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Bags We Love – Mia Tui

I thought I wasn’t a handbag kind of girl, I really did. However, I’m also not twenty five any more, and carting around a record bag for my daily needs Does Not Always Work.

I’ve been on the lookout for a new bag – the old Boots freebie one served it’s purpose up until H was toilet trained (touch wood…), so a new bag was needed – we didn’t need two (ie, one with my things and one with H’s) – but I hadn’t found a bag which fitted the bill…

Then there was The Baby Show. I went with Rachel, and let me tell you, Rachel is a lady of many bags – many many bags. She’s going to be the Mum Friendly official bag lady (argh, how else to word it!) and will be sharing what she knows very soon. She persuaded me I needed to have a good look at the Mia Tui ‘Grace’ bag – but also there was a fabulous deal to get an ‘Amelie’ bag for free with it.

You know what? It’s a handbag, but it’s right up my street. I like how it’s described as Mia Tui’s own messenger bag, and that’s what drew me to it – but then – ohh then – inside – the space! Now from the outside this bag looks like a regular one, but inside you’ve space for a bottle, you’ve space for wipes, I can fit a spare change of clothes for H in there, snacks – oh and some of my things too – and it’s perfect, completely and utterly perfect. Obviously I bought one there and then – and I’ve been using it since.

 

The Amelie bag is something altogether more great (oh my, the space), and something I’ll let Rachel write about when she gets a chance – but right now I wanted to share some Mia Tui love. I’ve signed up to the Mia Tui loyalty scheme – which means as a recommended friend of Mum Friendly, you’ll get a 10% discount from your first order.

Shall I gush a little more about the Grace bag? Well, as you may be aware we’re toilet training – and the bag comes with a set of charms on the side of it. Several times now I’ve gone to the loo with H, and she’s done that old favourite of trying to open the cubicle door when I’m doing my business – the charms are a fantastic distraction! So while it’s purpose was never meant to be that, it’s spared my dignity, and for that I love it even more.

There’s an elasticated strap inside – I’ve used it to fasten my purse in there (a Mia Tui one, of course!) so it’s always easy to get to – though you can use it for keys – anything like that really. You also get a changing mat and a clear PVC bag for baby bits. Oh, and there’s also a co-ordinating clutch for personal items. Seriously, it’s great – it’s got everything you’d want and even more – and given my history with back troubles, I can pack enough and it’s barely heavy on my back!

Oh, and did I mention, it’s waterproof inside and out?

Read about Charlotte and how she started the company – and what’s more the bags are made in good working conditions which Charlotte has overseen.

We love Mia Tui! Do I need to convince you more? Do I need to send Rachel your way?

We Love Fudgy Bear

Way back in February (which feels like a lifetime ago), we were lucky to get to a Teddy Bears Picnic at Foyles in Shepherds Bush, where H’s favourite bear Fudgy would be making an appearance.

Fudgy Bear was created by Sarah Marley, a mother of one, back in April 2011. There’s five different Fudgy Bear books available direct from Fudgy’s website, as well as a toy which – importantly – is suitable from birth.

What we love about Fudgy is that H picked up on him immediately – we bought the Counting With Fudgy book last year at The Baby Show which has helped H a lot with her overall counting skills. The pictures are all photographs taken and put together by Sarah – we love that Fudgy as a character meets real things and animals – it all helps with learning.

Little Fudgy Bear and HSo, off we went to Foyles – where there was a table set out with crayons and a Fudgy picture to colour in – H made herself at home and started scribbling – the opportunity came up for a photo with a big Fudgy, which made her incredibly excited by it all – and she ran over and threw herself at the poor bear. Little did I know this was a sign of things to come.

Very soon we were sitting in a circle and being read two of Fudgy’s books by Sarah, the kids were all loving it, the older ones calling out when Sarah asked them questions – the books work really well across all ages (and are targeted towards pre-school children).

