This week the spotlight’s very much on baby (and mum) products with entries closing for our 2021 MAMA & BABY AWARDS this Friday, 30th (already…time has flown!)
I’m really looking forward to the awards in June, it’ll be a wonderful, uplifting day full of beautiful, ethical brands (a useful guide and shopping list for young parents, as well).
Seeing the all-natural, plant-powered entries coming in this morning reminded me of a time I was in a supermarket, near the baby bath section. I saw a woman had put a very *not* natural baby product into her basket. I looked at her little girl sitting in the trolley and I just had to say something.
”Hi, I hope you don’t mind but could I recommend a really nice, better brand to you, instead of the one you chose just now?”
She seemed happy to hear what I had to say so she said no problem and after a quick chat about ingredients (and which ones to avoid) she put the product back on the shelf, semi-horrified at the ingredients which she’d never really looked at.
She said she was very grateful and I was just glad I’d said something and hadn’t walked away and let her make a mistake.
Few things really anger me other than injustice and cruelty, but one of the ones that does is seeing global “trusted” brands like Johnson & Johnson making billions from things like their Baby Shampoo and Baby Powder – because both are prime examples of products that have been shot down, rightly so, for “toxic” (even potentially carcinogenic) ingredients. They’ve been selling them for a looong time.
But a flare-up of class action lawsuits has begun to bite J&J on its bottom. The global self-care giant has had to pay stiff fines for knowingly having asbestos in its Baby Powder, which triggered ovarian cancer in many women (check out the list of class action lawsuits against J&J).
Here’s just one REPORT in Forbes on the Baby Powder lawsuits, and how J&J apparently targeted lower-income, less educated consumers in humid parts of the US (for obvious reasons) who never questioned the safety of a best-selling baby product marketed all over the world for years.
“…we need to redirect consumers away from the big non-natural ranges cluttering the shelves of high street chemists and towards the gentle, ethical, clean natural brands – big and small.”
Fiona Klonarides (My Green Pod)
And here’s an interview I did with My Green Pod about how parents can make sure they’re buying good, clean, safe products.
Johnson’s “iconic” Baby Shampoo had to be “cleaned up” too.
I wrote about this ingredients saga on The Beauty Shortlist a long time ago and it’s a big reason why I launched the Mama & Baby Awards. To help steer consumers away from what I call “dodgy” products and towards clean, green, nature-inspired ones.
I’m not a mum but if I had children and wasn’t particularly clued up on baby products, I think I’d feel quite reassured that there are genuine lists out there – including our annual winners list – that you can trust right off the bat.
But…if…someone’s not sure which products are free from the “unwanteds”, here’s what look for:
1) Natural & Organic Retailers who’ll be stocking the good + clean brands
2) Read through the winners list of the 2021 Mama & Baby Awards (and previous years).
3) Look for certifications like The Soil Association or Eco Cert Organic logos (however, there’s a caveat here – some younger or smaller brands can’t afford to get certified as there are costs involved).
4) Another failsafe method is: READ THE LABEL (INCI/ingredients). Obviously you need to know your clean from your dirty although it’s a great way to learn more about ingredients, why they’re included and why they’re not – or shouldn’t be!
Retailers that only stock ethical, natural/organic brands and bloggers that only champion “natural”, and activists that champion and protect Mother Nature – these people are all heroes in their own different ways. If you want someone to be happy and safe, sell them/tell them about/give them something lovely and beautiful and natural.
How dare a brand sell a product that contains potential carcinogens? All those parents, in all those countries we’re never get to even visit, washing their toddlers’ hair without realising what they’re putting on their little ones’ scalps. (I think it’s so sad. How would they know? Unless you make it your mission to read up on ingredients and check labels, arguably the vast majority of these parents are clueless about ingredients and which are good/bad, etc – particularly in underprivileged communities).
I could easily spend months poring over ingredients lists (and I do, especially during the run-up to the Beauty Shortlist Awards). Analysing formulas, observing the combination of plants and herbs that were chosen and blended to give a product its unique “imprint”, its unique energising/calming/rejuvenating or healing properties. Oh that’s an interesting flower extract to include…the perfect choice of plant oils, sublimely-textured balms, all created from a love of nature.
So if you’re reading this today and maybe you are expecting a baby soon (or know a friend or sister or daughter who is) or maybe you already have a toddler (or two or three!) and are up for trying a new BABY BALM, here are four that I (and I know I’m also speaking here for the Beauty Shortlist judges) would happily recommend.
