Category: Bath

I am one of those lucky (and by that I mean the exact opposite of lucky) people who have to flat iron their hair everyday in order to achieve straight hair. My hair isn’t curly, though I can use a diffuser and give it a nice wave. It’s nowhere near straight…it’s this ugly in-between.

I’ve been thinking of getting a Brazilian Blowout. If you don’t know what a Brazilian Blowout is, it’s a process done by a professional hair stylist that creates a protective protein layer around the hair shaft to eliminate frizz and smooth the cuticle. The end result is smooth, healthy, frizz-free hair with radiant shine. It isn’t cheap – it can run you anywhere from $250 and up depending on who is doing it and where. And it only lasts for 4-6 months. Read more…

I already feel bad for my 2 year old twin girls. Why? Because if their hair is anything like mine, and it is already looking like it will be, they are going to have to survive a lifetime of fighting to comb out their hair after every bath and shower for the rest of their lives. Yep, my hair gets extremely knotty and hard to brush no matter how much conditioner, detangler, and special combs I use to try to brush it out.

Sorry, girls. Read more…

As I’m getting older, I find I am paying WAY more attention to is skincare. Sure I’ve always worn sunblock, but I may or may not be guilty of sleeping in my makeup, not using a good moisturizer, and on and on. Part of my issue is that I just couldn’t seem to find a product that gave me the results I wanted while still being affordable to purchase.

So when I found the Neutrogena Wave, I’ll be honest and say I was very skeptical of the results I would get from it. Read more…

It’s a sad but true fact that even baby bathtime can be a danger zone for kids.

With all of the harmful ingredients that have been placed into the health and beauty products manufacturing stream over the last few decades, bathtime is a scary venture. Stuff that you don’t recognize or can’t pronounce makes for difficult decision-making when trying to pick the right products for your child.

We like to cover a lot of safer bath products here at Smart Mom Picks, and today is no exception. Read more…

There’s nothing better than the soft, fine, silky hair of a tiny baby.

I used to love brushing my kids’ hair when they were infants. My daughter now practically does dramatic fainting spells every time I get near her with a comb.

Of course, I have to FIND the comb or brush first -  no easy task in this household. My daughter’s no dummy. She tends to strategically relocate said hair implements so that mommy cannot find them.  And I admit – sometimes I leave them in the most unlikely of places, too. Read more…

Isn’t bathtime one of the most precious times that a parent can spend with their baby?

I love seeing little ones all wrapped up in a cozy towel with just their heads peeking out.

That moment of getting a slippery newborn out of the bath, though, can be scary.

Mamaan company has made this innovative new bathtime wrap Read more…

Changing diapers is now a distant memory for me, thank goodness.

I think about the hundreds and hundreds of dollars we spent on baby wipes. I was not one to be stingy on the wipe front, by the way. If I needed 100 of those suckers to clean up the mess of a major diaper blowout, I’d use 100.

I realize that was not the best thing for our planet. I’m going to chalk it up to ignorance and sleep deprivation. Read more…

It’s starting to feel a lot like winter, which means dry skin, red cheeks and chapped lips.

And if you’re a parent of a newborn, all of these conditions come on more severely in the winter weather. We’ll do anything to ensure that our little ones’ perfect skin isn’t sullied by any peeling, dryness or chafing.

However, the challenge is finding quality products that are naturally-based and can treat your baby’s skin gently.

When my son was about 6 months old, his skin was so dry. I slathered him in some “baby” lotion that resulted in a really severe rash. We never did figure out what the cause was, but you can bet I didn’t buy that lotion again.

Erbaviva’s line of baby care products looks like it takes some of that worry away. Erbaviva uses no artificial coloring or dyes in its products. They are not tested on animals. They use high quality essential oils to make baby care products that are safe, gentle and healthy.

If I still had a sweet baby around the house, this organic baby butter, shown above, would be my first Erbaviva product to try.  I love “butter” lotions and this one is made from fair-trade organic cocoa butter.

If you read the ingredient list, it contains only things you a) recognize and b) can pronounce. And at $14 a jar, I think it’s well priced for an item so naturally based.

One of the other Erbaviva products that I thought was really innovative were these Organic Baby Washbags.

