Tiny Drops of Honey...This Mommy's Sweet Life: September 2016

Wednesday, September 28, 2016

BIESKIN Hooded Baby Bath Towel Set

Bath time for kids! What kind of towels do you use? I love using hooded towels, as they absorb water from wet heads, keep little ones toasty, and are adorable!

I was sent a hooded towel for review. It is not a brand I have heard of previously. The brand is BIESKIN and they are on Amazon. The company makes changing pads liners and swaddle blankets as well.

This is a generous size, (35"x35") bamboo hooded towel that looks like a little cream / white bear cub. It is perfect for your sweet baby or toddler. (or both!) My 2 1/2 year old son used this a few times and this kept him warm when wrapping him up to go from the bathroom to the bedroom. Our nearly 100 year old home is poorly insulated so it can get drafty at times, especially in the winter when bathing. This has been washed twice and is buttery soft. It held up well in the washer and dryer.

I was also able to use this for my 4 month old baby, however will mostly use it for my 2 1/2 year old, as it is difficult to find larger towels that are hooded (and so soft). I love the bear ears and am happy that this does not have a bear face on it. It always bothers me to see a hooded towel with a face, when it is the child's face that is supposed to be the animal. Simple bear ears makes for a very cute towel.

I find the stitching and overall quality of the towel excellent. I would have preferred there to not have been a large red logo on the towel. I would have liked this to have a metal snap to keep it closed, as my toddler kept pulling it off his shoulders when he was getting his lotion applied on his skin and before he was dressed. I love that this is made from super soft, antibacterial bamboo. This came with a baby wash cloth as well. I like this set and recommend it.

I would have preferred it to be made in the USA / Local.

This was sent to me complimentary, and these are my opinions.

DISCLOSURE: In order for me to support my blogging activities, I may receive monetary compensation for a product review and/or link to any products or services from this blog. I am always honest in my opinions and never promise a positive review. I only recommend products or services that I feel are beneficial to my family and my lovely readers. I enjoy testing out items and giving my readers an honest and descriptive account of how a product functions. My personal experience or view of an item may differ than yours.

Tiny Drops of Honey is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to Amazon.com. You pay the exact same price for any and all products you order through my links, but I receive a small commission. I am a stay at home mommy and any commissions I receive help support my little ones.

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Hair Regrowth Serum by Jaowying Beauty (Review)

My husband has been testing out a hair growth serum from Jawing Beauty. I received a sample bottle for this review. The spray is intended to thicken and strength hair follicles and promote healthy hair growth. He has used it at the recommended amount and for about 3 weeks. It smells wonderful and is floral scented which I love, and does not really bother my husband since it does seem noticeable when worn.

It comes in a 1.69 fl oz (50 ml.) bottle that is fitted with a pump spray top that needs to be installed on the bottle once it arrives. Spray the serum directly onto your hair or spray on hands, rub your palms together to lightly generate some warmth, and then massage it into your hair. Use regularly morning and evening.

The ingredients are natural for the most part, with some being unrecognizable to my knowledge. It does contain perfume which is unfortunate. I would have liked the lovely scent to have been 100% botanical or derived from essential oils. I am not excited about the fact that it contains Propylene Glycol and some other chemicals. It is said to be formulated without "toxic chemicals." I would have preferred the entire product to be 100% natural. This spray claims to "stimulate, strengthen and nourish hair follicles." We have not yet seen much improvement, however we feel 3-4 weeks is far to soon to see improvement. He has not had any irritation or ill side effects from using this, so we will continue to monitor his usage and any results.

Ingredients

Water, Propylene Glycol, Panthenol, Hydrolyzed Wheat Protein, Butylene Glycol , Allium Cepa Bulb Extract, Dextran, Glycerin, PEG-40 Hydrogenated Castor Oil, Acetyl Tetrapeptide-3, Trifolium Pratense Flower Extract, Alcohol , Malus Domestica Fruit Cell Culture Extract, Kigelia Africana Fruit Extract, Tocopherol , Panax Ginseng Root Extract, Ginkgo Biloba Leaf Extract, Citrus Aurantium Bergamia Peel Oil, Litsea Glutinosa Bark Extract, 2-Phenoxyethanol, Clitoria Ternatea Flower Extract, Xanthan Gum, Vitis Vinifera Seed Extract, Lecithin, Disodium EDTA,Perfume,Methylisothiazolinone, Chlorphenesin

I would rate this as a 3 1/2 out of 5 stars, as it has more synthetic/chemical type ingredients than we are fond of using. The fragrance is lovely, however, it is most likely synthetic. I think that the fragrance could have been 100% natural using rose water, rose extracts, the current botanicals listed, and various essential oils. (Those ingredients which are also nourishing, yet also provide a nice fragrance that is safe and pure.) I am unsure as to why a perfume was even needed to be additionally used.

If this could be re-formulated to 100% natural, I would increase the rating to 4 1/2 to 5 stars. I am unsure as of the rate of improvement to hair growth, but as with most products such as this, it takes many months of use before significant results are noticed.

Tiny Drops of Honey is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to Amazon.com. You pay the exact same price for any and all products you order through my links, but I receive a small commission. I am a stay at home mommy and any commissions I receive help support my little ones.

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Monday, September 26, 2016

Pure Artisan Shea Butter All Natural Soap Bar Dazzle Beauty (Review)

I love using natural soap and will not wash with anything that contains sulfates or chemicals. I like pure, natural ingredients, such as essential oils, carrier oils, botanical ingredients, etc. When I want a simple soap, I generally like a nice old fashion style, that contains sodium hydroxide (lye). Lye sounds scary, but today's methods of making soap are safer and if you know what you are doing (Oh I wish I knew how to make soap!), all the caustic scary stuff is made skin safe and extremely gentle. I have used Grandma's Old Fashioned lye soap for a few years and like it a lot. It is a simple soap but gentle and versatile. It works well for face and for baby.