THEN the big surprise – the huge great big Fudgy made an appearance. Cue several toddlers faces lighting up with pure delight – as Sarah read from the books again. Now, H is quite shy and reserved, and surprised us at Christmas when she went up to Santa like he was an old friend – and yet again she caught me out, the opportunity arose to have a photo with Fudgy, and off she went – never to let go. She really truly would not have let go, I think.

Hugging Fudgy H hugging Fudgy Bear Fudgy Bear Hug

fudgyend-300x200I think it’s fairly safe to say she loves Fudgy…! The picnic finished with all the kids present (or whichever could get close to Fudgy (I apologise for my daughter) having their photo taken with him.

We love that there’s a test in the back of the books to make sure you’ve understood what you’ve read – and writing with my old 1970’s head on, it reminds me of the end of Topsy & Tim books, where you’ll have similar, which is a great way to keep your child interested and keep them coming back to the books.

Read an interview with Sarah from last year – she’s a full-time lawyer and does Fudgy in her spare time!

Child psychologist Dr. Amanda Gummer is a big fan of Fudgy. She explains: “Reading the books with the bear helps children to engage with the character in the stories, fostering empathy and adding a sensory dimension to the visual and auditory activity of reading a book. Learning is more effective when a child feels calm and secure. If parents spend time reading, whilst the child cuddles the toy, the child will associate Fudgy with positive feelings of security, calmness, love and happiness. Cuddling Fudgy can recreate those feelings and help a child cope with challenges they face.”

You can buy Fudgy Bear and his books direct from the Fudgy site, or indeed from Waterstones or Foyles (plus some stores have the bears in stock too).

Fudgy Bear February

In addition to this, the Fudgy Bear Nursery Partnership launches on April 1st 2012, getting Fudgy books into your local nursery! (I’ve already let H’s nursery know, and hopefully things will progress)

Fudgy Bear on Twitter
Fudgy Bear’s Blog

Oh, and last but not least, over to the right are some comments from Fudgy’s new celebrity fans… you might recognise a short person who I can officially confirm is currently asleep and did eventually let Fudgy go….

Thank you to Liz and Katie at Weston Communications for this opportunity, H is STILL talking about it!

Nourish Radiance Moisturiser

Okay, so, a month or so ago there was a Fudgy Bear Teddy Bears Picnic at Foyles in West London (more to come on Fudgy very very soon), and us lucky mums got a goody bag at the end. Within said bag was a moisturiser – from the new Nourish range – some Nourish Balance.Nourish Balance

Anyone who knows me, knows I’m a sucker for any kind of beauty product (cast your cursor back to Christmas time when I subscribed to Glossybox, Boudoir Prive AND Carmine’s beauty boxes), and will always try it out in the quest to keep my (pretty good, even though I say it myself) skin looking youthful.

Firstly, I loved the packaging – nice and simple, but enough that it has a good identity – it’s the kind of packaging you’d spot if you were looking for it in a shop. Secondly, the moisturiser had a separate plastic lid, so your cream doesn’t leak out onto the lid – the amount of times a lid has come open and leaked all over my bag… so this was a big thumbs up too.

Relax Nourish Skin RangeSo then, the actual cream. I was using my Olay Moisturiser in the mornings, so used this one in the evenings. At first I was unsure – a cream that smelt of apple? But actually, it works. It’s a really lovely subtle scent, and a while later I’ve rubbed my skin and smelt it again (and ooh, it’s good) – I do tend to react to creams if there’s too much going on, so I’m pleased to report this went on lovely, and stayed on lovely with zero irritation on my skin.

I didn’t want to gush too much until I’d read up a bit more about Nourish, and it’s all good – despite it not saying anywhere on the website, I’ve had it confirmed they’re definitely not tested on animals which is a huge plus point. Each tub has a 24 month shelf life, so you’ve got lots which will last a long time as well.