LITTLE B by BRAMLEY
Magic Balm with Calendula, Lavender and Cucumber
(This one comes in two sizes, “try me” and full size)
Try me mini tin…
I even use this balm because I love the texture and it smells so good, it’s been a favourite for years at the awards. And the delightful illustrations! So sweet.
BUY/INFO HERE
BODYBEES
Bee Baby Pure Beeswax & Olive Oil Balm for Sensitive Skin
Swedish brand BODYBEES’ balms are as lovely for non-babies as they are for babies. They also formulate lip balms and a Bee Gone Outdoor Jungle Balm on a stick (with citronella and lemongrass, I’ve been seeing more of these anti-bug balms lately).
One of my favourite quotes about nature is up there on the BODYBEES website:
“Study nature, love nature, stay close to nature. It will never fail you”
Frank Lloyd Wright (d. 1959)
Never have truer words been spoken, especially during a year of confinement.
BUY/MORE INFO on this BODYBEES BALM HERE
BALMONDS
SKINSALVATION
Sometimes the magic ingredient that’ll knock a persistent eczema flare is the stellar and oft-forgotten and fairly plain looking Stellaria Media (chickweed) and there’s no hype to Balmonds SkinSalvation name – I’ve heard countless stories about it being an eczema hero. It lives up to it.
About 15 years ago I had an eczema flare-up on my hand in winter, I was living in the countryside and it just got worse. I finally got some chickweed balm and away it went…
It’s nice to see some biodynamic ingredients in Balmond’s hero balm, too and for all us label obsessives, here’s the line up…
- Olea Europaea (olive) fruit oil*
- Cera Alba (beeswax)
- Carthamus Tinctorius (safflower) seed oil*
- Cannabis Sativa (hemp) seed oil*
- Aqua (water) and alcohol from tinctures
- Calendula Officinalis (calendula) flower extract**
- Chamomilla Recutita (chamomile)flower extract**
- Stellaria Media (chickweed ) extract**
- Urtica Dioica (nettle ) extract**
*organic ingredients.
**biodynamic ingredients
Known as a “cooling plant”, chickweed is also edible (you can use it sparingly on salads or in sandwiches).
BUY/MORE INFO on SKINSALVATION HERE
Lastly, one from the “Badger” family!
BADGER BALM
BABY BALM
US brand Badger has an interesting backstory – it’s not the often heard “mum looking for eczema solutions”…or a new baby range which is part of a bigger beauty & wellness brand.
The story, in one line, goes like this…
“The company was started by Bill Whyte in 1995 when, as a carpenter working in the cold New Hampshire winters, he created an amazing balm that helped his cracked hands and he wanted to share it with the world.”
Still headquartered in Gilsum, New Hampshire, a place with a Village Store straight out of a previous era and forest hiking trails as far as the eye can see, Badger is a B Corp family business, one for whom giving back and community initiatives are important.
A CLOSER LOOK HERE
OK one more!
You might also love…
One of the panel’s favourite Baby Brands in past years, Little Butterfly London was a hit with little ones and mums alike – the whole range is certified safe during pregnancy or breastfeeding, Eco Cert Organic, vegan and cruelty-free (as you’d expect).
LBL also does a great Stretch Mark Butter – “Cocoon of Bliss” – last year’s judges also really rated Little Butterfly London’s calming Baby Face Cream (a lovely ritual!)
“Dreamy organics for babies”
This dreamy Baby Face Cream is HERE
To enter this year’s Mama & Baby Awards, or find out more about them, click here for the 2021 ENTRY FORM PAGE
Categories include natural baby, beauty, green home and wellbeing for both mums and their little ones.
Join us for a wonderful, uplifting day of celebrations, surprises and beautifully safe, useful, adorable, clean, green 2021 hero products on:
FRIDAY 11 JUNE
Entries close THIS WEEK on Friday 30 April
(samples should wing their way to us by 7 May or *very* shortly thereafter)
“Transparency – and also the exposure of the insidious greenwashing that goes on in the beauty industry – has fuelled a healthy rise in eco-centric, organic and cruelty-free sales, however the baby market is sadly lagging behind.
There are many delightful products out there if you know where to buy them, but we need much more assertive messaging out there for parents to start reading labels so they buy the cleaner, more sustainable, superior products – from brands with integrity – that their children deserve.”
– Fiona Klonarides (interview with My Green Pod)