Dena Recommends

At the risk of this being really lame, I'm thinking of starting a theme called "Dena recommends." I often think of things I really love and want to recommend to people, and maybe this will organize my thoughts enough to help me blog more. Who knows. So, let us begin.

Dena recommends:

California Baby Products. ( www.californiababy.com is the homesite, but I mostly buy from diapers.com , a site I intend to rave about at a later time.)
Why do I love them? Let me count the ways...
* a lot of their products are given pretty much the best rating possible on www.cosmeticdatabase.com for baby products, in the way of least allergenic and most safe" ingredients....
* also, its the only thing we've found in the way of put-on-your-skin that won't give Oliver a rash.
* And it smells nice.
* Its more concentrated and you can use less than other products with it working well

We use the following products, currently:
*calming baby wash/shampoo http://californiababy.com/calming-shampoo-bodywash-17-5-oz.html - Oliver's shampoo and body wash
*Calming Diaper Rash Cream http://californiababy.com/calming-diaper-rash-cream-2-9-oz.html - we hardly ever have to use diaper cream, but this stuff is great. This appealed to me because you probably know of our Thrush sagas, and Oliver would end up with it (yeast infection) on his bottom a few times from it going through his system from his mouth to him bum. This product has tea tree oil in it, known to naturally fight yeast.
*Calming Non-Talc Powder - This also appealed to me for its anti-fungal (yeast) tea tree properties, as spoken of above. And it gave a dry option for the bum, as opposed to extra moisture, which could possible exacerbate any hiney issues.
*super sensitive everyday lotion http://californiababy.com/super-sensitive-everyday-lotion-6-5-oz.html -- we recently got this to put on Oliver's knees that were feeling only a little dry. I put it on only once in a while -- did I mention he has really well-balanced skin? I think part of the reason is because the wash and shampoo we use doesn't strip his skin to need lots of extra moisturizers put on.
*No Fragrance SPF 30+ Sunscreen - this is fantastic -- it gets rave reviews on cosmeticdatabase.com , and it really really really really works. And it didn't make Oliver have a rash like the other sunscreen we tried. After reading all the garbage that is put in other sunscreens thats really bad for you and even increases sunburns, I am so happy this exists! Next time I'm in the sun, I intend to use it on myself.
*callendula cream http://californiababy.com/calendula-cream-2-oz.html -this cleared up the exema that sometimes flares up on my hand as SOON as I put it on when it reared its ugly head for the first time this winter, and hasn't come back -- this is huge -- I normally have to go at least several weeks trying to find something that will somewhat help while mostly just waiting the exema out to go away on its own for a while before reappearing
*aloe vera cream http://californiababy.com/aloe-vera-cream-2-oz.html - We've used this on scrapes on Oliver's skin
*Tea Tree and Lavendar Body Wash and Shampoo http://californiababy.com/tea-tree-lavender-shampoo-bodywash-8-5-oz.html -- this product is for me. I use it! I got this in the midst of my nursing-related thrush mess (since tea tree oil is known to fight yeast/thrush/fungus)
*Calming Diaper Area Wash http://californiababy.com/non-burning-calming-diaper-area-wash-6-5-oz.html - since we don't use baby wipes (I might get to that in another post), this is excellent to have on hand for the messy diapers. After a preliminary wipe with the wet washrag, I spray this a few timess on Oliver's bum, and it helps everything unstick and helps put some good moisture back in his skin. After the bottle runs out, I'm going to refill it with a "recipe" I found online that calls for a bit of baby wash (Cali. Baby, of course) and water. I imagine that will work great, too, we'll see.

They have a slew of other great products. Look around. You've probably noticed it seems kind of pricey. And it is. But, their products are more concentrated, they actually do what they're supposed to as well as work proactively in many ways, and its the only stuff we've found that keeps Oliver rash free, not to mention the fact that they don't have harmful chemicals and such in their items. Who wouldn't be willing to pay a bit more for something that is more likely to work the first time instead of wasting money switching products and dealing with the hassle of skin-related issues that could have been prevented in the first place? The Sunscreen is especially pricey (I will tell you a secret, we got a really good deal (relatively speaking) on some when we bought several bottles of it at once from a seller on Ebay (new, of course) Try it, and save a mint), but it actually WORKS. We don't get out in the sun very often, so this is not a big deal, especially for that reason.

Bottom line: I really just can't say enough good stuff about this line. A woman in Babies R Us who was shopping for a shower gift asked me about bath products the other week, and I went on freak-out about how awesome California Baby products are. You can ask my mom. She was there. Lady probably really regretted asking me, I just kept talking about them. Ha. I should get paid for this stuff, really. I would recommend this stuff to anyone, but especially to people having any sort of skin issue and also to new moms and dads. Its a great product to start out with that is truly gentle without having to switch after getting the baby home only to find out something is making your baby rashy. If money were no object, I'd pretty much buy every single item they sell, just to try it out and have it on hand. I intend to try other products in their line as need calls for it.

I hope you've enjoyed this episode of "Recommendations from Dena" and all my run-on sentences and parentheses within parentheses.