Weather Protection
Babies and children love the fresh air, but young delicate skin isn’t ready to provide protection from the harsh winter environment. Little rosy cheeks can glow healthily in the cold thanks to Calendula
Weather Protection Cream (£8.95/30ml) which tops up the natural barrier on their faces and hands with a rich balm containing organic almond oil, nourishing lanolin and a soothing extract of organic calendula. Formulated with midwives, mums, and Weleda’s own fifty years of experience with baby products, this water-free cream (make sure you don’t use a water-based product or the water can freeze on their skin in cold temperatures) provides an extra safe layer for fun winter days out.
Winter skin saviours
Winter can be a stressful time for our skin as the colder weather has a number of nasty effects on it. It makes our blood vessels dilate, causing redness and because humidity is generally lower in the winter, it means there is less water in the air, and this dries out our skin and hair. Cold winds and central heating also have the same effect, which leaves our skin and hair in need of some extra nourishment and moisturisation. One way to combat the winter blues is to invest in heavy duty skincare and a top pick is Naobay’s Moisturising Milk Cleanser (RRP £15.99/ 200ml). With almost 99 per cent of ingredients of natural origin, it gently yet effectively removes impurities and dirt without leaving any traces of irritation or redness and key ingredients of olive oil, Gotu Kola and sweet almond oil protect and intensely nourish the skin. Available from beautyexpert.com and mankind.co.uk
Replenishing pearls
Long regarded by beauty experts and bloggers as producing an exceptionally good value anti-aging range, Nivea has introduced its new Q10 plus Anti-Wrinkle Replenishing Pearls which promise to pamper your skin with pioneering technology, delivering the highest dosage of skin’s own coenzyme Q10 in a silky smooth gel. Its highly powerful formula enriched with Hyaluronic Acid, proves its pure anti-wrinkle power by not only helping to visibly reduce the appearance of wrinkles but also helping to prevent the formation of new ones. With regular use, the innovative pearls noticeably soften skin’s surface for a smoother, younger looking complexion. Better still, you can scoop up this top beauty buy (and other products in the Q10 range) for half price at just £6.99/40ml (RRP £13.99) until January 29 in Gordons Chemists.
Sipping Magic Potions
These healthy concoctions will soon have you under their spell. Faust’s Potions Awake and Asleep Recovery Pack
(RRP £5.50) is a nutritional supplement in one handy dose for those occasions when you may not have been able to have a sufficient amount of sleep (every parent we know) and need to physically recover as quickly as possible. Consisting of two mono-shot vials containing one Awake Potion and one Asleep Potion (25ml each), drink the natural zesty orange Awake Potion to start your day with a spring in your step, and the honey and red berry flavour Asleep Potion for a restorative night’s sleep. The multivitamin boost supports a healthy immune system, protects against oxidative stress with amino-acid NAC and contains herbal extracts of Green Tea, Ginseng and Guarana. Buy at Space NK or faustspotions.com
New DIY group B Strep test available in the UK
Strepelle is a new home-to-laboratory test for Group B Streptococcus. Up to one in five of all pregnant women will be carriers of Group B Strep in the birth canal and the bacterium can be passed during labour to their baby. One in five newborns who are infected with Group B Strep suffer from serious, life-changing illnesses such as meningitis, septicaemia or pneumonia, which can have life-long effects such as brain damage, hearing loss and sight loss. One in ten babies with the infection will die from it. In the UK, pregnant women are not routinely offered testing for group B Strep by the NHS unlike in many other developed countries. The Strepelle test will determine whether the pregnant woman is carrying the bacterium, allowing her to be treated with antibiotics during labour, thus protecting the baby from the risk of infection. The home-to-laboratory test can be used from 35 weeks pregnant and purchased on-line from strepelle.com or in store from selected retailers for £39.99. If a woman is a carrier, all she needs to do is let her doctor or midwife know, and antibiotics will be administered intravenously during labour.
Mother and child vitamin D awareness plea as new research links deficiency to breastfed youngsters
New research stating mothers must take a vitamin D supplement to protect newborns from brittle bones and rickets, has been welcomed by health experts BetterYou. Dr Benjamin Jacobs, consultant paediatrician at the Royal National Orthopaedic Hospital in London, says: “Vitamin D is especially important for children and their mothers. During pregnancy, or when breastfeeding, mothers need extra Vitamin D to maintain their own bone health, as well as providing nutrients to their baby. “Babies in the UK should be given Vitamin D supplements from soon after birth as there is not enough natural Vitamin D in a normal healthy diet, and there is not enough sunshine in the UK to allow us to make Vitamin D ourselves.” BetterYou has developed two award-winning daily oral vitamin sprays perfect for mother and baby. DLuxInfant and DLuxPregnancy are a convenient and effective method of delivering the recommended daily intake of vitamin D for both new-borns and mothers. The DLux range is priced from £5.95 and is available from Holland & Barratt, betteryou.com and all good health food stockists.