*NEW* Johnson's Skin Perfecting Oil - HELLO ME!

Last week I was invited to the launch of New JOHNSON'S Skin Perfecting Oil. By the time I'd done all my usual morning rushing around, getting Isla to nursery, getting home doing mine and Noah's breakfast and then hurrying into the shower the minute he had a nap, getting him dressed, having a play, getting us both some lunch, I set off exhausted but happy as it was such a sunny day. Southern trains did it's best to thwart my afternoon in London but we got to the launch at Maggie & Rose on time and we had such a lovely couple of hours!
Noah was being all shy at first and then he just started majorly flirting with all the ladies! Here he is in the ball pit:

While we waited for the presentation to start we all chatted and there were some delicious things to eat. There were also two masseurs on hand to treat us to a massage. Noah is at that clingy stage where he gets all anxious when away from me, so I was just lucky enough to get half a massage before he made it known he wanted mummy!

After all that loveliness we got to hear about JOHNSON'S new skincare product. Skin Perfecting Oil has been developed to improve skin suppleness and help to reduce the appearance of stretch marks and it is claimed that there are visible results in 4 weeks! I'm a big fan of using oils on my skin and I did this religiously during both pregnancies. I was lucky to escape stretch marks on my tummy when I was pregnant with Isla but with Noah my body gave me a few very tiny ones. The thing is these aren't my only stretch marks, I got some when I was in my late teens due to putting on weight when I took the contraceptive pill. These are now very faint silvery lines on my upper thighs and bum. I would be lying if I said they didn't bother me because they do and they probably always will but if I can use a product to get my skin feeling and looking better then I will always give it a try!
The way I feel about my stretch marks is so normal, and according to research 70% of mums with children aged 0 - 3 months experience stretch marks (vs 44% of the general population). JOHNSON'S understand that it can be hard for new mums to feel like themselves again and get confidence back in their own skin. With this new product they hope that women will say "Hello Me" to the skin they love, celebrating feeling good in life, body and self.

The oil contains some wonderfully beneficial ingredients, soybean oil, sweet almond oil, rose hip oil, blackcurrant seed oil, vitamin e, bisabolol. The oil is dispensed in a spray making it so easy to use and ensuring good coverage. The way it works is to moisturise, nourish, protect and smooth your skin and help it maintain an ideal condition. I'm really looking forward to using this product and seeing if it makes a difference to the appearance of my stretch marks.
Here is a video that was made of 4 new mums recording their experiences using JOHNSON'S Skin Perfecting Oil:

At the end of the presentation there was a draw to win a Spa voucher to enable one of us to mums to have a "Hello Me" moment of our own and I'm so over the moon that I won it - Sanderson Hotel here I come!! I had such a fun couple of hours, so big thank you to the PR team also the guys from JOHNSON'S and hello to the other lovely blogging ladies Liz, Sabina and Alice who were there and helped to keep Noah a cheerful little bunny all afternoon.

JOHNSON'S Skin Perfecting Oil comes in two sizes 100ml (£9.99) & 150ml (£14.99) and is available in stores now. Check out Johnson's Beauty for info on Johnson's skincare products

In order to help me write this blog post I attended a product launch event with the JOHNSON'S Brand team and received a free sample of new JOHNSON'S Skin Perfecting Oil to try.

Johnson's Baby Wipe Out Waste

Johnson & Johnson recently invited me to an event to launch their new Wipe Out Waste initiative. It involved a trip to the lovely Maggie & Rose Family members club, so I took Isla, as well as my mum to help get around London as I'm on the MASSIVE side now at 8 months pregnant!

As parents we'd all like to do our bit for the environment and some manage to do more than others. Bringing babies into the world brings with it more waste products to get rid of from nappies to extra food packaging etc. One of the things us mums use plenty of is wipes, we go through them by the truckload, for wiping dirty bottoms, to cleaning faces and hands after eating and I discovered they're not bad for removing make up occasionally! So to find out that these packets are actually recyclable was quite a surprise, but the catch is that no one up till now actually had the capability to recycle them, therefore no point in putting them in your council collection box! But, see I said up till now. J&J are now working in partnership with Terracycle to 'upcycle' the wipes packets. Upcycling is different to recycling in that they will turn the packets into new products, like bibs and mouse mats for example:



Just 6 packets of Johnson's Baby Wipes can make one of these baby bibs!

And not only do Terracycle make waste into new products they will also donate 2p to the charity of your choice for every pack you send them.
It's so easy to get involved:

- Go to www.wipeoutwaste.co.uk and register with Terracycle
- Enter the charity you would like Terracycle to credit
- You will get sent a pre-paid postage label to use to send off your empty packs of baby wipes

The initiative starts this month and I would urge us all to do it - it takes very little effort and we could also benefit local charities or even our children's nursery with the donations that Terracycle will make on our behalf. You could start it as an individual or you could spread the word to your child's school, nursery or playgroup and get a collection box started, then we can all do a little bit extra for the environment!