Nourish was designed as a natural, anti-ageing skin care range that is perfect for core skin care needs (Nature) but also helps you optimise your skin around the life you lead (Nurture)

We know that our skin changes and elasticity declines over time. Skin is our first protection barrier. As we age it begins to fail and lose efficiency. Our modern lifestyle produces chemicals at a rate faster than our skin can accept. Skin damage is caused by inflammation from everyday exposure to environmental and physiological stresses. These cause the production of damaging free radicals.

The way our skin looks and ages is most influenced by two factors: skin type and lifestyle

Choose your Nourish daily routine based on your skin type (Nature) and then supplement it using additional products from the other ranges to fit your personal lifestyle influences (Nurture)

Nourish Protect RangeDry skin – Nourish Protect
Sensitive skin – Nourish Relax
Combination skin – Nourish Balance
Mature skin – Nourish Radiance

 

Nourish can be found here
and on Facebook over here

Innocent Smoothies and Fruit Tubes Grow Your Own Plant!

We love Innocent Smoothies here, they’re on offer with Ocado at the moment, so when Mr Ocado Man delivered our weekly shop this morning, we were mighty pleased with the special offer Innocent are doing – with every purchase of the Kids Smoothies and Fruit Tubes you get a pack of seeds to grow your own plantgardening!

Given our back yard last year was a mini allotment (well, as allotment as a back yard can be, anyway) with courgettes, potatoes, a sunflower, chillis, beans and more growing, this is something we’re liking the look of – especially as it’s geared towards younger people doing it themselves – even in just an Innocent carton. As H would say, “marbellous!”

So we have four packs of seeds to plant, and many cartons to be drunk. Stay tuned and we’ll post updates on how they’re getting on. For now you can admire H drinking her last smoothie from the previous pack, while admiring her sunflower seeds… let’s hope it’s better than last years (which was a good one, the previous year wasn’t so good, as a fox or squirrel ate it) and we’ll have occasional updates.

Innocent Smoothie SeedsThe seeds deal runs until April 2012, so you’ve a bit of time.

Be A Parent, Not A Pal

Joanne Mallon - Toddlers An Instruction ManualHave you bought the excellent ‘Toddlers: An Instruction Manual’ by Joanne Mallon yet? Do you really need another reason to buy it? It’s full of useful advice from parents, and isn’t just one perspective on dealing with a toddler; it’s many – and as I’ve said before, we’re already putting some of the suggestions into practice – and coming up with brilliant results. Even moreso, you know you’re not alone!

Joanne has kindly let us have another extract from the book – and we’ve opened comments below – let us know what you think, or come and post on our Facebook Group!

Be a parent, not a pal – why you are not your child’s best friend, and never will be.
I really despair when I hear parents referring to their child as their “best friend”. You are not their best friend, nor they yours, and if you honestly think that that’s the case, both of you need to get out more.

Why would a three year old want to be best friends with a 30-something woman? Why would a grown man get his friendship needs from a little kid? Your child needs a parent, not a best friend. They can go to nursery and make plenty of friends. But at home, they need a parent, and they need you for that.

You might think that you stepped into the parent role when you had your baby, but did you really? I think that we only fully step up to the parenting role once our children start challenging that role – when we have to be strong enough to say no to them, and set boundaries.

Many of us find it hard to discipline our children – it smacks too much of being the boring grown up, when we might not feel particularly grown up at any age. Also, this issue can cast a shadow back to our own childhoods, especially if our parents treated us in a way that we didn’t like. Shouting at children and smacking them was much more acceptable to previous generations than it is right now. We have to find new ways of doing things and forge our own path.

So however you choose to do things, you’re doing your child no favours if you choose to be a chum rather than what they need – a parent who can make the hard choices, say no when they need to and always provide a strong foundation of unwavering love. Friends come and go, but family is for life.

From: Toddlers: An Instruction Manual (c) Joanne Mallon 2011

You can buy the paperback here and the Kindle edition here. Thank you Joanne!

Potty Training – We’re Still Going

Okay, so I was being optimistic having just January and February as my theme – this one is going to go on for a few months, I’d imagine. Nothing bad, but there’s so much out there right now which deserves a mention – you may have a toilet trained child, but there’s always the scope for accidents.