Ingredients:

Lard (food grade), Water (aqua), & Sodium Hydroxide (lye)

I recently was sent a similar soap that I feel is better than Grandmas. The soap that I have been using (sent for evaluation) is a shea butter coconut oil base instead of lard. I find those ingredients more luxurious and skin softening. Dazzle Beauty makes the soap and has also added rice bran oil and castor oil. This is a "Pure Artisan" Shea Butter hypoallergenic soap. It is gentle and effective for for daily use and heals many skin issues. I have used it on my face, body, for shaving (with my vintage safety razor and badger hair brush), for bathing my children (including the 4 month old baby) and lastly I have used it as a mild stain removing bar for washing my 100% wool (cashmere and merino) wool diaper covers.

I really like this soap, it is unscented and made of 100% Pure vegetable ingredients. It is hypoallergenic with no additives or dyes. There is nothing in the soap that should cause any irritation. It is is hand cut with ridged edges that soften after a couple uses with water.

Ingredients:

Pure water, rice bran oil, coconut oil, sodium hydroxide, castor oil, shea butter

You can learn more about the company and their soaps by visiting their website and Facebook page.

For a limited time, they have a 20% off sale off their soaps. If you will be buying a bulk amount of soaps (gift baskets, holidays, or just to stock up) there are some significant discounts to be awarded!

Quantity Discounts:

0 - 5 soaps: listed price

6 -11 soaps: $0.05 off listed price per soap

12+ soaps: $0.10 off listed price per soap

The website also has other ways to save. Check out the Dazzle Rewards. You earn a point for every dollar you spend.

*Please note that I am not selling the soap and am in no way connected to the company, nor do I receive any benefit if you purchase anything from them.*

The full sized bars are approximately 3.75-4 oz. I suggest using a soap dish that allows the soap to drain excess water. I have been using this soap daily for various uses and still have some remaining. The company has some exciting new soaps now in their shop that will suit a variety of needs.

*I received soap samples for this review. I was not compensated other than a full sized bar and 2 small ones.

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I was sent 2 small travel/sample soaps as well as a full sized bar.

As mentioned above, this soap is very gentle, yet effective for cleaning and softening skin. The soap was great for grating a few slivers to dissolve into water to make my lanolin milky mixture to lanolinize (and lightly clean) my wool diaper covers and long diaper pants.

Saturday, September 24, 2016

Organic Arnica Magic Stick / Baby Skin Problems (Review)

I was recently sent an Arnica skin stick for review from Souris Verte. It is a Canadian company that makes top quality, natural skin / body / baby products. I was happy to try this ointment stick as we only use natural ingredient items in our family. My 4 month old has been having ongoing skin issues since birth. He started having infant acne bumps on his face that I was able to clear up completely after the first month. His forehead however, has been red and bumpy for the last 2-3 months. It often becomes slightly raised and inflamed, with some dry flaky patches. I have been using Lanolin ointment and shea butter on it each day, but wanted to try some other products (in addition).

The Arnica stick has botanical extracts and carrier oils. The ingredients are quite lovely and effective for improving irritated skin.

Ingredients:

Helianthus Annuus (Sunflower) Seed Oil*, Cera Alba/Beeswax, Theobroma Cacao (Cocoa) Seed Butter*, Butyrospermum Parkii (Shea Butter)*, Vitis Vinifera (Grape) Seed Oil*, Simmondsia Chinensis (Jojoba) Seed oil*, Olea Europaea (Olive) Fruit Oil, Helianthus Annuus (Sunflower) Seed Oil Unsaponifiables, Arnica Montana Flower Extract*, Rosmarinus Officinalis (Rosemary) Leaf Extract*, Lavandula Angustifolia (Lavender) Oil*, Rosmarinus Officinalis (Rosemary) Leaf Oil*, Tocopherol.

* ingredients from Organic Farming

Usage: Apply immediately to the bruised skin. Repeat 2 or 3 times a day. Do not apply to wounds or the eye area. For external use only.

Extra Information: (the following is copied directly from the website)

Organic arnica is effective for treating bruises, sprains, swelling, muscle and joint pain, and inflammation caused by insect bites.
Cocoa butter moisturizes the skin, and has healing and soothing properties.
Organic sunflower oil is rich in vitamin E and nourishes the skin.
Shea butter helps soothe and relax the skin. Furthermore.
The Magic Stick is good for the whole family!
It protects the skin against external aggressions (wind, sun, cold) and is great as after-sun.
Practical size; you can bring it everywhere!
100% natural / 73% organic.

I like how I can keep this by the changing table and apply it to my little fella's head right before bed. I also like to use it on his face and head right after bath time. It is small enough for a diaper bag, however I would be concerned about leaking if it melted some from a hot car (I have left my diaper bag in the car a few times when we go into a restaurant).

I like the product and recommend it. I do want to mention that it is $18.99 (plus shipping) and it may be out of some budgets for such a small stick. I think the price should be closer to $15. These are available on Amazon, but not for Prime shipping. You can learn more about the company and their products when following them on Facebook.

I used this ointment on his forehead about 3-4 times per week for 3 weeks. I used a natural diaper rash ointment with zinc oxide on the other days. I found that the 2 products complimented each other and improved his skin. He still has some red and bumpy areas, but nothing like it was previously. I warm up the product on my 2 fingers and then apply it to his head with my fingers.

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