How to Make an Easter Bonnet

Recently we were lucky enough to visit Maggie & Rose family members club in Kensington for a baby event and Isla and I had a fab time, she got her face painted and made some cookies and generally had a lovely time. We don't have anything like that in our area and it was really fun, so when I was contacted by the people at Walker Books about a new Maggie and Rose Eco Friendly Activity Book for Isla and I to try out at home I accepted immediately.  We were sent the 'This Book is Totally Rubbish' Activity Book which is bursting with brilliant ideas for games and things to make and do - all based around the subject of art and recycling

Just before Easter I found the perfect opportunity to use the book when Isla and I got stuck into making an Easter Bonnet for her Nursery Tea Party. Since having a little girl I've always felt like I can't wait till we can do craft type activities together and this was our first go at a bit of messy creativity at home. I decided that we would make her Easter Bonnet using the instructions on how to do Paper Mache from the book - a great way to use up old newspapers. See below all the photos from our creative journey making an Easter Bonnet that eventually earned Isla an Easter Egg prize from the nursery for best Bonnet (not blowing my own trumpet at all......!!)

As you can see she loved the finished result and I'm really looking forward to making more things using this book - Eco Moulding Clay is our next project I think.

So following on from our fun using this book I have one copy of 'This Book is Totally Rubbish' to give away to one lucky person to have fun with! All you need to do to enter is:

Compulsory entry: comment below telling me your child's favourite craft activity or if too young something you look forward to doing with your child when they're old enough

Extra entry: Tweet the URL of this Giveaway post including twitter IDs @iheartmuthahood & @WalkerBooksUK and leave a separate comment below that you have done this.

UK Entrants only
Good luck and the competition closes midnight, Friday 20th May!

Tommee Tippee Closer to Nature Hygiene Range Launch Event

Isla and I were lucky enough to be invited to a recent launch event for the new Closer to Nature Hygiene range by Tommee Tippee and I have to say it was a great success from all angles!

Firstly it was held at a brilliant venue, Maggie and Rose a members club for families in Kensington, where kids can play, cook and be creative. This was perfect as the mums could listen to the presentation about the new products, and chat to the Tommee Tippee team, and the guys at Maggie and Rose concentrated on ensuring that the kids had a good time. I was dubious at first that Isla would leave my side as she'd only just woken up as we'd arrived there, but after 5 minutes she'd disappeared only for me to see her about 15 minutes later with her face beautifully painted..



After she'd had her face painted all the kids were in the kitchen, up on stools making cookies. Isla seemed to love this especially to chomping on the chocolate chips that were meant to be in the cookies!

The end to her fun was made all the better when she was given a balloon as we left - it's the simple things in life that make her happy!

And so to the new products in the Closer to Nature Range which are designed to offer long lasting, powerful and gentle protection against bacteria and viruses. It contains a revolutionary UK made ingredient, Byotrol, which is exclusive to Tommee Tippee and the key thing about it is the barrier it creates against germs and bacteria, lasting for hours, long after other cleaning/ hygiene products have stopped working.

As a mum the sound of a product that keeps kitchen surfaces free of germs for up to 24 hours sounds brilliant, as it is so important when you have a newborn baby to keep areas where you prepare bottles and feeding equipment immaculately clean. Babies have such vulnerable immune systems that anything you can do to protect them is worth doing. All the products in this new range cater to make your daily routine easier.

In the range are Steri-fluid for cold water sterilisation of bottles, soothers and teethers. We haven't used cold water sterilisation that much in the past, only when we're on holiday or staying somewhere away from home, but what I liked about this product was that it didn't have that bleachy/ chemically smell you get with other well known brands. The fluid sterilises within 15 minutes and items can be kept in the solution for up to 24 hours and they will still be sterile.

The surface spray again has no potent smell and gives a 99.9% protection from germs and viruses for 24 hours. The ingredient Byotrol forms a microscopic barrier, actively killing germs and protecting surfaces hour after hour.

There is also a hand serum for use on the go. It's a great replacement for all the alcohol based hand gels that are on the market. It doesn't contain any alcohol or fragrance, therefore kinder on those well worn, chapped hands that us mums get! And finally wipes for cleaning feeding equipment on the go.

These new products feel like a really sensible progression of the Tommee Tippee Closer to Nature range. As we will be having another newborn in the house this summer I will definitely consider this new range for use in our house. It is attractive to me for the reasons that it doesn't contain alcohol or bleach, hence making them a gentler option.

All in all it was a very successful event and we'd like to say thank you to the team at Tommee Tippee, Red Consultancy and Maggie and Rose for making it so enjoyable. We look forward to trying out the products we took away on the day.

All these products can be purchased in store and also from http://www.tommeetippee.co.uk/ and they also have a fab new parenting club you can join!