A a now-verified natural kid-product collector, I often wonder what my peeps will think – particularly my girls – when their friends are buying cool looking & chemical filled drugstore crap and I make them use the brown & boring safe stuff. After discovering Sparklehearts, I’m no longer worried.

The line currently consists of five yuck-free ’skinemy’-free products, each of which sell for $12.49. (It’s a flash site. Grrr. Sorry, but I can’t link to individual products. Great products – poor site design.)

My children are using the Shine Shampoo which “repairs and protects hair, leaving it remarkably radiant. Pansy extract protects hair from sun damage, violet extract and aloe soothes and softens hair, rosemary rejuvenates dull hair and natural coconut and sugar make fabulous foam for super shiny, clean results” and the Rainbow Soft Conditioner which “repairs damage and restores shine, bounce and beauty” and contains “vitamin b5, Shea butter, jojoba and wheat protein combine to give hair a healthy, shiny bounce.” We love them both. The smell is deliciously (and not at all grossly) sweet, and the shampoo bubbles last forever in the tub. (We use it as bubble bath on the non-shampooing days.)

Also available are Peace Out No Knots Hair Detangler, Bubbling Blooms Body Wash, and Sweet Hearts Sparkly Body Lotion.

You can also visit Sparklehearts on Facebook.

Win it! We’ve got a shampoo & conditioner to give away, a $25 value. To enter to win, leave a comment on this post before noon mst on June 2, 2009.

CONTEST CLOSED & WINNER EMAILED

I’ve never been much of a cosmetic junkie. I’ve got my bare minimum basics that I use daily, and that’s all I want. Since having children, though, I’ve become somewhat of a natural-product junkie. If it’s natural or organic and it’s made for kids, I’ll buy it. I’ve found shelves and shelves full of products that I like just fine, but a few standout items or companies are fabulous enough to make it on to T.O.P. The Spa Sisters make approximately a gazillion of those standout products. And they make them by hand, with fairly traded ingredients. Now that’s what I’m talking about.

The mandarin bubble bath from their kids line is made with pure essential oils and smells positively scrumptious. Unlike many natural bubbling products, this one actually makes bubbles, and they last more than thirty seconds after the kids get in the tub.

The lotions, which aren’t actually part of the kids line, are some of the best I’ve ever tried. While I don’t like to use any scents on myself, my kids love guessing what they’re going to smell like on any given night and these scents are pure awesome. My personal fave is mango margarita, a scent that’s rather unique – a little sweet, yet natural. They make a body wash in the same scent that’s a great pairing for the unbelievably nourishing lotion.

If you’re looking for something even more nourishing, the body meringues are like a butter that’s been whipped until it’s almost frothy. It feels kind of like rubbing moist air into your skin. But better, of course. It’s a really nice change from the standard body butters.

My daughter loves their tubes of lip butter. I honestly haven’t tried it – because she won’t let me – but according to her it’s “Yum yum kissy!” Any bets on how long before she takes a bite?

All Spa Sisters products are SLS and SLES free and contain no parabens, synthetic colourings or petroleum. According to their site, they’re releasing a baby line and an organic line this spring, and I can hardly wait to try them!

Win it! We’re giving away four bottles of the fab Spa Sisters lotion, in the following scents: mango margarita, orange jasmine, green tea and lemongrass, and vanilla fudge. To enter, visit Spa Sisters to browse around and come back to comment with some other goodies you’d like to try. Or just let us know what you think in a general sense. Or tell us something you wish they made. Just pay them a visit – that’s all we ask. Honesty = good karma! Contest closes at noon mst on May 14, 2009.

CONTEST CLOSED & WINNER EMAILED

I’ll admit, I’m a bit of a natural body product collector. Not so much for myself as for my kids. I can’t resist a non-toxic, scent-free or delicious smelling product if I come across it at a craft fair. It was at a Southern Alberta crafters marketplace that I discovered the wonderful A Family Affair. Owned by a mother & daughter team and supported by a dozen or so more family members, A Family Affair is truly a…um…family affair! Family matriarch Betty’s lifelong love of creating soaps and eldest daughter Jenn’s love of crafting have come together to build a successful growing business that we’re proud to support.

Leaving the market armed with a large selection of reasonably priced goodies, I set off to test them out with my own family to see if they were worthy of sharing with you here. Let me tell you, these are some perfectly amazing products!

Just for kids, A Family Affair offers an awesome foaming hand soap (just $8 and in three great scents) that is a great way to entice kids to wash their hands. My own kids love to pump their own soap and the bottle lasts a surprisingly long time. The SLS free powdered bubble bath ($15, and only five ingredients!) is gentle on the skin, delightfully fragrant and produces a tub full of bubbles!

