The answer to postpartum hair loss? LA Science Follicle Stimulating Shampoo Review

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Pregnancy is a weird old experience. As if growing a baby in your tummy isn’t enough of a miracle, many women find that a bulging belly & evaporating waistline isn’t the only physical change their body will go through. Yep, the much touted “pregnancy glow” isn’t simply a thing your friends will toss at you to make you feel better when your tummy juts out beyond your breasts, it’s a very real phenomenon. Many women will find their nails grow stronger & longer in pregnancy, and their hair becomes thicker, fuller & more healthy-looking.

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We can credit pregnancy hormones for our luscious locks, in particular a surge in estrogen. Increased blood circulation and a pumped-up metabolism bring more nutrients to your hair, making it less brittle and likely to fall out. Normally, the average head loses 100 hairs a day — but not all at once, so you don’t notice them. Pregnancy temporarily halts this shedding giving mums-to-be longer & fuller tresses.

Postpartum hair loss

Unfortunately, before you have time to get your bum down to a L’Oreal casting, your baby will arrive and post-partum hairloss will kick in. Between 3-6 months after giving birth many women experience a sudden shedding where hair that didn’t fall out in pregnancy, now will. So, at a time when you are most likely sleep deprived, missing your bump, and feeling terribly body conscious, it can come as quite the shock to wake up to a pillow full of hair.

Introducing LA Science Follicle Stimulating Shampoo & Anti Hair Loss Serum

LA Science Hairloss

LA Science dual anti hair loss regime uses clinically proven technology to improve the thickness, and overall health of your hair. An advanced anti hair loss system, LA Science Follicle Stimulating Shampoo & Serum offers a twofold treatment to tackle the woes of thinning hair, and extend the growth phase of the hair cycle.

Not only is it quickly garnering a reputation as a solution for postpartum hair loss, it’s also fab for both men and women suffering during the winter months due to changeable weather and the effects of central heating.

How does it work?

It’s all quite simple really. It uses an active peptide combination that is delivered directly to the roots to nurture and thicken thinning hair. The act of gently massaging LA Science Follicle Stimulating Shampoo into the scalp every day, helps to increase blood flow to the scalp, condition hair and follicles and prevent hair loss.

ACTIVE INGREDIENTS: Copper Tripeptide (to increase blood supply) / Biotin & Arginine (to create a healthy environment for hair to thrive) / Hydrolysed Keratin & Silk (a fibrous structural protein, naturally occurring within hair, that helps protect it from damage and stress)

Couple this with twice daily LA Science Anti Hair Loss Serum and your hair has the very best weapons at its disposal to combat physical stress on the hair shaft and defend itself against breakage.

ACTIVE INGREDIENTS: Peptides (to encourage stronger hair shafts to grow at source) / Portulaca Oleracea & Polygala Tenuifolia Root Extracts (Chinese herbs renowned for their ability to balance hair & scalp deficiencies) / Hyaluronic acid (a moisturiser capable of carrying up to 100x its weight in water to further condition the hair)

LA SCIENCE PRESS

As featured in More Magazine, Maytime Times & Your Hair Magazine

Delivery of the active ingredients to the hair follicle helps:

  1. - Improve blood supply to the scalp
  2. - Revitalise and rejuvenate the hair follicle
  3. - Strengthen the hair shaft
  4. - Normalise the hair growth cycle
  5. - Inhibits depigmentation
  6. - Activates the stem cells of the hair follicle

What did I make of it?

I’ve always had very thin and fine hair. It won’t hold a curl any longer than an hour, and only needs threatening with a pair of straighteners to fall into line. When I was a teenager, my ears would regularly poke through this gossamer curtain and I earned the nicknamed “weasel ears” - needless to say I absolutely hated it and always lusted after fuller hair.

Pregnancy delivered this dream in all it’s technicolour glory and brushing my hair was a real treat. My Denman brush was swept to the side to make way for an oversized paddle brush, and I started having fun with my GHDs. Yet all this was short-lived and my hair promptly fell out when I packed in breastfeeding after 6 weeks.