I’ll post up reviews when we’ve had more chance to use them, but some solutions (as suggested by some lovely ladies on the Mum Friendly Facebook Group) for those random occurrences you don’t think about initially follow…

Piddle PadWe’re facing a long drive this coming weekend – which is fine – but I don’t want to go back to using pull ups for the journey – I feel like it’d be a backward step, and generally H is pretty good (apart from nights). I was looking for a washable pad which could be placed on the car seat, in case of accidents when you can’t just pull over and deal with it – and the wonderfully named Piddle Pad does just that. Waterproof on one side and lined on the other, washable – so you don’t end up having to wash your whole car seat cover – it’s a great idea, and hopefully we’ll be reporting back good things.

My Carry Potty

H chooses Her Carry Potty

Last weekend was The Baby Show, and I finally bought a My Carry Potty – there’s a few portable options out there – I didn’t fancy the toilet seat which packs down flat as the bags seem expensive, and I wasn’t sure about the other option which is like a snake, but which packs down really small (as H is quite particular!). Fortunately she loves going on the potty (as well as the toilet), and as we hit Croydon on the way home she announced she needed to do a wee, and wanted to go on the potty – so the potty was christened, and she held on for a few minutes while I found somewhere to park (something she couldn’t do back in December/January time) – and best of all the potty seals so you can dispose of when you get home. This may come in handy when we’re between service stations this weekend… can you pull over to the hard shoulder and have your little one do a wee? H loves carrying it too…

Finally I can’t even remember if I’ve mentioned the Baba & Boo Potty Training pants. They’re SO good. We’ve been using them since before Christmas – we bought the ladybird and the bee ones, and both are so cute! The bee especially – and worthy of a proper review as we’ve used them for so long. H’s nursery want her in pull ups for naps (hmmm), and once they run out she’ll be sent in with a pair of these instead.

Justin Fletcher – Hands Up – The Album – a Review

Justin Fletcher Hands UpJustin Fletcher rules Cbeebies – he’s involved in so many programmes on the channel that I didn’t even realise he actually was for half of them. H is a huge fan of Something Special and Gigglebiz (but not so keen on Justin’s House), so when we got the opportunity to review Justin’s new album ‘Hands Up’ we jumped at it.

We received a copy before Christmas – so we’ve had a few months to get used to it – I say ‘get used’ – the majority of songs are nursery rhymes, with a terribly catchy beat… it’s the kind of thing I wish had been released last September when H had her birthday party – this is the kind of album that you’d want at a party – and it would go down extremely well.

The single ‘Hands Up’ was released last year, and got a lot of support from us mums – check the video…

So here we are, and here’s ‘Hands Up’. A lot has changed in our house since before Christmas – where H was shy and watched a lot of the time, she’s now more into joining in and doing the actions – so that means we’re guaranteed a dancing toddler (and if we’re really lucky she joins in the singing).

Justin Fletcher and a DuckThroughout the album you can hear some of Justin’s characters – H even asked at one point if it was Aunt Polly – I’m not entirely sure… the album fits Justin’s Cbeebies personality – someone who’s fun and gets the kids involved and doesn’t take himself entirely seriously. What’s to lose?

(apart from maybe your sanity when your little one asks for it to be played again for the fifteenth time – although now she’s taken to putting in requests with Justin instead)

So, really, the word goes with the two and a half year old. When asked “do you like Justin’s album, her response was “yes, Justin sings ‘Wheels On The Bus’ and ‘Happy and you know it’ and says “WE ARRRRE!” where is Twinkle Twinkle mummy?” (take note, Justin).

Justin Fletcher Hands UpWe live in a house of music, H isn’t scared to request something, so we’ve had plenty of “Put Justin on please” from her since we received the album. We played it when some of her friends were over, and again, it’s one they all liked – a lot! For me, the appeal is the songs – you’ve got three brand new songs alongside classics, it’s Justin singing them and it’s fun! Everyone needs fun!