For my own bath, I dig the bubble bars which are a super cool take on creating a bath full of bubbles…so fun to crack off a piece and smush it under the running water. I’d use one tonight if the kids hadn’t used them all up! In fact, each time I am able to take the time to soak in the tub, I discover another bath product that I love. Mmmm, chocolate! In the shower, the whipped sugar scrubs are truly amazing. I use the Creamsicle scent which is wonderfully refreshing, but it’s not the scent that’s the best thing about it. It’s the thickest, most…scrubby scrub I’ve ever used. If you’re like me and you get annoyed with the sparse scrubbies in many products available, you’ll love the fact that every finger full you pull from the jar is completely saturated with sugary exfoliating goodness. It leaves my skin moist and smelling absolutely amazing, but the smell isn’t overpowering and doesn’t last very long. That’s a good thing.

The products that A Family Affair has created for your feet are all awesome. Having tried them all on myself and on my family, I intend to continue to use them. However, I must give special mention to the Callous Balm. When my Dad became sick a couple of years ago, his feet began to crack and he was no longer able to bend over and take care of them. When I went home to visit, I’d often give him a mini-pedicure and tried everything I could find to massage his heels and soothe his tired feet. When I finally discovered Callous Balm, the first product from A Family Affair that I’d discovered, we both knew we’d found a winner. It’s at once cooling, soothing and healing, and now that I no longer have my dad’s feet to rub I continue to use it on my own and my husband’s. If you know anyone with diabetes or even just tired feet in need of a little love, Callous Balm is for them. It makes a great stocking stuffer or gift addition! (What? You haven’t started stuffing stockings yet?)

Gift baskets are available for any occasion, and be sure to become a fan of their new facebook page. Currently, A Family Affair only ships to Canadian addresses.

Save 10% with the code TOP10. A Family Affair is the newest addition to our TOP Shops where they’ve purchased one of our new permanent image based spaces that save you money. Check it out!

Win it! We’ve got both of the fab baby gift baskets (valued at $30 each) to give away to two randomly selected winners. To enter, visit A Family Affair and take a look around. Come back to tell us some products or scents that you like that weren’t mentioned in this review, or give Betty & Jenn some suggestions for future products or scents you’d like to see them develop. Also be sure to let us know if you’d like to be entered for the blue or the pink basket. Worldwide entries are welcome! Contest closes at noon mst on April 22, 2009.

CONTEST CLOSED & WINNERS EMAILED

I’m excited to introduce you to one of our new premium sponsors:

Small town Alberta based It’s A Family Affair creates all natural bath & body products that aren’t edible but some of them are certainly tempting. I used one of their new whipped sugar scrubs this morning and it was truthfully the nicest scrub I’ve ever used. Creamy & moisturizing, yet packed with enough sugar that it really does what it’s supposed to do.

I’m currently in the process of reviewing several of their products so watch for a review coming soon, but in the meantime I suggest you head over & check out some of their products. I can assure you that you won’t regret it.

You’d never know it from the sight of my living room after Christmas but I’m not one for loud plastic kid paraphernalia. Kuster USA has a collection which, though small, is perfect for the choosy parent.

The bath toy store ($24.99) is the perfect solution to my bath toy storage issues. It consists of an outer basket similar to a plastic garbage can and an inner basket with holes in to designed to scoop and hold wet toys and allow them to drain free of water. It comes in three colours (pink/orange, cream/mint & blue/grey).

The Jelly Baby ($49.99) is a memory foam changing pad that is ergonomically shaped to fit your baby. It measures 69cm (long) x 8cm (high) x 43cm (wide) which is large enough to fit a toddlers upper body & butt comfortably but small enough that it’s not obtrusive and in the way. It’s soft and gentle, free from PVC, easily wiped clean and the special high tech material is always warm to the touch (even in the disgusting -30’s we’ve had here in the Great White North of late). It comes in cream, pink & blue and a travel bag is included.

Kuster products, including the above two awesome products and three super cool looking high chairs are available at Goores.

Save 10% on any Kuster order from Goores with the code top10off.

Win it! We’ve got a Jelly Baby change pad valued at $49.99 in cream to give away. To enter, leave a comment on this post before noon mst on January 13, 2009.

CONTEST CLOSED & WINNER EMAILED

BellyLaf is a newly launched company with two great products for parents & children.

