I'm a full-time mummy

Over 3 months ago, I received an invitation to review some organic baby and kids products. I am all for organic stuff whenever possible so of course I accepted the invitation! Anyway, let's continue with my review below...

About the products:
"MELVITA is a pioneer in organic cosmetics and has grown to become one of France’s leading brands of natural and organic cosmetics. Resolutely organic. Because we are convinced that the organic commitment is one of the keys to the future of the planet. MELVITA was in at the beginning of the trend towards natural, organic products and was one of the first companies to obtain the ECOCERT certificate for organic products in 2002.

We prefer to use ingredients that are organically farmed or responsibly picked, because we fight against the chemical doping and destruction of nature. For decades we have protested against the pointlessness and cruelty of tests on animals. We make sure that our packaging materials are totally recyclable."

I received the following items for my review: 

* Organic Baby’s Moisturizing Milk

"This rich, smooth lotion combines the softening properties of Aloe vera and Linden floral water with the nourishing benefits of Shea butter and Olive and Coconut oils. It has a long-lasting moisturizing effect, which rehydrates baby's face and body after bathing. It protects against harsh environmental conditions and leaves baby's skin silky and supple. Allergen free, Essential oils free, Alcohol free, Formulated under paediatric control, Dermatologically tested."

My feedback: The nifty little bottle is about 6 inches tall and currently has its own special spot right next to my laptop so that I can easily dispense and lather some onto kiddos' skin (and ehem.. mine hehehehehe) whenever we want. Our 2.5 years old Alyson was curious to try when I first checked this item out, so I applied a dollop of the moisture milk lotion onto her palm and arms and let her lather it on her skin by herself. I love that it leaves a glossy finish and keep her skin supple and smooth. I think it is a wonderful product that keeps our skin smooth and supple, not to mention the peace of mind knowing that it is a natural ingredients product as well.

* Organic Baby’s Shower Shampoo

"This shower shampoo gel combines the soothing properties of Linden and Lemon balm floral waters with the softening qualities of Honey and Orange. It gently cleanses your baby's delicate hair and skin without stinging the eyes** or drying out the skin. Allergen free, Essential oils free, Alcohol free, Formulated under paediatric control, Dermatologically tested."

My feedback: I like products that we can use from head to toe! With 3 active kiddos, it is easier for me to use a shower product that covers everything. I currently prefer to use this on our 8.5 months old Carolyn as I noticed when using this on her, is it doesn't sting her eyes when I wash them off her hair.

* Organic Children’s toothpaste

"This Toothpaste for children is very gentle, with a delicious strawberry taste. It provides excellent oral hygiene. Xylitol, which is extracted from birch and beech bark, helps to prevent tooth decay, while grapefruit pips and echinacea cleanse the mouth. This toothpaste contains no fluoride or artificial flavours and is intended for children aged over 3. Ingredient from Organic Farming."

My feedback: I first tried this toothpaste on our 5 years old boy but he dislikes it as he was used to his current brand of toothpaste. Although on the website it is mentioned that this toothpaste is intended for children aged over 3 years old, I decided to let our 2.5 years old girl tried it as her previous toddler toothpaste (safe to swallow type) has just finished and I was not able to buy a new one for her even after several visits to the pharmacies.

Since our girl can already gargle and spit out when brushing her teeth, I thought just give it a try and see how it goes. To my surprise, she likes it. In fact, she dislikes the current brand that her brother is using so it is great that she can use this! The toothpaste has strawberry flavor and I just need to put a small dollop of it onto her toothbrush to keep her teeth clean. By the way, the size of this toothpaste is value for the money, worth it to get compared to the previous brand that our girl used. Definitely will restock!

* Organic Zesty Body Wash

"This deliciously fresh and zesty shower gel is a true energizing cocktail! Its formula is enriched with extracts of Orange, Lemon and Mandarin, which are known for their invigorating properties. Its extra-gentle, soap-free cleansing base has a skin-neutral pH. It cleanses without drying and maintains the skin's natural balance. Easily biodegradable and formulated with naturally derived cleansers, it is as gentle on the planet as it is on the skin."

My feedback: I love this!!! The moment I squeezed a dollop onto my palm, oh boy, I fell in love with the zesty citrusy smell! Just a small dollop of this is enough to lather all over your body! Love it so much! Currently trying to skimp as much as possible, do not want to overuse it hehehe...

* Organic Rose Floral Water

"In year 1983, organic French beauty care brand Melvita launched the first two of its Floral Waters – Rose and Lavender. Decades later, the Floral Water has become one of Melvita’s most iconic bestselling products worldwide, with a total of five (5) different variants: Rose, Cornflower, Orange Blossom, Witch Hazel and Lavender.

 Certified organic and fair trade (EFT attested), our floral water is obtained by steam distillation of fresh Rosa damascena petals. Our unique extraction method enables us to obtain a floral water that is particularly rich in active ingredients, making it a naturally powerful formula. With its fresh, delicate scent, our floral water helps to combat dehydration and regenerate the skin*."

