BEAUTY // MUM HACK: PRODUCTS WE SHARE WITH OUR KIDS

It’s my job to try out all of the beauty products in the world in order to know what works and what doesn’t, so I pretty much thought that I had everything covered. Then I had Leo, and it opened my eyes to a whole new world of skincare. The world of baby products is quite tricky, a lot has been made of in the news in terms of scare stories when it comes to ingredients. My best advice is to keep it simple. I’ve discovered some amazing products over the last two years, but surprisingly they’re not just for Leo. There are a few that have slipped over into my side of the bathroom cupboard, they’re just that good. With summer holidays coming up, you might want to read this. Sharing products with your babe could save you a lot of space in your suitcase…

WHEN YOU HAVE A SPOT…

I discovered this during my maternity leave days. Gone were the fancy spot creams (my hormonal skin had used them all up) and with one of those major under-the-skin, lumpy breakouts on the horizon and no energy to gather a screaming babe and head for the nearest high street I decided to try a dab of Leo’s Sudocrem. It works almost immediately when he has a sore, red bum so I checked the ingredients – antiseptic and blemish calming zinc – and gave it a go. It worked. Overnight the redness had calmed down and within a couple of days of using it, my spots were gone. I’d advise you do this at night though. It’s pretty white (!), oily and I wouldn’t imagine it sits well under make-up. NB: Use the tube, not the pot. Way more hygienic!

WHEN YOU HAVE ANNOYING DRY PATCHES OF SKIN….

I get these little dry patches of skin quite often, probably due to the fact that I don’t have time to moisturise my body these days. LOL, remember when we used to have time for that?! Anyway, I used this Childs Farm Moisturiser for Sensitive and Eczema Prone Skin on Leo during the winter when he was getting badly chapped patches of skin so last week I decided to give it a go on me and it worked a treat. It contains tea-tree and grapefruit so it smells amazing too. A great one to take on holiday to sort out irritated, summer skin. NB: This is also fab (yes, it’s nappy cream but thanks to the soothing chamomile it does a brilliant skin-soothing job.)

WHEN YOU RUN OUT OF FANCY SHOWER GEL…

When you can barely to remember to Ocado some bread and wet wipes, the chances that you’ll remember to stock up on shower gel for yourself are quite slim.

WHEN YOU RUN OUT OF LIPBALM…

There’s nothing like finding that perfect lip balm, right? The one that saturates your lips with moisture and leaves them silky smooth after it’s worn off? When you have a baby, suddenly your lips become super dry but the thing with lipbalm is that you can never locate one when you need it. Well, you will now! You know that half used up tube of nipple cream knocking around? Try it. The key ingredient in any lipbalm is lanolin, and Lansinoh contains stacks of it. Try Dr Lipp too – a nipple/lipbalm that has reached such cult status not only amongst celebrity mama’s but among their make-up artists too. Plus, it looks a bit fancier when you pull it out of your handbag on the commute to work.

WHEN YOU CUT YOURSELF SHAVING…

If you had a C-Section, you may have some of this knocking around. Healgelwas designed by five of the top Plastic Surgeons in the UK to heal post-surgery scars. The Arnica, Madecassoside (herb often used in Chinese medicine), peptides and amino acids work together to reduce inflammation, aid cell renewal and collagen production, as well as to reduce swelling, bruising and the appearance of scars. It’s had great results on everything from C-Section scars to burns, so if you cut yourself shaving, you know what to use.