Tell me I’m clever,
Tell me I’m kind,
Tell me I’m talented,
Tell me I’m cute,
Tell me I’m sensitive,
Graceful and wise,
Tell me I’m perfect—
But tell me the truth.
-Shel Silverstein
When Jacob was a baby he was clever, cute, and perfect in every way like babies should be, but he had horrible eczema: you can see the patches on his cheeks in the photo above. They call eczema “the itch that rashes” and “asthma of the skin” and it’s heartbreaking to witness as a parent; he was clearly in distress all the time, scratching, scratching, until the rash had spread and thickened and was scratched raw. He scratched in his sleep, even, writhing around in bed until he scratched himself awake. And then invariably all that open skin would become infected, inflamed and painful, and he’d have to endure a round of antibiotics or steroid cream in addition to his twice a day full-body slathering of lotion.
Let me tell you about the lotion. We were supposed to apply the lotion immediately after a bath or shower to trap the moisture in, and Jake would be off like a shot, having to be tackled and wrestled into acceptance. He’d scream and cry; it was only through trial and error that we learned which soaps and lotions stung, which ones made the itch feel worse. We spent a lot of money on pricey skin care items (and hair care, since that affected his skin too) that made promises about being super-moisturizing or appropriate for sensitive skin, that Jeff or I would up using because Jake couldn’t tolerate them.
Add to all that heartache the fact that your skin is your largest organ, and absorbs whatever chemicals you’re applying to it along with any environmental toxins. I was seriously stressed about the health of Jake’s susceptible skin, in the short term and the long.
(Scratch, scratch, scratch. I wanted to put a photo here of Jake running away from the lotion after a bath; he’s holding a beach ball perfectly positioned as a “modesty patch.” But I resisted. I’m so good at adulting.)
Jacob is older now, but he still has eczema flareups. Part of it is probably inherited from me; I have sensitive skin and break out in itchy, blistering hives from certain products. I’ve found that sticking with natural, organic products hugely— HUGELY— minimizes my own outbreaks and helps Jake with his.
Last week I was sent a line of natural baby skincare products to try from Baby Mantra:
Even though my babies are pretty close to grown now— Jake will be 18 in a few months, and my youngest just turned 11!— I still look for the gentlest products available for our sensitive skin. Just being advertised as “for babies” doesn’t cut it; we stubbornly kept buying conventional baby products in the early years but learned soon enough that they stung terribly and exacerbated the problem when applied to Jake’s irritated skin.
I wish Baby Mantra had been around when Jake was suffering from the worst of his eczema.
All Baby Mantra products are:
- allergy tested
- dye free and toxin free
- gluten free
- cruelty free and vegan
- certified natural by the Natural Products Association, which means ingredients come from or are made from a renewable, biodegradable resource found in nature (flora, fauna, mineral), with absolutely no petroleum compounds
- packaged in recyclable materials
I took the line with me to the beach with the intention of having Jake try it out (to this day, trying new lotions on him is a bit nerve wracking). While I was there I was a little lax about reapplying my sunscreen and, erm, got a little more sun than I intended. It hurt. My daughter got a little more pink than I would like as well.
Baby Mantra offers a natural baby shampoo in addition to its natural baby conditioner,but I opted to pack the 3 in 1 bubble bath, shampoo and wash in case anyone was inclined to take a bath (didn’t happen but I was prepared!). I did pack the detangling conditioner (my hair is a tangled hot mess at the beach, and Cass’s tend to resemble a rat’s nest more than human hair after a day battling waves). And in a move that I would grow to be immensely thankful for, I also threw the calming lotion in my bag.
All three of these products contain lavendar essential oil, which is soothing and has antiseptic properties. They didn’t irritate my burn at all, and the lotion felt like heaven: it’s light and not sticky, very moisturizing thanks to the shea butter, with barely any scent at all. In terms of calming my skin, it felt like it worked just as well as the medicated afterburn lotion I tried once I returned home. Since the medicated stuff carried a warning to use only 2-3 times daily, and not over a wide area, I opted to skip it entirely and go with baby mantra for me and Cass.
The 3 in 1 lathered up nicely and got my sweaty, salty self all clean without drying; the conditioner worked the knots out. They both carry very light scents that basically remind me of “clean baby” and faded quickly (I don’t care for overpowering scents at all).
Although I didn’t put the other Baby Mantra products through the same rigorous testing, from my one use of the newborn shampoo and body wash I can say that it’s not bubble inducing like the 3 in 1 is and therefore easier to rinse clean. The sweet-smelling apricot and avocado massage oil is expectedly more oily/tacky than the lotion; I used this before bedtime for longterm moisturization overnight. We’ll hold onto the diaper rash ointment for my husband; he works in construction and often gets painfully dry, cracked hands and only the heaviest duty creams work for him. It’s made from sweet Almond oil, Rosemary leaf, and Jojoba.
To recap:
You can find Baby Mantra products across the country at stores like Albertsons, Jewel Osco, Walgreens, Duane Reade and Meijer. We recommend using the store locator on the company’s website to find a store nearest you. In addition, Baby Mantra can be found online on websites such as Amazon.com, Babiesrus.com, Drugstore.com, Walgreens.com and Diapers.com.
Be sure to follow and like Baby Mantra on Facebook for coupons and other offers.
Score a coupon for $2.50 off Baby Mantra here!
Giveaway!
Enter via the Rafflecopter widget below (use as few or as many options as you like) for your chance to win the same 6 Baby Mantra products that I tried:
- 3-in-1 Bubble Bath, Shampoo & Wash
- Calming Lotion
- Newborn Shampoo & Wash
- Diaper Rash Ointment
- Calming Massage Oil
- Detangling Conditioner
Disclosure: I received this product for the purpose of this review, however, these are my own opinions and they have not been influenced in any way by Baby Mantra.
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