Review: The Konjac Sponge Company ~ Konjac Baby Sponge

I received an email from Michele over at The Konjac Sponge Company asking if I'd be interested in their baby sponge. The sponge arrived with some useful information about their products, cute postcards and the lovely little sponge itself!


About the Company....

Michele Riley, is the founder and director of the Konjac Sponge Company.
She is a self confessed workaholic mother of 4 children. Michele Juggles motherhood and full time work, and endeavours to keep a "green" slant on all aspects of life. As always, she would never sell or promote anything she is not passionate about and will use for herself.

Having hypersensitive skin herself, Michele came across Konjac Sponges by total chance, and purchased one to try, she has never looked back! Impressed by something so pure, natural yet so effective she decided that the UK and Europe should have the opportunity to benefit from such a simple yet effective product.

Michele scrupulously investigated the product and the manufacturing process to ensure it was as green and ethical as first appeared. Once satisfied, she set about finding the finest most ethical and natural manufacturer in the world. Michele then quickly set to work, ensuring all the range was available for the UK and EU market.

Recently introduced to Europe the sponge has roaring success in places such as Japan, China, Korea and the USA. Made with 100% natural Konjac fibre, a food grade vegetable fibre from the root of the amorphophallus konjac plant.

The 100% vegetable sponge is naturally pH balanced, biodegradable, colouring free, vegetarian, moisture rich, compostable, naturally sustainable and environmentally safe. Ideal for use on baby's skin and also for applying make-up.

 

As the sponge is naturally moisture rich no further soap or body wash is required, however if you choose to still use some you can use much less as it will bubble more and go alot further than if it were on a 'normal' sponge or flannel. Thus making it better for your skin, your pocket and the environment!

 

The sponges were originally intended for use on children but people have grown to realise the benefits of everyone using them. The cleansing and soothing abilities make them ideal for all skin types and particularly good for those who are hypersensitive to some other products out there. 

The Konjac Baby Sponge is ideal for baby's or children (or indeed anyone) with sensitive skin or even eczema as no nasty chemicals or toxins are used. A baby's skin is more porous and can absorb harmful chemicals and pollutants into the skin 5x more than an adults, with this sponge you can safely and gently cleanse them without any damage or worry to the effect it may have.

Recently Lydia has had a rather sore bum, evil nappy rash due to her getting to hot after running around in her cloth nappy's in this heat we're having. Each bath time was a fight, the products we were using seemed to irate her sore delicate skin all the more. But what could i do? I couldn't just wash her in plain water after everything she gets up to in the day!

Lydia's first meeting with the sponge :)

So i didn't think twice and tried the sponge straight away. Using no soap or baby wash i cleaned her with the Konjac Baby Sponge and was so pleased to hear no screams this bath time! Amazing. Its soft and squidgy that amused Lydia how it felt, and it left her with really soft skin.

I like to squidge it squidge it!

I then had to sneakily use it myself when she wasn't looking, i washed my face with it. It has a funny vegetable smell but it doesn't linger or stay on your skin so that's OK, the texture freaked me out a bit but that's my own problem! My face was left really soft and i did feel cleansed and soft to touch, it certainly woke me up! Lydia then realised that Mumma was using her new best friend, and this is what happened....

....when the sponge was put away :'(

You can also use the sponge for washing baby's hair, as the sponge holds 10x its weight in water. So by gently squeezing it over baby's head you create a gentle and peaceful hair shampoo for baby :) Lovely. 

At £5.25 its only a few pounds more than a regular baby sponge, but you make your money back from all the shampoo and body wash you save.

Also being kinder to baby's skin and the environment is surely priceless?

Click here to order your Konjac Baby Sponge and view their other great products in their online shop.

Things are changing....

        

My beautiful girls :)

I can't help but feel sad, happy and scared all at the same time.

I am (always have been) a terrible worrier, now ask my friends and they'd say i am bubbly, confident and positive. Only a few people know the 'real' me, the side thats easily hurt and upset, the part of me that constantly worries and wants everything to be perfect.

Yes i usually do and say what i like, but i do worry what people think about me, what will happen to me and where i will end up.

This pregnancy has caused a whole new MASSIVE batch of hormones, a fresh batch of bitchyness, moanyness and unhappyness. Not to mention the heartburn, back ache and stress from a very tetchy toddler.

I do love being pregnant again, its great. So different from with Lydia, this time i am worring about moving, money and how all of this will effect Lydia. She is amazing and hugs my belly saying ''Baby'' then kisses it :)

I've been upset about how she will feel, how she will adapt to moving (if we ever move!?!)

Everyone tells me to relax and take it easy.