My feedback: Apparently the deep blue colour of the bottle is known to refract UV rays, thus protecting the inner contents against intense light exposure, making the product last longer. I currently use this to mist my skin and hair, I just spray onto my body and hair right before I rush out of the house. It leaves a rosy smell and keeps my skin soft and supple. I would be interested to try out the Orange Blossom one since I was already head over heels with its Orange Zesty Body wash product.

One cool point to share is the bottle is entirely made from recycled Polyethylene Terephthalate (PET) and similarly, like all packaging for Melvita products, the Rose Floral Water bottle is also 100% recyclable. Awesome!

In summary, a wonderful range of organic products that I have been given the privilege to try out with my family. I have peace of mind knowing that a lot of considerations have been put into the products to make it safe for use with naturally sourced ingredients (not to forget environmental friendly!) while still nourishing our body. Recommended!

You can browse for more products and shop online (free shipping now!) at http://my.melvita.com/

Do note that I received no monetary compensation for this review, I was provided with the products in order to facilitate my review. All opinions expressed in this post are my own. Please do your own research when purchasing products, as your opinions may differ from mine.

About a month ago, I received an email on the possibility to review some fruit gummies. Our kiddos love to munch on gummies and I thought I could give this a try since these gummies are enriched with vitamins and minerals. Anyway, let's continue with my review below...

About the products:
"Seven Seas, one of most trusted healthcare brands in the U.K, has the perfect solution with their range of Kids Fruit Gummies. Kids just love these yummy, healthy Fruit Gummies and it’s a fun way to get them strong and healthy. Available in packs of 30 delicious tasting gummies, Seven Seas Fruit Gummies come in three flavors, each enriched with different vitamins and minerals essential for the children’s formative years. Strawberry Fruit Gummies contains Vitamins A, B6 and C, Blackcurrant has Vitamin C and zinc, and the Orange variant comes with calcium and Vitamin D.

At Seven Seas, we believe a healthy life begins with proper nutrition. Let Seven Seas help you and your family live a healthier life. Now, with Seven Seas Kids Fruit Gummies, vitamins and minerals are just a yummy chew away. These gummies are also free from preservatives, artificial colourings and flavourings. "

I received 3 bottles of Seven Seas Fruit Gummies - Strawberry, Blackcurrant and Orange. According to the product page, "Strawberry Fruit Gummies contains Vitamins A, B6 and C, Blackcurrant has Vitamin C and zinc, and the Orange variant comes with calcium and Vitamin D".

The gummies are really cute - it looks just like the fruits they represents: Strawberry, Blackcurrant and Orange - right down to the matching fruit colors.

The moment our 5 years old boy saw what's inside the bottles, he stood next to me asking for one to try. His 2.5 years old sister was not aware of what was inside but stood next to her brother trying to see what caught her brother's attention. Hahahah... what I did was I will give them each 3 gummies (Strawberry, Blackcurrant and Orange) every day before their breakfast, sometimes if I forget, our boy will dutifully reminds me that I have forgotten to give them the gummies.

To be honest, I do have my apprehension when it comes to gummies as I always relate these gummies to the sugary icing mess around the gummies candy which are commonly sold in supermarkets and retail marts. But the Seven Seas Fruit Gummies does not have those icky sugary icing that I was dreading at so that was one worries off my list when I let our kiddos try the gummies out.

I am also happy to know that the Seven Seas Fruit Gummies are also free from preservatives, artificial colourings and flavourings so I look forward to giving them to our kiddos every morning.

In summary, our kiddos just love them... and never forget to take their vitamins every day!

The products are available in all leading pharmacies nationwide. You can browse for more products at http://www.sevenseas.com.my/index.php/products/childrens-health/

Btw, Seven Seas are also running a nationwide 'Colour & Win' contest. You could let your child participate by colouring the Seven Seas Gummy Fruity Heroes on the contest form and stand a chance to win a Samsung GALAXY Tab 3 Lite/Kids or other goodies.

Do note that I received no monetary compensation for this review, I was provided with the product in order to facilitate my review. All opinions expressed in this post are my own. Please do your own research when purchasing products, as your opinions may differ from mine.

A month ago, I received an email invitation from WooYu Studio (btw, WooYu means 'milk' in Korean) to try out this concept of 'self-shooting service' in a studio. To tell you the truth, I am a super duper shy person and I guard my family and my privacy strictly. When I saw the 'self-shooting service' concept, it got me interested as that would mean I don't have to fake a smile or pretend to be happy and comfy in front on a stranger! I fell in love with this concept right away!

Now next thing being my paranoid checklist was the safety of the pictures taken. I definitely do not want pictures of my family and I being distributed around without my consent so I find out more from WooYu Studio on how the process goes for the images taken. Turns out, with the 'self-shooting service' concept, since we bring our own camera, we totally have the ownership of the photos taken.