As an aside, and I’m being completely serious when I say this, were Justin to enter ‘Hands Up’ for Eurovision, I think we’d walk it – or at least, do extremely well!

Justin Fletcher Hands UpJustin Fletcher
Hands Up
released by Little Demon on the 5th March 2012
tracklisting
1. Hands Up
2. The Hokey Cokey
3. Music Man
4. The Sun Has Got His Hat On
5. The Grand Old Duke Of York
6. The Teddy Bear’s Picnic
7. Heads Shoulders Knees And Toes
8. Who’s Afraid Of The Big Bad Wolf
9. The Laughing Policeman
10. Old MacDonald
11. Nellie The Elephant
12. Oh I Do Like To Be Beside The Seaside
13. Incy Wincy Spider
14. The Wheels On The Bus
15. If You’re Happy And You Know It
16. Here We Go Round The Mulberry Bush
17. Ten In A Bed
18. Frère Jacques
19. The Sailor’s Lament
20. Justin’s Lullaby

What are you waiting for?! BUY IT! Preorder it now!

The Baby Show, ExCeL February 2012

This will be my sixth or seventh baby show now, so feeling quite the pro at this going to fair lark, we (being Rachel, myself and our kids) jumped into my car and we did the drive across London – possibly a foolish one taking in the sights of Streatham and Tooting (lovely traffic…), arriving there with an hour and a bit left to shop.  One thing I’ve learnt from previous baby shows is you don’t need to take nappies (not an issue for us any more), and you don’t need to vary your snacks too much as there’s always tons of freebies you can pick up. Oh how wrong could we be on the latter? No Ella’s Kitchen, Organix or Annabel Karmel stands this time around – though fortunately some goody bags which did the trick.

We had the stands we wanted to see, so raced into the venue – H and I to see Pixie & Punk and Fudgy Bear as we’d got our tickets from them and Rachel to check out the Mia Tui stand.

H chooses which design she wants from Pixie & Punk

Fortunately Pixie & Punk were easy to find – so a chat with Tagore Ramoutar to thank him for the ticket and to buy a t-shirt and bag, as H loves her ‘Where In The World Is Rufus T Bear’ book – so we need a Rufus T Bear to go with it (and I love how he’s buttoned into the pocket of the shirt) – so picked out the lovely pink and cherry t-shirt – the colours are so lovely which is what made us notice Pixie & Punk in the first place. Go and check them out – if you love stripes you wont be disappointed! Even better, it’s not a pinky pink – it’s a nice un-girly one, so we approve.

Mia Tui Amelie Baby Show

Mia Tui Goodness

We knew Rachel would be at Mia Tui for a while, so headed off to find them – and despite never thinking I’d need one of the bags, I too was persuaded and hooked – the bags are HUGE! Now H is toilet trained we don’t have the need for a changing bag any more – just one bag with both our things in is needed (like spare pants, trousers, socks) – and as we’re using the buggy less and less it’s not even like I can have two bags with one hanging off the handlebars – the Amelie bag fitted that need perfectly! Even better, you got a free Amelie if you bought a Grace. It had to be done, and I handed over my money, and tried not to gush too much (after about five minutes deliberating whether or not to buy) – I’m really not a handbag kind of person, and I think that’s what appealed – I’ve seen the bags online and hadn’t realised just how big they are, plus they can be worn across your body, so you’re not putting strain on your back – we’ll be gushing more about Mia Tui very soon….

My Carry Potty

H chooses Her Carry Potty

After that my main reason for going had to be done – while H is pretty good as far as going to the toilet goes, we’re doing a couple of long drives this year and after the very excellent Paula over at Mummy vs Work recommended the My Carry Potty, we (well, I) decided it was the solution for us. Holly chose the one she wanted, we paid and got a George and Hollie book thrown in. As we’ve already got one, stay tuned as I’ll offer this as another potty training themed giveaway (and I’ve decided, even though I set January and February as a potty trained theme, actually, it’s not just about one or two months – it’s a few – so let’s keep it going!) in the not-too distant future. H then insisted on carrying her My Carry Potty, so Fudgy Bear got put into my lovely huge great big Amelie bag – until she decided she didn’t want to carry that any more – but – a big hurrah! The Amelie bag fitted a My Carry Potty in there too – you’d never have known. It’s ginormous!!!