How can i!?! I have a toddler who acts like a teenager and i'm really stressed out on top of trying to remain ''normal'' to function in everyday life and move.

I wish someone would just come along and sort it all out for me. Someone to assure me Lydia will be fine, its just a phase afterall, someone to get me a new flat and sort out all the shit that comes with moving, someone to give me a wonderfull massage and a day off from everything.

But, i don't believe in god and miracles just don't happen to me.

Rant over and otherwise i am really happy. I have a beautiful happy daughter and she has a sister on her way. I always wanted a sister so she's getting what i always wanted, which is lovely :)

And i've managed to make the baby a few things for when she arrives. A soft play cube, hand stiched with a jingle bell inside. And a sock cat! Meiow....

I have always thought that i would'nt dress my two girls exactly the same. Maybe the same outfit/top but in different colours. However i have printed a vest each for the girls to wear, matching! :)

I've also brought two t-shirts, one each, Lydia's will say 'Big sister' and baby's will say 'Little sister' :) Yey!!!

Review: Thrist Pockets Multi Cloth

Harriet sent us some Thirst Pockets Multi Cloths, just what you need with a messy toddler about the house!

But you don't need a toddler to make a mess as we soon found out, clumsy daddy Justin decided to spill his coke all over the front room floor. Luckily its laminate flooring and i had these to hand!

Justin thought it was ''normal'' kitchen towel so he tore off about 10 sheets and started to mop up the mess, i came and took seven back off him! He only needed three, and he would've used less had he wrung them out in the sink. Needless to say the floor was super sticky so i used another one with some spray cleaner, super clean shiney and dry floor after that! Fab :)

The packet states you can use it all rooms of the house. Kitchen, bathroom, on glass and furniture. So we went on to use them cleaning the toilet, TV, Lydia's messy face and kitchen surfaces including the sink. The next challenge will be the shower.
Not just for cleaning though, you can use them for cooking, i used one sheet whilst making pancakes and eggy bread to soak up the excess oil. Fabulous!

 Another great use i found was when all my tea-towels were wet from the wash and i needed a plate drying, i tore a sheet off and watched it suck up the water. I left this sheet hanging off the tap to use later, it dried up lovely and had no holes!

They're made with Airlaid technology, ''Whats that?'' i hear you ask....

Airlaid is a specific process without water using cellulosic fibres but longer than what we use in conventional papermaking. Instead of mixing fibres with a high amount of water, and spraying the mix on a fabric to get a homogeneous web, the fibres are used dry, air transported and homogeneously laid down on a fabric. As the fibres are not wet, there is a need to add a binder to get a sheet with some resistance. In our case, this binder is a synthetic latex sprayed on both sides of the sheet. The amount of latex is around 15% of total weight.

This binder is not soluble in water which explains the specific property of Airlaid to be strong even when wet.
GP Airlaid is made with 100% virgin pulp called fluff (wood cellulose fibres) by a dry laying process (aerodynamic web formation). Airlaid is very strong, absorbent, offers the feel of cloth, and enables the product to be rinsed and reused.

And an introduction of the product from the company....

Behold…The NBF for Clean Fiends Across the UK

Thirst Pockets Multi Cloth - the innovative new household helper with a split personality.

Is it a bird? Is it a plane? No, it’s a brand new product from Thirst Pockets - the Thirst Pockets Multi Cloth. It’s no surprise that this innovative little household helper is having an identity crisis - because it looks like a kitchen towel and performs like a cloth.
If, like us, your cupboards are overflowing with cloths and sponges – there’s the kitchen surface dishcloth, the washing up sponge and dozens of dusters – then you’ll be pleased to hear about the range of jobs that this new cloth can cover. The Thirst Pockets Multi Cloth will polish furniture, clean up the car, scrub the hobs, shine the windows and can wipe up spills.
Imagine how much simpler life will be with a single cloth to meet all your cleaning needs. Its concentrated fibres ensure a cloth-like feel so it doesn’t leave any nasty streaks across shiny surfaces - making it the perfect cleaning partner for your spring clean and beyond.

Versatile Thirst Pockets Multi Cloth can do it all, tackling any job – big or small - from wiping small spills, to cleaning your bathroom and polishing furniture and glass. It’s tough and durable, so much so that in tests it has proved to be the strongest kitchen towel on the market.
Multi Cloth is a hygienic cleaning solution – it performs like a cloth, but because it is disposable it removes the need to have dirty cloths hanging around the home.
The superior quality of Multi Cloth also means it is cost effective, because, compared to normal kitchen towels you have to use less to do more.


So if you need this fantastic product in your life, and lets face it we all DO! Then head down to your local supermarket to grab a pack, RRP £2.39 from Tesco, Sainsburys, Morrisons and Asda.