FYI, we do not own any DSLR camera and my digital camera has not been touched for ages since I have my Nokia phone which churns out nice pictures for me hahaha, so for this review, we actually used the DSLR camera from WooYu studio. Do note that for those clients who opted to rent their camera (charges depend on the DSLR camera) to do the shooting in their studio, they will copy all the image files into a disc and give to them once the photoshoot is done.

Without further ado, check out my review below...

About the company:
"WooYu studio is a family and children friendly studio. We know how photos bring back memories. As parents, we would like to capture every moments recording our children's growth....and, we also realize that to hire a photographer may be costly to some family. So, here we are setting up a studio where you can take photos of your family with all the essential lighting, tools, background and props in a comfortable studio at affordable price. Services provided: Families, Little Ones, Singles, Make-Overs, Couples, pre-wedding, pre-birthday, product."

It was a breeze communicating with Yvonne, the person in-charge of WooYu Studio. She answered all my worries and concerns and totally understand my paranoid point of view as well. We settled on doing the photoshoot at 3pm on a Sunday. (*Tips: According to Yvonne, best time to do photoshoot is before noontime, around 11am when the daylight is just nice) I also mentioned to Yvonne that we will need to use their camera since we have none but we will bring our USB thumb drive to copy out the images once done.

So on the photoshoot day, I tried to match our family's clothes but hey, who am I kidding?! We ended up decking our kiddos in purple theme clothing while hubby and I have sort of blue black theme.

** Location wise to the studio: To be honest, we felt that the location does not do justice to WooYu Studio. It is situated in a newly developed area (they just started the studio late last year) So, all around the shoplots area there are a lot of empty lots. Anyway, we finally managed to find the right block based on the map provided by WooYu Studio to us and once we stepped into the studio, we felt so comfortable and at ease. Totally different feel from outside!

** Equipments and facilities provided in the studio:

Tucked at one of the corner in the studio, you can see tons of kiddos' costumes being hung on some wooden rods. There are also cute little caps and hats and hairbands and all sorts of accessories for the kiddos (there are some adults hats as well) One of the things that caught my eyes was a nicely arranged row of disposable diapers in one of the racks. I asked Yvonne what are the diapers for and she told me sometimes, the parents who came for the photoshoot needed to change diapers for their kiddos and hence, the spare diapers for their use. What a nice gesture!

The decoration around the studio has a home-y feel. Lots of nice plush toys and comfy rugs. Smooth clean floor and bright lighting shining into the studio. You can also see different backdrop themes to lighting, cameras, lenses, flashes, props in the studio.

Since we are not experienced in using DSLR camera, Yvonne and her partner, Mr. Yoon were so helpful in guiding and teaching us how to take pictures using their Canon 5D Mark III DSLR camera. All I know is I just need to point to where I want to shoot the picture and press the button hahahaha... While we get ourselves familiarise with the camera and have fun trying out the accessories on our kiddos (and ourselves!), Yvonne and Mr. Yoon quietly and quickly setup the backdrop and everything that is required for us to commence our photoshoot.

** Photoshoot session in the studio:

When everything is ready, we just step into the photoshoot area and start taking pictures. Yvonne and Mr. Yoon quietly slipped away from us to let us enjoy our photoshoot without interruptions from anything else.

I for one am glad I do not need to fake a smile or pose here and there - I mean, I honestly want photos of myself and my family that is natural and not faked out to impress anyone. I want the pictures to show that is how we are.

Some of the pictures such as our family pictures were taken by Mr. Yoon, we love it! And there were some taken of me playing with our 2 older kiddos while hubby carried our sleeping 8 months old baby, those were also taken by Mr. Yoon. Lovely shots at the right time!  

We moved on to other backdrops, each time quietly and quickly setup by WooYu Studio while we hung around, checking out the deco and playing with our kiddos.

Watching our 8 months old baby moving herself up to an almost standing position, priceless! Did I mention that I'm happy that there are so many plush toys and soft comfy rugs around?

** Photos taken in the studio:

We took about 2.5 hours in total for the entire photoshoot. Once done, we passed our USB thumb drive to Mr. Yoon for them to copy out the images from the DSLR to the thumb drive. The process of transferring the images was very fast. The awesome thing is there is no fuss or hidden cost which you might encounter elsewhere whereby if clients like some particular photos, they have to pay extra to take the photos back. At WooYu studio, you won't experience those issues.

** SUMMARY OF REVIEW:

We really enjoyed ourselves, we felt very relaxed and at ease with the whole photoshoot experience. No strangers to boss us around, telling us how to pose or how to smile (quiet impossible with 3 kiddos around to be honest!). This 'self shooting service' concept is amazing as you get to have studio quality pictures and yet feel comfy and at home with the environment even though it is not in the comfort of your own home. I would highly recommend this!

You can find out more at https://www.facebook.com/wooyustudio on camera rental charges and etc.

Do note that I received no monetary compensation for this review, I was provided with the products in order to facilitate my review. All opinions expressed in this post are my own. Please do your own research when purchasing products, as your opinions may differ from mine.