For those of you with or expecting newbies or looking for a great shower gift, Grippees are wash mitts that gently grip baby with soft “GrippeeDots” on the palm. If you’ve ever bathed a slimy newborn, you know what a great idea these are! They’d be great for bathing a child of any age, actually, since it’s rather convenient not having to hold a wash cloth, but particularly for newborns these are fantastic. I especially love the complete elimination of nail gouges in my baby since I started using these. Now it’s only her big brother that makes her look like she’s abused. They retail for $16.95/pair and are available in five cute “Smart Shapes” designs. Each Smart Shape has a name and a story that the kids will love!

MiniMitts are just that – mini mittens for children to wear when they’re learning to wash themselves in the bath. They’re great for increasing confidence and independence, and are also a hit with my son for covering his eyes while his mean parents rinse his hair. (We never get water in his eyes and are rather proficient kid-bathers. How old are they when they understand that if they look down before we wipe their forehead off, their eyes are going to get wet? Anyway…)

Both Grippees and MiniMitts are made of 60% super soft bamboo, which is naturally anti-microbial, hypoallergenic, thermal regulating and odor free. Bamboo is naturally grown without fertilizers, pesticides or insecticides and is biodegradable. The other 40% is cotton.

What a great gift these would make – Grippees for baby and the folks, and MiniMitts for the older sibling!

Win it! We’re giving TWO winners a set of both Grippees and MiniMitts! To enter, leave a comment on this post before noon mst on November 20, 2008.

CONTEST CLOSED & WINNER EMAILED

Whether you’re still in the space of packing everything but the kitchen sink every time you leave the house or you’ve moved on to the days of trying to remember a diaper & a few wipes, you’re going to love the Diaper Change Travel Kit from well-known baby & child manufacturer, Munchkin.

No matter where you are, you can have a comfortable, clean surface to change your baby. The design is truly awesome and I leave mine in my vehicle so I’m never without the necessities. (As long as I remember to restock it!) There’s a zippered outside pocket for storing your personal items and interior mesh pockets hold diapers, wipes (it comes with the case) and other essentials. The changing pad detaches easily for separate use, though I’ve never had a need to do so, and there’s a cushioned pillow for baby’s comfort. The carry strap attaches to any stroller or, in my case, the handle on the back of a vehicle seat. It comes in three colours – tan, pink and black.

Win it! We’ve got a Munchkin Diaper Change Travel Kit in black to give away to one randomly selected reader. To enter browse the Munchkin products and comment on this post with at least one of your faves (not including the Diaper Change Travel Kit, natch) before noon mst on November 13, 2008.

CONTEST CLOSED & WINNER EMAILED

You know that few minutes after you have removed a dirty diaper and cleaned baby off with a wipe or damp cloth of some kind – when covering them up again puts them at risk of discomfort and rash? I generally sit and blow them dry. There has to be an easier and faster way.

Bummas, a new line of super soft and supple baby cloths, were invented by parents Casey and Randy Schwartz who were in the same situation – not wanting to rediaper a wet child and not wanting to blow until they were blue in the face. Bummas are naturally hypoallergenic and antimicrobial and can be used two ways to help treat and prevent diaper rashes. In place of disposable and chemical laden whipes, you can wet a Bumma with water and wipe. No chemicals – no irritation. You can also use them to pat baby’s bottom dry. Dryness is key to preventing diaper rash. As an added bonus, Bummas can also be used to stop those surprise squirts during diaper changes, on top for a boy and underneath for a girl. One Bummas will absorb an entire pee.

Bummas retail for $16.99 for a package of 10.

Win it! A randomly selected winner will receive a ten pack of Bummas in their choice of colour scheme. To enter, visit the Bummas site and choose your pack. Come back and leave a comment letting us know which one to send you should you win. Contest closes at noon mst on October 30, 2008.

Additional entries available – up to four per person. See contest entry information and rules.

CONTEST CLOSED & WINNER EMAILED – Congrats to #19, Naomi!

As much as we like birth to be all about the mama, it really is all about the baby. We do all of the work, but they’re cute enough to negate most of it.

Once you’re resigned to the fact that it’s baby who’s going to get most of the attention, you’ll fall in love with the adorable products at All About Baby. Founded by par.entrepreneur Nancy Wurtzel in 1994, All About Baby specializes in high-quality, distinctive keepsakes for babies and children. While we’re not huge fans of the typical keepsake around here, the four piece gift case is something we’d all love to receive. Completely devoid of the type of keepsake that collects dust for a few years before it’s tossed in a box for the next twenty, this case is not only adorable but completely functional. The funky green case is made of fiberboard and is fab for storing toys or special items at home or on the go. It contains a hooded towel for baby, a toddler-size bib in coordinating colors, a soft white cotton washcloth and a cute yellow rubber ducky. The contents are available in four bright shades of pink or blue and the towel can be personalized with up to ten letters. At just $59.95 it’s a perfect baby gift for anyone and it’s a totally cute alternative to your traditional gift basket.