Fudgy Bear

H admires photos of herself on the Fudgy Bear stand

We found Fudgy Bear‘s stand, alas no Fudgy, but a deal for the books so picked up two more which is always good – Fudgy Bear is well and truly in H’s life right now – and she was even more impressed to see photos of her on the stand from the Foyles reading (and quite excited too!). More on Fudgy coming very soon… I worked out what I love the most about Fudgy is the good fonts used in the books and reading materials – so many people use Comic Sans – I’ve been put off schools that use it on their website I’m so anti-that-font. So we love Fudgy even more than we already did for that.

Toddler Mum-MumNow, this lack of free food led us completely by accident (and don’t get me wrong, I don’t expect free food as such, I just knew people gave it away so it was a risk worth taking, knowing I could buy if needs be) to a new product from Baby Mum Mum – biscuits made from premium Japonica rice. There’s a Stage 1 and Stage 2 kind, and there’s many benefits which I’ll go into more when we do a more in-depth review, as they were great, and a good snack for H – the Stage 2 kind are strawberry flavoured too which went down very well!

So, with some snacks, a huge bag with some of our things in it and a need for caffeine, I started to look for the cafe (and Rachel!), and stumbled across a site 5 Point Plus. This is a really excellent idea – and one I know a lot of parents come across. We’re lucky, H is more than happy to stay put in her car seat and is often more into fastening herself in than trying to escape, but a lot of kids do try to get out – and this is designed to keep the child safe. According to the site, up to 70% of children will try to escape their harness – so it’s a much more common problem than you’d think. It’s a simple velcro-fastening band which goes around the back of the car seat, fastening to the side belts, keeping your toddler safe until you’re able to fasten them back in. Really truly, check this out. They’re for sale in Boots for £25, and if you’ve got a mini Houdini on your hands then it’s one of the best solutions I’ve seen.

5 Point Plus

5 Point Plus - how it works

We stumbled across The Gro Company‘s stand, and I gushed for ages about The Gro Clock and how well it has worked for us, then something else, and something else until I felt embarrassed. Sometimes I really can’t help myself… (there’ll be a Gro Clock review soon too) – there are plans to develop a new Gro Clock which should appear in a year or so with a new story (I suggested they make toys with the characters from the story, although I guess you could do it easily yourself), so while it wont be for us (as we’re doing just fine with one), it’ll be interesting to see.

Prima Baby were doing excellent goody bags for two issues of Baby & Pregnancy for £2 and tons of goodies, so we’ll be trying out the Halos & Horns Baby Moisturising lotion (as I do also like their fonts) when we get a chance.

Our coffee break was done, and we headed over to Buggyaccessories stand, where we said hello to lovely Emily from Bundlebean (we’re going to review here soon, we’ve had a good six months use from it now easily) until the Bay City Rollers ‘Bye Bye Baby’ came over the tannoy.

The penny eventually dropped, it’s time to go… H was bopping around or just throwing herself onto the ground refusing to walk (oh don’t you just love toddlers?) and we made our way out – just in time to grab a leaflet from me&i who do gorgeous Swedish designed clothes for kids – but we had no time to browse, and our parking ticket was about to run out. Sighhh. So I have a leaflet and I wish I’d seen more – gorgeous clothes.