LA Science seemed like an interesting proposition. I understood the science behind it, but wondered just how much more effective it would be compared to a good head massage (which would surely bring about a similar increased blood flow). I also had reservations about how soft and glossy my hair would be if I ditched my conditioner (this is not required when you use the shampoo & serum in tandem).

Using the system is a bit of a departure from my normal hair care regime. As my hair is prone to drying out and split-ends, I only tend to wash it 3 times a week. Switching to daily washing was a bit of a chore at first, but spurred on by the possibility of thicker hair, I stuck with it.

The shampoo is best described as iridescent in colour and smells like liquid hand soap (so not unpleasant). It comes in an 250ml pump action bottle with screw top lid (ideal for eeking out the dregs of the bottle) and lathers beautifully making it easy to massage in. I paid extra attention to my scalp and massaged it in for a good 5 mins before working it through to the ends.

LA Science

The serum is fragrance-less and a light and non greasy texture that sinks in quickly. It’s recommended you massage in twice a day (morning & 2 hours before bedtime) although I was a little confused as the instructions didn’t state whether to use on wet or dry hair, and how much to use. I ended up doing a bit of both - massaging in a few generous drops after my morning hair wash onto towel dried hair, and in the evening on bone dry hair. Pleasingly, as the formula is so light, it didn’t leave my hair feeling greasy, lank or itchy.

In fact, the serum is the real winner for me. It’s like a leave-in conditioner that delivers soft and healthy-looking hair that stays clean and fresh for longer. On the few occasions I haven’t got around to washing my hair of a morning, the serum keeps my hair from drying out and prepares it perfectly for styling.

Does my hair feel thicker? Yes, a little. I’m only two weeks into my trial but I already feel more hair-confident.

Does it feel healthier? Yes, yes, yes.

Any niggles? Nope.

LA Science are priced very reasonably at £14.99 (shampoo) & £29.99 (serum) and available from all major Boots stores and online at www.la-science.co.uk (the website is currently having a makeover so to purchase online, head on over to Amazon). If you decide to give it a go, do let me know what you think.

 


Bathtime fun! A Crazy Soap review

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Crazy Soap

My kids are real water babies. They like nothing better than a noisy bath together and flooding my bathroom. The whole affair is so chaotic I usually make up an excuse to get out of it and leave it to my long suffering other half. I suppose part of the problem is that our bath toys are pretty naff - just several squirters and plasticy bits that hurt your bum if you accidentally sit on them. So when the lovely folks at Kids Stuff, creators of Crazy Soap, got in touch to see if I’d like to review their cool range of kids bath products, I said yes immediately - we could definitely use something new to occupy them in the bath, not least for Daddy’s sanity.

So who are they? Well Crazy Soap have been making bathtimes fun for over 20 years. Their range encourages a child to discover that getting clean needn’t be boring and turns a bath time chore into something fun and special for all involved. The products are colourful, and in tons of different textures for extra sensory play.

We’ve had the entire range for a few weeks now, and the kiddies have thoroughly tested them. So here’s what I, and more importantly the kids, think of them!

Colour Changing Bubble Bath

Foaming fun that magically changes colour – it’s orange in the bottle but turns blue in the water – with a bath time frog finger puppet.

Pretty self-explanatory really - just pour the orange liquid into the water and it turns blue immediately. It looks an unappealing brown colour in the bottle, but the act of it turning blue is pretty cool. The foam bath also creates hundreds of bubbles which was also a hit with the children.

BubbleB

The smell was pleasant and the formula is also hypoallergenic for sensitive skin - a must for children’s skincare in my opinion.

My only slight misgiving is that we tend to put the bubble bath in without assistance from the kids. In fact, we tend to keep the kids away from the bathroom whilst we run the bath altogether. This is because, so excitable is Heidi, she once hurdled the side of the bath and landed face first in the water. Both kids also mess about with the taps and we worry they’ll scold themselves. Of course, you can pop some Crazy Soap foam bath in AFTER you’ve run your bath (so your kids can see the magic), but then they’ll be no bubbles.

