday evening after work I feel exhausted, stressed, sweaty and exasperated that, once again, bedtime for the girls took so long that I missed my opportunity to take a long hot bath and instead, tomorrow morning I will rush to squeeze in a shower before breakfast time and the school run.

For me, bathtime is not only my chance to indulge in a few of my favourite skincare products (one of the original starting points for my Mellow Mummy blog!) but it also signifies time.  Time for a bath means time for me.

Pebble Grey, bathroom accessory specialists asked me to think about what it is that makes my bathroom my place of sanctuary.  I love my bathroom - the two keys to a properly mellow bath are my heated towel rail (got to love a huuuuuuge bath sheet straight from the nice warm towel rail) and my LED Mirror which makes a really lovely light glow in the bathroom if I switch the main light off.  These two things set the mood but it is the pampering smellies which really make the occasion.

So here are my top tips for a mellow mummy bathtime experience this Mother's Day.

1. A really good quality bath milk or bath soak.   Bubbles are cool but they tend to disappear quickly so choose a product with a scent that you love and which works as an additive to the water that can keep your skin soft and well-loved.  I LOVE the Elemis bath milk as it leaves my skin feeling wonderful but the Neal's Yard Remedies bubble baths all smell amazing.

2. Turn the lights low and zone out.  These days I most enjoy having a bath after the girls have gone to bed because it is more likely that I will remain uninterrupted.  Though not guaranteed.

3. Use a gentle body exfoliator during your bath to slough off dead skin and leave your body feeling renewed.  This Agent Provocateur Silky Body Scrub is one of THE most awesome products I've ever come across.  My legs and arms felt soooooo good after I had used it and the room filled with the heady Maitresse scent.

4. Use a face mask or dedicated facial wash on delicate facial skin so as not to dry it out or irritate.  Modern Friction by Origins skincare is my current favourite exfoliating face treatment.

5. Bathtime doesn't have to finish once you get out of the bath. Once you're wrapped up in that warm bath sheet you can still find time to treat yourself.  Finish off with a slathering of a sumptuous, sweet-smelling body lotion and let your skin drink it up.

6. Finish off with a home manicure or pedicure (to me, the fact that I only find time to do this approximately once every three or four months means this is the ultimate indulgence).  Give your feet a scrub, rub in a little hand cream or foot cream, touch up those nails and lie back and wait for them to dry - the perfect excuse to stay still, chill out in the bathroom and not go anywhere for a little while longer.

Bloom Beautiful Mother and Baby Cosmetics Review

Bloom Beautiful are makers of gorgeous natural balms, salves and butters for pampering goodness and the Bloom Beautiful Mother and Baby range is EXACTLY my cup of tea - 100% natural products made in Devon from local ingredients designed to help soothe and protect your skin and that of your baby.

Holly and I have been trying out some of the Bloom Beautiful Mother and Baby skincare products and we LOVE them!

First up, we tried Bloom Beautiful's Mummy and Baby Massage Oil which is a gorgeous blend of sunflower, grapeseed, coconut and apricot kernal oil and chamomile for soothing and protective properties along with sweet orange oil and rose otto oil for a gentle uplifting fragrance.  The scent is simply heavenly and the orange oil really does make me feel bright and sunny when I'm using it on Holly - these days Holly still enjoys a massage but tends to wiggle a lot and I would say this massage oil was more energising than relaxing for bedtime.  The massage oil is beautifully presented with small rose petals suspended in the oil.  The Mummy and Baby Massage Oil costs £9.95.

I have used the Baby Bee Butter from Bloom Beautiful on Lara's dry skin on her arms.  The Bee Butter is a mix of shea butter, coconut oil and beeswax so it is quite a firm butter but with added vitamin E it makes a brilliant natural moisturiser.  Lara likes it because it doesn't leave a moist residue on her arms.  I would be more than happy to use this balm on a newborn suffering from dry skin and to help protect skin from losing its natural oils.  The Baby Bee Butter costs £6.50.

The Bloom Beautiful Baby Bottom Balm is a really firm waxy balm for soothing nappy rash and helping to calm reddened skin.  I found I had to really work the balm in the little presentation tin to soften it enough that I could easily use it in a hurry at the next nappy change.  The blend of olive oil, coconut oil and beeswax does mean however that once you can get some of the balm onto your fingers it is nice and oily so very easy to apply over the skin and rub in to provide a barrier against the nappy. The Bottom Butter costs  £7.75.

Bloom Beautiful's Mummy Bee Butter is a very similar texture to the Baby Bee Butter but with some more grown-up scents of lavender, tangerine, rosehip and rosewood.  The scent is still very subtle.  I've used this butter on my face, my legs, my arms and my tummy... I reckon you could use it anywhere where your skin needs a little bit of TLC but it would be ideal on skin shrinking after pregnancy.  It costs £7.75.

Bloom Beautiful products can be bought online from the Bloom Beautiful website and Not on the high street.

BigGreenSmile - Weleda Birch Body Scrub Review

BigGreenSmile.com stock every one of my favourite ranges of natural cosmetics, and many that I've never heard or tried before.  I'm a big fan of Weleda's natural baby cosmetics range and recently, BigGreenSmile.com gave me the chance to try out another one of Weleda's natural skincare ranges - their Birch oil range which is designed to help soothe.

I chose this Birch Body Scrub which is an in-shower exfoliant for the whole body.  The very first thing that struck me was the scent - it is out of this world.  The scent has citrus notes and it reminds me of lemongrass oil.  Put it this way, you come out of the shower feeling fresh and invigourated!  

The body scrub features very small particles which provide the exfoliant.  It is a very gentle scrub so although you can feel the particles on your skin, it doesn't feel like a whole layer of skin has been sloughed off.  In fact, the creamy lotion that holds the particles is ever so slightly foaming and you can use it as a regular shower cream.