Make it part of your cleaning kit!

Right i'm off to scrub my shower now............



 

Review: DrSchar.com ~ TRUfree and Dietary Specials foods

The lovely Becky from Dr.Schar.com sent me a box of goodies to try. Inside were a variety of tasty things by TRUfree and Dietary Specials.


From TRUfree we received some rich tea biscuits and their tasty pretzels...

My daughter instantly spotted the biscuits and demanded to try some. When we opened the box (125g) we found 3pks of 6 biscuits each, i think this is great as it gives more freshness and life to them to make them last longer. However 6 biscuits is quite alot, maybe 4 packs of 4 biscuits would be better?
So i opened them and was disappointed that most of the biscuits were already broken into pieces, I've had these before and they were the same so it wasn't method of delivery. I just think that the biscuits are to thin, if they were slightly thicker then they'd break less. I made some tea to go with them and was disappointed that my tea ended up full of soggy biscuit crumbs.
The taste of the biscuit was nice though, the classic sweet and buttery taste that's plain and simple just like an ''original'' rich tea biscuit.

Next the pretzels got spotted by the non-coeliac in the house, Justin. He loves these and i regularly buy him them as he says (in his words) ''They taste like the real thing''. I find that i defiantly need a drink with these as they are very salty and hard. The bag is quite large, 60g, as just a snack. One for sharing, picnics or even opening a few bags at a party. I'd like to see smaller snack packets of 30g/40g sold in multi packs (6) for convenience, and some other flavours such as chocolate covered or garlic and herb? Yummy :)

From Dietary Specials we had their Chocolate & Orange crispy bars,

bread sticks and brown ciabatta rolls.

The crispy bars didn't stay in the packet very long as they looked really tasty! Inside the 180g box you get 5 individually wrapped bars, one for each week day :) They were very tasty with quite a tangy orange flavour, little pieces of orange were also dotted around the bars. Nice and chewy but not enough chocolate, it would be nice to have the chocolate running all the way though instead of just on the outside. This also might help to make them less dry and bland? Also available in apricot and raisin flavour, yummy.

Next up were their *new* product, bread sticks. They come in a 150g pack and inside are separated into 3pks. This is excellent for freshness and sharing, if you only want to nibble on a few the rest are still sealed and fresh for next time. Or open them all up for a party! I found them to be a bit dry and crumbly but with a dip they were fantastic :) Also they make a good alternative to biki-pegs for a teething toddler, hard enough to help with teething but edible and flavourless for them to like. Little snack sizes packets of these in miniature form would go down well at kids party's, in a lunch box or your handbag as a quick snack when on the go.

 Lastly we tried the brown ciabatta rolls, 200g with four rolls. Winner of the bread and bread mixes catergory at the Free From food awards. I had never tried ciabatta before having these and now i love it!

They are fresh enough to eat as they are but the taste develops if you warm them through. Either a few seconds in the microwave or a few minutes in the oven, for that beautiful fresh bread taste and smell :) I enjoyed mine oven warm with some margarine and a hearty beef stew. The outside turns crispy and the inside stays soft and fluffy with it chewy seeds, fantastic for moping up the gravy. I have previously used these to make garlic bread, again in the oven with fantastic tasty results. I wonder if some larger ones could be made to use as sandwiches? Yummy!!! 

I was overall very impressed with both of these brands, with their easily recognisable packaging and quite impressive products. I am keeping my eyes peeled for any new makes from them, i will be sure to give them a try out to :)

Dietary Specials also has an impressive frozen range including pizzas and pies, very exciting, low fat and flavoursome products again!

If you wish to purchase any of these products or just fancy a look at their full ranges then head over to your local supermarkets which are bound to stock of few items from each company or shop directly from them online here; Dietary Specials and TRUfree.

A Little Sister for Lydia....

A Little Sister for Lydia



Dear little sister, i hope you become my very best friend.

I don't want you to steal my stuff but you can borrow it.

I don't want you to hog Mumma, we can share her.

I love you already without even realising it,

I hope our first hug is going to be as magical as mine was with Mumma.

Mumma likes hugs and kisses so be sure to give her lots,

but don't forget me. I like them to :)

I will hold you hand when you scared and chase away nasty children,

i will play with you and not moan about you being a 'baby'.

I will help Mumma when you need a nappy change,

or be good when your hungry and need Mumma for milk :)

But please keep the noise down when you cry

otherwise i will cry to :'(

I do know how to put my fingers in my ears though!

I know I've not met you yet, but if you like me your going to be awesome!!!

And remember Mumma loves us both,

because we're the best of course!