Win it! We’ve got a hooded towel in the blue bubbles pattern to give away. ($29.95 value & pictured @ left.) To enter, visit the All About Baby shop and come back here to comment with your favourite item or two that are NOT mentioned in this review. Contest closes at noon MST on August 1, 2008. (Holy crap! Is it really just one week until August?)

Additional entries available – up to four per person. See contest entry information and rules.

CONTEST CLOSED & WINNER EMAILED

I love my diaper bag, but it isn’t always convenient to bring it everywhere. And even when I have it it’s not always easy to dig to the bottom to find the puny little change pad that came with it. At Butt-Ums Up Baby, there’s a great solution to both of those issues. Their changing pads have several advantages over the typical ones.

1. They’re the longest I’ve ever seen. Even my 22 month old fits on it easily.
2. There’s a pocket at the top end that easily holds a wipes case (included) and a couple of diapers. It’s not zippered, so it’ easy to get the things you need with only one hand while the other hand holds down the poop covered child that’s trying to escape.
3. It rolls up into a compact package and secures with velcro.
4. That same velcro makes it easy to open with one hand. while you’re holding the above mentioned poop covered child with the other.
5. There’s a buckled loop attached at one side that makes it easy to clip it to a stroller or purse.
6. They come in your choice of twelve gorgeous chenille fabrics and are all lined with vinyl.
7. They’re all machine washable and dryer safe.

Entrepreneurial mom Stacy Sager is the talent behind Butt-Ums Up Baby and she also makes gorgeous matching blankets in the same luxurious soft chenille fabric with silky satin trim and binding.

The change pads retail for $40 and the blankets range from $25-$108.

Win a Butt-Ums Up Changing Pad in your choice of fabric! To enter, leave a comment on this post stating which of the twelve fabrics is your favourite. The randomly selected winner will be contacted via email for their mailing address and will have 48 hours to reply before an alternate winner is chosen. You must leave a valid email address and all required information or you will not be entered in the draw. Comment approval is always at our discretion. Contest closes March 11, 2008.

Get an additional entry into this contest by blogging about it!

1. Blog about this contest using one of the top three images found here.

2. Leave a comment on this post (in a separate comment from your other entry) or send a trackback to receive your second entry.

Congratulations to Mary @ Adventures in Mommyland who said “I love the pink mod dots print. Thanks for the awesome giveaway!”

With a newborn in my house again, I’m reminded daily of the precious soft skin that we’re nurturing (we hope) when we purchase bathing products.

I’ve recently discovered another great online shop that caters to those of us who want not only to nurture our children but also the earth. Bamboosa makes one of the softest and most absorbent hooded towels I’ve had the pleasure of using.

They’re 30″x30″ – large enough for a toddler – and are made of 80% bamboo and 20% recycled polyester. The ‘purely natural’ colour, which is my personal fave, contains absolutely no dye. As with all of their baby products, it’s made in America in a sweatshop free plant.

Enter the code TOP10 for 10% off any Bamboosa order.
You’ll find Bamboosa in the TOP Shops, where we feature exclusive discount codes just for opinionated parents.

Win It! We’ve got a BambooBaby Gift Set 3 in your choice of colour up for grabs! To enter the random draw, email theopinionatedparent@gmail.com with Bamboosa in the subject line before midnight MST on 2/15/08 and tell us the names of all three available colour choices for this set AND the colour that you’d choose if you are the winner. To be valid, entries must include that information as well as your full name and mailing address. Feel free to include a blog link if you’d like us to link you if you win. See below for more information. Winners are notified via email and first names are published with the post unless you ask us not to do so. Good luck!

AND…for the first time ever, you can get an additional entry into this contest by blogging about it!

1. Blog about this contest in it’s own post or within another post using one of the top three images found here.

2. Email your link (in a separate email from your other entry) to theopinionatedparent@gmail.com with Bamboosa in the subject line.

Congratulations Naomi!

Those Aussies know what they’re talking about when it comes to skin care. If they didn’t, they’d all be wrinkled cancerous lumps instead of the unusually gorgeous sub-species that they are. So it makes sense to turn to them for baby skin care ideas, no? The well known Mei Mei line from Australia has now been brought to North America and we’re pleased to introduce you to Mei Mei Baby USA.