The addition of birch oil means that the exfoliating nature of this body scrub is balanced well with the soothing and moisturising elements.  I use the body scrub regularly on my legs which have been recently suffering with ingrowing hairs and this really helps to lift the hairs from the surface of the skin and encourages a better skin tone on my legs.

I love the scent of this exfoliant and I am now desperate to try out more of the Weleda Birch range from BigGreenSmile.

The Weleda Birch Body Scrub usually costs £9.50 at BigGreenSmile.com but is currently on offer at 20% off.

Lloyds Pharmacy La Roche Posay - Toleriane Dermo Cleanser Review

It has been far too long since I've featured any skincare reviews on Mellow Mummy - sorry!  This is my latest skin saviour, the Toleriane Dermo Cleanser by La Roche Posay from Lloyds Pharmacy.

La Roche Posay is a well know skin science clinic and their cosmetics are a well-respected brand that I have known of for years, but never tried before - they are only available in pharmacies.  There is nothing fancy or floral about this cleanser, it is a very plain yet effective cleansing lotion that does exactly what it says on the tin, and does it well.

The Toleriane range by La Roche Posay is designed for intolerant skin; skin that may react in a number of different ways to some normal cosmetics through irritation, tightness or dryness and so it is important that there are no unnecessary ingredients which may irritate the skin.  My skin is currently very unpredictable so this really appealed to me.

I really enjoyed using this cleanser because it leaves my skin feeling CLEAN. Sometimes a cream cleanser can leave your skin feeling clean but heavy and you need to use a toner afterwards to clear it all off... but this Toleraine Dermo Cleanser is so light that afterwards, it feels as if you have both cleansed and toned at once. I think this is probably down to the use of thermal spa water as the base for the lotion and which is known to offer skin-soothing properties.

I use this cleanser as a daily cleaner for my skin and to remove make-up.  I use it neat on a piece of cotton wool but it is also recommended for use as a wash-off cleansing wash.  I love the feeling of my skin after use and I can see why this cleanser is recommended by dermatologists.

The Toleriane Dermo Cleanser costs £11 at Lloyds Pharmacy for 200ml which is very good value for a high-end cleansing milk.

Neom Luxury Organics Tranquility Bath Foam

About an hour ago I had a bath. OK, so thats nothing new (I'm not that stinky) but on a Thursday that bath is the one thing that drives me to get through the day. Thursday is my day off work. My day off should be relaxing... but it isn't! I spend a Thursday morning taking my toddler and preschooler to swimming lessons. In the afternoon I take Holly out and about then come home to finish of the weeks chores. By the time Mr. B. gets home from work I am totally worn out... I hand off both girls to him and disappear for that short half-hour of me time. The bath. Mellow Time.

Today's bath was made all the more mellow by the addition of my latest find - Neom Luxury Organic Tranquility Bath Foam.

Tranquility Bath Foam

The Tranquility bath foam is perfect for the run-up to bedtime because the blend of organic essential oils is calming and relaxing... it helps me in the wind-down period and is a perfect way to recover from the stresses of the day. the philosophy behind Neom Luxury Organics is exactly my mantra - natural and organic cosmetics don't have to sacrifice quality, luxury or incredible fragrances. Natural oils make some of the most amazing scents on the planet and I have been known to sit on the edge of the bath sniffing the bottle while my bath runs!

The scents which contribute to the mellowness are a blend of English Lavender, Jasmine and Sweet Basil. I did find though that the scent quickly fades once you have run the bath. But actually, I don't think that really matters. Once I'm in the bath I look for a non-oily mix but which doesn't dry the skin and the Neom luxury Organics bath foam does just that. Afterwards my skin feels as relaxed as I am and I'm sure this is to do with the active ingredients of Aloe Leaf, Marshmallow, Sweet Almond and Coconut.

At £20 for a 200ml bottle, the Tranquility Bath Foam is certainly an indulgence but my, oh my, does it feel good at the end of a Thursday evening! I do love it though and if the scent lasted that little longer once I was in the bath then I think it would have a permanent role in my Thursday evening ritual.

Angela Langford Natural Hand Cream Review

Hand creams are one of my weaknesses. I love them. To me, the relaxing effect of squiding on a dollop of hand cream before I go to bed is just about one of THE most pampering experiences. Such a little thing that makes such a big difference. My latest find was sent to me for review - Angela Langford's "In Safe Hands" natural hand cream.

This is one of my greatest finds to date on Mellow Mummy. Angela Langford skincare products are all made with natural ingredients and active essential oils. They are free from parabens, petrochemicals and synthetic fragrances and colours so are exactly my kind of thing.

I have been sitting here for the past 10 minutes sniffing my own hands and trying to put my finger on exactly why I love this hand cream so much. My hands feel oily in exactly the way they would if I had just rubbed pure essential oils straight on them - that's a good feeling but the texture is something more than that, my hands feel fluffy, if that's possible??? Perhaps it is the Rice Bran oil that does this?

I think the thing I enjoy most is the scent. Active ingredients include Calendula, Marhsmallow and Evening Primrose, chosen for their anti-inflammatory and moisturising properties but the scent to me smells citrussy - it is a perfectly uplifting combination of floral rose geranium, sharp and planty pettigrain and citrus lemon oils. The smell is as soothing for the mind as the ingredients are soothing for your hands.

Angela Langford's "In Safe Hands" natural hand cream is ideal for people with dry hands but it also makes a perfect treat to keep your hands feeling soft and supple every day. At £17.50 for 100ml it is a special treat for me, but I'm REALLY enjoying using it so I think it is good value at this price and because it is so rich in essential oils, you only need a tiny bit.