Disney Princess Ariel Bath Styling Head Review

Holly was delighted to be asked to review the Disney Princess Ariel Bath Styling Head from Just Play as she is very much into princesses, hair styling and anything Disney right now. My interest dwindled soon after the epic 10+ minute struggle to remove her from her packaging - her hair was literally sewn into the packaging and was shaped to look "pretty" using some form of rigid glue-like-substance.

The Disney Princess Ariel Bath Styling Head is intended for use as a bath toy which is handy because the first thing we had to do was to wash her hair! She comes with a hollow sea shell that you can use to gently pour water over her hair and eyes to make them change colour. Ariel can stick to the side of the bath using three suckers but Holly finds it hard to brush or style her hair when she is attached to the side of the bath so in fact we have had more use of Ariel when she has been on dry land.

Ariel comes with a set of styling accessories such as hair combs, a selection of hair clips, a hairbrush and a necklace, all with a seaside theme. Because she is intended as a bath toy, she is a little smaller than many toy styling heads but that doesn't seem to reduce the opportunities for plaits, pony tails and clips! Holy is quite taken with her deep red hair which is instantly recognisable. I've never quite managed to get Ariel's hair to look quite as good as it did when it was plastered into the packaging, in fact she looks a little bald on top unless you give her a serious comb-over.

We weren't awfully impressed by the colour changing features. You can use ice-cold water to turn a sliver of Ariel's hair from light blue to dark blue (the change is noticeable but the effect would be more magical if it were to change from one colour to a significantly different colour). Ariel's eyes and lips also change colour with icy water, intending to give the impression of make-up but once again, the difference in the colour of the lips is so small that its almost instantly forgettable. The eye lids change from brown to pink. When you apply warm water, the colours change back. Given that this is a bath-toy, the use of water to change the colours is a good idea but most people don't have ice water on hand in their bathroom to change the colours too and from.

The Disney Princess Ariel Bath Styling Head costs around £24.99. I think there is play value in it, but we've found it more appealing as a regular styling head, rather than a colour-changing bath styling head. Find her at Argos and Amazon.

The Darkest Dark by astronaut Chris Hadfield

The Darkest Dark is a children's story book about a little boy who is afraid of the dark...I think it is also probably very true to the childhood experiences of its author, the astronaut, Chris Hadfield.

Little Chris has an active imagination - he dreams about being an astronaut, exploring far off planets and hunting for aliens. But young Chris is terrified of the dark and won't settle in his own room at night for fear of aliens and the deep dark depths of the night.  On the night that he and his family watch the televised moon landings of Apollo 11, Chris realises that in space there is a type of darkness much darker than he is used to in his own bedroom. And that is when he decides he wants to be an astronaut, not just dream about them.

This book held particular fascination for Lara because she was interested to know that Commander Chris Hadfield is a genuine US astronaut. Lara enjoyed reading the material at the back of the book about Chris Hadfield's space career and looking at the photos of him as a boy, a young man, and in space. It really brought life to the story to know it was based on a real person.

This is a great story for any budding young astronauts or for children who are struggling to cope with the dark themselves. I think the moon landings needed a little bit of an explanation to Lara and Holly who didn't really grasp the weight of such an occasion and how it might impact someone's life.

I'm not sure that the text of the story itself has grasped either of my girls' imaginations - they remember the story but not necessarily the way in which it was told.

We Are Christmas-Jumper Ready!

This year, national Christmas Jumper day falls on December 16th and for the first time ever, we will be Christmas-Jumper ready thanks to Matalan and their range of Christmas jumpers for the whole family.

National Christmas Jumper day is a day when schools and workplaces up and down the country raise money for Save the Children while dressing up in silly jumpers.  Last year I had recently started at a new job and wasn't at all prepped...I didn't own a Christmas jumper! Neither did the girls. Eeek.

Matalan have now got their festive jumpers in stock with a massive range for small people right up to adults.  Lara is wearing a kids Christmas Jumper which is available for children from 3-13 years old. The jumper has a little musical piece inside the snowman'd head which plays "jingle bells" although I think Lara very much likes this jumper for the visual design, more than the music. The fit is great, the shaping is simple but the design is very fitting for an older girl as it includes sparkly sequins and a 3-D pink scarf as well as delicate applique snowflakes and a pom pom for good measure. It's just the right mix of silly and sensible for a girl of Lara's age. This Matalan jumper costs from £13.

My jumper is a simple Xmas slogan jumper for women which costs £18. When it first arrived, I was worried that the textures lettering looked and felt like real wool (itchy) but despite the wool-like texture this acrylic, polyester and elastene jumper is super-soft AND stretchy so it is phenomenally comfortable.  I'll admit that after posing for the photos in our front garden, I chose to wear the jumper for the rest of the day because it was so comfy and snuggly!  It's kind of a shame that I may only get to wear it for a few days every year. I ordered a size larger than my normal size because I am quite tall and wanted to ensure that my jumper was spacious and slouchy but I think I probably could have got away without going up a size because the jumper is soft enough that I'd be happy to wear it with no vest or t-shirt underneath.

Holly is wearing a wonderful bright red musical xmas jumper featuring everyone's favourite reindeer. Press the shiny red nose and the jumper starts to play "jingle bells".  On the front of the jumper there is lots of fun texturing on the reindeer face and a fabulous knitted scarf which stands out from the main jumper (who can resist pulling it?).  On the back, the jumper says MERRY XMAS in white, knitted into the jumper itself. I really love this jumper.  It is available in ages 3 months to 5 years and costs from £9.

Disclosure: We were sent out Christmas jumpers to review but we do very much love them and our review reflects our own views.