These washbags are basically soap-free sachets for the bath. The sachet is unbleached muslin, and filled with herbal ingredients only, such as organic oatmeal, lavender flowers, milk powder and some essential oils.

You put one sachet into the baby’s bath water, and another is used as a washcloth. Brilliant! You get 20 sachets for $32.

Erbaviva has a ton of other baby care products from cheek balm to sunscreen to cradle cap treatment, as well as products for moms and moms-to-be.

You can check out Erbaviva at Erbaviva’s website or at BeautyHabit.

As a mom of two, deals are essential to my budget, especially given the fact that we have both a baby and a tween who is involved in competitive sports.

DealTaker.com is a site designed to help you get the very best deal possible as quickly as possible.  A major “deal hub” if you will, they have Read more…

Crazy curls run in the family and my daughter is no exception. You should see her when she wakes up in the morning – talk about bed head! That’s why I’ve been looking for something to help get her curls under control and make them look more ringlet than ragamuffin. Luckily Mixed Chickskindly sent along their new line of shampoo, conditioner and leave-in conditioner to help out this mama in need.

The shampoo is lovely and smells like a salon. So nice. It is very thick in your palm and lathers up well. As far as shampoos go, it acts like a good, quality shampoo – getting her hair nice and clean. However, the only thing that concerns me is if it stings when it gets in the eyes. I was careful so we didn’t have a problem, but I’m not eager to test it out. I looked and didn’t see any tear free disclaimer on the packaging.

On to the conditioner and leave-in conditioner. Either separate or together, these products make for some luscious curls. Big, bouncy ringlets that aren’t the least bit frizzy. Awesome! The conditioner is thick but distributes well on the scalp. It also rinses easily, though I did notice that it takes a few more rinses than with the shampoo. And, since we’re all about the baths, it’s hard to keep rinsing with dirty water. It seemed to me that with the shampoo and conditioner together, the water gets extra dirty. If it were me, I’d stand up and shower off really quickly which is, sadly, not an option for my little one.

We did try the shampoo only then a touch of the leave in conditioner and that worked wonders. No filmy soap water to rinse with and her curls were under control. I’d recommend this mode of use for everyday and save the conditioner for once or twice a week.

I will say that I’m no longer embarrassed at my girl’s appearance…well, at least until she gets to that “I want to dress myself” phase, but that’s a different story.

FYI – I used the sample on my own hair and the stuff worked so well on my curls I ended up with wavy hair instead of wild curls. The products weigh the curls down a lot, but when you’ve got all the bounce and curl you need (and some to spare) then the extra weight is a good thing. Plus, I’ve always wanted wavy hair! Such a nice surprise.

In fact, I was so pleased with Mixed Chicks that I sent some along to mom (a three generation testing!) – the woman who gave ME my curls. She lives in a super humid environment and is always fighting the “frizzies”. She was very positive about the shampoo and conditioner and said it got her frizz under control. She’s less girly than me so I can’t say that she was as pumped as I was upon using it. Chalk that up to not really caring whether or not her hair is frizzy, curly or whatnot.

But, my curly headed assessment…Mixed Chicks know what they are doing when it comes to taming curls.

PurGood Organics has a line of bath products for baby – baby shampoo, baby lotion and baby wash. They use strictly organic ingredients – no parabens, pthalates or other harsh chemicals. Not like some organic products that actually contain chemicals as well as organic ingredients.

While I haven’t tested these products out on my family yet (just haven’t gotten around to buying them) I’m attracted to their commitment to being organic, their “non-manufactured” smell, and the fact that they actually thank me for visiting their website BEFORE I buy anything. How polite.

Using organic bath products for baby is also good for the environment. All PurGood bottles are recyclable and only recycled packaging materials are used.

I haven’t seen PurGood products in the stores yet, but you can buy it directly from their website.

If your child loves baths and loves books, why not combine the two? Made from soft vinyl, bath books allow your tot to enjoy turning pages while in the comfort of a tub.

If you’re tired of Disney and Baby Einstein – both of which make lots of bath books – then keep your eye out for My First Word Bath Bookby DK publishing.