So, thoughts about The Baby Show? I think this may be one of the last ones we do – I feel like we have everything we need now, and unless another small person is going to enter our world, I suspect we have all that we’re ever going to need. I was (again) disappointed at the lack of traders with potty training solutions (though My Carry Potty and Pourty are the two leading brands as far as this goes, so that’s okay), as I’d hoped to pick up a Piddle Pad which helps keep your car seat dry in case of an accident when travelling. The facilities were great, parking was good (though expensive – two hours for a fiver, any more than that for £9!),  but overall I can’t really complain. We bought the things we set out to get – and I’m a convert to Mia Tui and even surprised the lady on the Prima stand as I took everything out of the bag to try to find my camera lens cap – as Seasider in the City said, it truly is a Mary Poppins bag!

We got to Croydon on the drive home and H needed a wee. The My Carry Potty was christened in the car park just next to Reeves Corner, and oh, was I glad we had it – it was dark and I didn’t fancy holding a squatting toddler… plus of course it all remained contained and airtight until we got home!

Olay Total Effects Sensitive Moisturiser

I received and have dished out samples of the Olay Total Effects Moisturiser as part of the SuperSavvyMummys Savvy Circle projects – and have been using the moisturiser daily now for a good month. Back in my younger days I used Oil of Ulay a lot, so the chance to try out another Olay product (as they’re now known) was too good to miss – I’m pleased I’ve had a try – while it doesn’t feel as light as the one I’ve used previously, I’m still impressed – and my skin feels lovely.

The Savvy Circle projects are proving to be quite fun – you get samples, you dish them out and you talk about them – so, what’s to learn?

Olay’s Total Effects Sensitive moisturiser is lovely although I have to admit, in this colder weather I like my moisturisers thicker and feeling like they’re still on my face by lunchtime (a la E45) – so I was unsure how I’d get on with this one – but actually, on applying I could still tell for a while afterwards – and my skin has looked great since I started using it.nd light to apply – and comes with a pump which so far has been no trouble at all (I’ll be interested to see how it fares with the last bits of cream in the bottom of the tub) as far as applying goes. I received a 30ml tube which will retail for around £13.29 (the 50ml one will retail at around £19.29) – and am already finding you only need a small amount and it goes a long way.

Olay Total Effects Sensitive Moisturiser

Total Effects Sensitive Moisturiser contains the following – VitaNacin (a unique complex of Vitamin B3, Pro-Vitamin B5 and Vitamin E) which strengthen, hydrates and soothes, and protects. The lotion is also SPF 15 UVA/UVB – in other words it protects your skin from the sun’s harmful rays – handy to know now the sun is creeping back into everyday life again. (hello spring!) As well as this it contains Sea Buckthorn Berry which has been used by herbalists for thousands of years – and contains sources of Omegas 3, 6 and 9 as well as some Omega 7, and white tea which helps promote radiant skin and has been used in Chinese medicine for years. Add to that some glycerin, some cocoa butter and olive extract and some calming allantoin and that’s your lot!

The cream is designed to fight the seven signs of ageing, but also meeting the needs of sensitive skin. Do you want to know what they are? I was more than a little curious at almost 42…. that’ll be age spots, pores, dryness, dullness, uneven tone, uneven texture, fine lines and wrinkles. Yep, I’m in!

Olay Total Effects Sensitive Moisturiser is available in all good stores now!

Meg & Mog Giveaway!

Meg, Mog, Owl and other StoriesMeg, Mog, Owl and other StoriesHow do you fancy winning a DVD of Meg & Mog episodes? You get thirteen episodes in total (they’re nice and short too), featuring Meg, Mog and Owl on their various adventures – as well as two interactive games – The Hiccup Game and The Circus Game.

We love Meg & Mog in this house – we bought the book set recently from The Book People, and these programmes were kept so faithful to the books that original illustrator Jan Pienkowski is very much involved.

The programmes air daily on CITV, and feature the voices of Fay Ripley as Meg, Alan Bennett as Owl and Phil Cornwell as Mog.

So, what to do to stand a chance of winning? Click the Rafflecopter widget below and read on… Closes on the 17th March 2012, so you’ve three weeks!

Don’t forget – you can join in the chat over at the Mum Friendly group, or just check for updates via the Mum Friendly page on Facebook.

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