Bathtime Foam Soap

This stuff is AWESOME. Much like Imperial Leather’s Foamburst for us adults, this foam is actually a fab lathering cleanser for the kiddies. A little goes a long way and the kids really enjoyed squirting each other and rubbing it in. I honestly don’t think they’ve ever been so clean!

HeidiFoam

Even better, the foam is extra thick. The PR blurb states it’s a “pliable foam soap that can be shaped and bounced” (I know, genius right?). I had visions of creating little animal shapes for the kids, but this was trickier than it looked. Although the formula doesn’t melt away in water as quickly as shaving foam, you won’t manage much more than a ball, cube or sausage-shape, and I wouldn’t recommend chucking blue or pink blobs at your white tiles to see it bounce either (we made a right mess).

DexterBlue

That said, I loved the fact it comes in funky colours and was impressed with how soft it left their skin. Despite them being super fun, there’s no SLES / Parabens and the formula is PH balanced - an unexpected bonus for a foam-based product. The scent is also light, fruity and pleasant, and will linger long after bath time - Happy mummy.

Bathtime Body Paint

I remember having some sort of take on this as a child myself. I seem to remember a sort of roller-ball Mr Matey-esque product that my brother and I would colour each other in with. Needless to say, body paint stands the test of time and went down an absolute storm with Heidi & Dex. The novelty of getting messy to get clean was almost too much for them and the shrieks of delight were heard next door.

BodyPaintKids

Basically, not only is it a paint, it’s also a super mild soap to boot. It stays vibrant and can be smeared, smudged and soothed over wet or dry skin. I was a little worried about it staining the grout around our tiles but this wasn’t an issue and it washed off well with no residue.

As always, the kids finished up their bath with a massage and were as soft as ever when we popped on their PJs. I’m usually very fussy with their skincare products, but Crazy Soap is so mild it has slotted neatly into their bathtime regime. Overall I’m hugely impressed - and with all the products coming in at the £2/£3 mark, they won’t break the bank either. I’d happily recommend for kids of all ages as cabinet staples or stocking fillers.

You can find Kids Stuff Crazy Soap at most leading supermarkets, or else say hello on Facebook and Twitter to find your nearest stockist.


Benefits of Bath Time Baby Massages with JOHNSON’S® Baby

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Anyone who regularly reads this blog will know I’m a huge baby massage advocate. Natural skin care is an obsession of mine so massaging my two when they’re super relaxed after a bath is one of those things we just do.

Although Heidi’s night terrors are well documented on this blog, and I can’t pretend massage is a miracle cure when it comes to sleep (for us at least), I can say that she has always had a beautiful temperament and is a truly happy baby. She rarely cries, has a healthy appetite and an excellent appreciation of food that makes us so proud. She’s only had the odd bout of constipation when she’s been under the weather and colic didn’t ever trouble her either. We attribute massage to so much of what has made Heidi the baby she is today, and some of my most precious (and hilarious) moments have been spent massaging her. Her smiles seem a little wider, that giggle really sets in, and we’ve dislodged the odd fart here and there too.

Yet we’re not alone in acknowledging the benefits of skin-to-skin contact. It features heavily in antenatal classes and pregnancy pamphlets and, for generations, parents in eastern cultures have demonstrated this by carrying their infants on their backs or chests as they go about their day. Although I read attachment parenting guides and physically shudder at some of the principles, I have to agree with this one - the benefits of massage and regular skin-to-skin time are just too exhaustive for one blog post.