Featuring large, bright photos of everyday objects like clothes, bicycles, and teddy bears, My First Word Bath Book encourages your kid to name objects and build vocabulary – all while you scrub her down in the bath. The book is appropriate for babies and kids all the way up through preschool. Babies will like the bright colors while older kids will get a kick out of recognizing and naming familiar objects.

Bath books like this one can be especially useful for kids who want to scramble out of the tub while you wash them. The book allows them to focus on something while you do your thing.

My First Word Bath Book measures 8.7 x 5.7 x 1.3 inches, so it’s perfect for little hands to grasp. The pages are make from durable, squishy vinyl that resists both water and tearing.

One word of warning, however: DK baby bath books may contain phthalates which can be toxic. We have not been able to confirm this with the publisher, but there have been some customer reviews that have noted this. If you are concerned about the possible effects of phthalates you may want to wait to buy My First Word Bath Book (or other bath books, for that matter) until your child is out of the constant teething phase.

If your kid loves bubbles baths – and which kid doesn’t? – The Kel-Gar Tubbly Elephant Bubble Bath Dispenser is a super fun gift – if you have the right faucet.

Tubbly the Elephant is a soft protective cover for metal faucets that are hard and can get hot. Kids seem to be drawn instinctively to the faucet when they take a bath, so Tubbly is a great way to prevent your tot from bumps and burns.

In addition to promoting bath safety, the Kel-Gar Tubbly Elephant Bubble Bath Dispenser also creates awesome bubbles. Just pour your favorite bubble bath into Tubbly’s trunk and out come tons of bubbles. There are lots of other faucet guards on the market, but the ability to create great bubble baths makes Tubbly special.

But be warned: the Tubbly Elephant Bubble Bath Dispenser does not fit on all faucets. In particular, if you have a water diverter on the bottom of your faucet that you pull down to take a shower, the Tubbly-Bubbly is not recommended by the manufacturer. Specifically, Kel-Gar recommends not using the product with Delta faucet Model #1548.

The Tubbly Elephant Bubble Bath Dispenser also may not work well if your spigot has a flat-top shower pull up – sliding on and off the Tubbly every time you need to take a shower can get old quickly.

The Tubbly-Bubbly is 8 inches long, which may be too short for some faucets, so you should be sure to measure yours before ordering. If the back of the Tubbly cover is too short to meet your tub’s tile wall it could easily be bumped out of position, causing water to spray everywhere.

That being said, if your faucet fits, the Tubbly-Bubbly will be a welcome addition to your child’s bath time routine.

Baby Star, a mecca for well designed children’s bedding, blankets and clothes is having its semi-annual half-off sale starting today. That’s 50% off everything on the site!

But there are two catches: you have to use the coupon code “half” when checking out to get the discount. And the sale only lasts through April 5th, so get on over there fast.

If you’re not familiar with Baby Star you’re going to love their stuff. Ranging from blankets and bath stuff to shirts and tote bags, Baby Star’s products are fun and stylish. The eye-catching patterns and vibrant colors that run through all of Baby Star’s products make each one feel special.

Baby Star now also features organic clothing goodness. Check out this groovy soy organic Buddha Onesie and Pant Set. Rockin’ it retro style!

The set usually retails for $36, but with half off you’re only paying $18! Sure, that’s still more than you’ll pay at Target, but you won’t find patterns this snazzy at your local retailer.

Remember, the Baby Star half-off sale ends in just five days. Use the coupon code “half” to claim your savings.

In need of taming your kid’s tresses? I tried this detangling spray from Suave and got excellent results.

First off, it smells like apples, which my daughter loves. It’s a little strong for my nose, but then again, I’m not wearing it all day.

Second, just spritz on your child’s hair and it will instantly behave – much better than using water. With curly hair, the spray acts like a styling spray as well as a detangler. Bed head, no more! And my daughter’s curls really bounce back to the springy ringlets they were meant to be instead of looking like a frizzy, curly mess.

Third – it’s real use: detangling. For getting tangles out gently, this product does the trick.

We were in the market for a product that won’t sting the eyes, would tame bed head (we have BAD bead head around here) and would also take out tangles. Suave does the trick for all three of these needs.

Best of all, it’s under $3 at Amazon.