Sixty percent of what we put on our baby’s skin is absorbed into the body, and parents everywhere are becoming more conscious of what they put on their children’s skin. Mei Mei Baby (pronounced “May May” – just like the sound that sheep make) offers a range of head-to-toe baby products that is all natural, safe, and free of petrochemicals, parabens, and sodium lauryl sulfates. Their products are 100% made in Australia. That means no lead either!

We tried samples of their line and were very impressed with the quality. The samples were tiny, but in those quantities showed no sign of irritating either newborn baby or toddler skin.

Check out Mei Mei Baby USA for the complete line which should be available early 2008 – that’s right away!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY MOM!

The Caboose travel potty from Bonaco Products is my newest travel companion. My 20 month old son has recently entered the process of self-directed potty learning. Sometimes he goes once a day, sometimes it’s ten times, and we never know when or where it’s going to be. I love that he asks to go once in a while and I don’t want to be that mom that just says “Go in your diaper” when we’re out and about. It seems completely counter intuitive to me, but what do you do when you’re on the highway with nary a washroom in sight and a kid that’s too young to ‘get’ peeing in the ditch?

Well, you get the Caboose!

The Caboose is extremely easy to use and requires nothing other than itself and the diapers you have anyway. Invented by industrious American stay at home mom Suzy Smithson and produced right in her native USA (not China!), it consists of two hard plastic clam shells that fit together with any size and brand of disposable diaper tucked strategically under the rails.

The cleanup couldn’t be easier – just wipe, drop the wipe in the diaper, fold up the diaper and throw it away. I like to pre-load mine after cleaning so it’s all ready for the next time. So much better than some other models I’ve seen that use a transparent zip-lock bag which you then zip up and carry around until you find a garbage. Ew.

Another inspiring story of a mom with a vision who follows it through and makes the lives of other parents easier. I love it!

Win a Caboose for your cutie patootie! To enter the random draw, email theopinionatedparent@gmail.com with CABOOSE in the subject line by midnight MST on 12/31/07 and tell us the retail price when you order it from their website. Please include your full name and mailing address with your entry, and a blog link if applicable so we can link you up if you win. Entries without a mailing address are invalid. (Please note that these are deleted after the draws and are never sold or given to anyone.) Congratulations to Jaime R.!

We’re entering the very beginning of toilet awareness so are on the hunt for great potties to leave scattered around the house. The favourite, by far, is the Potty Bench from Boon. It’s a dual doody duty potty with more features than any I’ve seen and it doesn’t take up much more space than any others we’ve tried. It weighs 5 lbs and is about 19″ wide, 13″ deep and 7″ high. It has two side compartments, one completely open for wipes, spare underoos, reading material, toys or whatever else you need nearby and the other has a toilet paper holder and some extra space as well. When closed, the lid becomes a bench or step stool capable of supporting up to 300 lbs. Perfect for parents to sit on at bath time and for kids to use for the extra lift to the sink or into a tall tub.

While we’re not actually “training” yet, we leave potties around and our son plays with them, sits on them and says “Poopoo!” and is getting the general idea. A few days ago we had our first (accidental, but still exciting) pee on the potty and I very much appreciated two of the many great features of the Boon Potty Bench. The deflector that we call “the penis guard” kept the pee in the potty and off of the bathroom floor and walls, and the pull out drawer took just seconds to clean and slide back in and was not gross in the least.

My son’s friends will all be starting their own potty training adventures in the next few months and I will be wholeheartedly recommending the Boon Potty Bench to them over all others. And? It’s so pretty!

You can buy it direct from Boon for $34.99. Canadian retailers looking to carry Boon products can contact the great folks at 5514km.

Win it! Email theopinionatedparent@gmail.com before midnight tonight with Potty Bench in the subject line and tell us what percentage of Boon’s profits are donated to charity.Congratulations Carmella!

When bath time becomes more work than fun, it’s time to pull out the big guns to get the kid(s) clean. The Squeaky Clean Bathtub Dice from Moms On Edge just might do the trick. They’ll help teach the parts of the body while helping to ensure all of those cute little parts are no longer covered in sticky kid goop. The dice 4 inches square and are made of nylon covered foam. Each side shows an image of one body part to clean along with the accompanying word.

All of the Moms On Edge products come with great vinyl zipper carrying cases – if you don’t reuse them for the items they come with they’re fabulous for lots of things – waterproof with sturdy handles and see through – I like to use my cases for pool toys, spare clothes in the vehicle and more. The stuff inside is better, but I got pretty excited about the great cases!

Want to enter to win some Squeaky Clean Bathtub Dice? Email theopinionatedparent@gmail.com with DICE in the subject line and tell us the recommended age range for this product. Contest closes Monday night at midnight MST. Congratulations Shonda C!