Nevertheless if you’re new to parenthood, only just beginning to look into it, or are yet to consider it - here’s a brief summary of why baby massage is so amazing:

As you adjust to a new regime of on-demand feeding, wiping bums and interrupted sleep, you may feel as though your bond with baby is somewhat frayed. One-on-one time aside from the regular responsibilities of parenting, can be rejuvenating and ultimately lead to a happier, more relaxed mum. If you’re breastfeeding this also has the hidden benefit of intensifying prolactin secretion and thus your milk will be far easier released.

There’s also a whole host of research to suggest that close physical contact from birth results in calmer, more emphatic adults. Baby feels comforted and reassured, and is therefore less prone to bursts of panic in-between feeding and snuggling. In fact, massage encompasses all of the core principles of fostering a stronger bond with baby: prolonged eye contact, allowing early imitation of your expressions and also enveloping baby in your unique scent - this is particularly soothing for babies who have experienced a traumatic birth.

Regular effective massage can also lead to the alleviation of colic & constipation as it helps an immature digestive system break down and better deal with trapped wind and nutrients. Better yet, it can also lead to better quality and more prolonged sleep as it increases baby’s appetite while also encouraging the release of enzymes that digest food. This leaves baby better nourished and fuller for longer, promoting deeper sleep at night.

Physically, there are also studies that suggest that regular massage guards against infections by strengthening the immune system, and also encourages joint flexibility, suppleness and muscle tone.

Finally, massage also promotes sensory development and body awareness, and ultimately provides baby with a sense of spatial awareness. This may have the additional benefit of helping them to refine gross & fine motor skills.

Don’t forget Dad! Craig and I take it in turns to massage the children. By ritualising the massage in this way, it reinforces a sense of routine and repetition that babies love. Dad’s bond with baby is also magnified and he gets to feel needed and appreciated (this can be really life-affirming if Dad is lacking in confidence, or feeling like a ‘spare part’ as he doesn’t have lactating breasts!)

The massage

As when we nip to the spa, creating a relaxing environment for baby is essential. Post bath massage is so brilliant as your baby should be warm, relaxed and able to better appreciate the continuity (over time). Having recently worked with JOHNSON’S® Baby I’d happily recommend JOHNSON’S® TOP-TO-TOE® Baby Bath (RRP £3.49), which is clinically proven to be as safe and mild as water for newborn skin from their very first day. This gently cleanses newborn skin and doubles as a bath foam, leaving a smattering of tiny bubbles to add to the sensory experience.

Once out of the bath, I give my two monkeys a cuddle in a towel and lay them on our bed. Over time this spot has become synonymous with massaging and I’d recommend this to anyone. Babies LOVE repetition so try to do your massages in the same place every time (familiarity doesn’t always breed contempt). Try also to keep the temperate suitably warm as babies lose heat far quicker than we do and you’ll want them to be comfortable as they lay there in the buff! This is also quiet time so there’s no television or extra sensory stimulation that can act as a distraction.

You’ll then want to warm a small amount of oil in your hands so as not to startle baby with cold hands JOHNSON’S® Baby Oil (RRP £2.49) is ideal as it’s especially developed for newborn skin and creates a light protective barrier that locks in more than double the moisture of baby lotion. It also leaves Heidi’s skin soft-to-touch and really enhances that newborn smell we all can’t get enough of (even at 1.5 years she still smells good enough to eat!).

As regards massage technique, this is something I’ll cover more extensively in a later post. In its crudest sense, a good massage should include connecting strokes, effleurage, petrissage and friction, and there are a wealth of resources out there to help you hone your baby massage technique. My best advice is not to attempt anything that seems a little ambitious without thoroughly researching it first.

There you go - reasons to regularly massage your little miracle, and ways to make it extra special for her! Find out more about the benefits of baby massages with JOHNSON’S® Baby on the website, or join them on Facebook for more tips and advice on all things baby.
I am a member of the Netmums Blogging Network, a unique community of parent bloggers from around the UK who have been handpicked by the Netmums team to review products and brands on their behalf. I may have been paid expenses, and have been supplied with a product sample for this review, but retain all editorial control. All my Netmums Reviews will display the Netmums logo within the post.
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