I'm a full-time mummy

I have been cutting down on doing product reviews towards the last quarter of year 2016 to prepare for our coming 4th kiddo who was born in early November 2016 and I am now slowly resuming doing product reviews but prioritizing those that can fit into our family dynamics (especially books on parenting or homeschooling stuff, family products, something along those genre) When I received an email asking whether I would be interested to review a range of babies and children toothpaste from Europe, I had initially declined to prepare for coming baby but the client is very patient and willing to wait until things have settled down on our side, so here goes my review: 

About the company & products:

"SensiTeeth is a babies and children toothpaste from Europe and is distributed by AJ Research and Pharma in Malaysia.

The foundation of healthy permanent teeth in children is laid during the childhood period. Henceforth, it is essential to establish a proper and right oral hygiene product as a routine early in life to help ensure the development of strong and healthy teeth. Parents should be the key model to cultivate in their kids a good dental routine from young with clinically proven product- SensiTeeth Kids Oral Care.

There are 5 products in the range which are:

1. SensiTeeth First Tooth Paste - First teething 6+months

2. SensiTeeth Kids Tooth Paste - Fluoride 500ppm and Calcium 3+ years old

3. SensiTeeth Kids Tooth Paste - 1000ppm fluoride, and calcium 6+ years

4. SensiTeeth Epismalto Tooth Paste-1450ppm Fluoride and Calcium 6+ years

5. SensiTeeth Kids Mouthwash-100ppm Fluoride and Calcium 3 + years"

We received the following 5 products for our review. One thing that touched on my OCD side is the color of the toothpaste - as a mum of 4 kiddos, I would prefer if there are different colors for easier identification. I had to read and re-read the labels to make sure I'm giving the correct toothpaste to our kiddos, I do not notice the different tooth mascot pictures on the toothpaste until much later, maybe it is just me, but yeah, I would really appreciate different color scheme for different products hahahaha...

Firstly, I like that the toothpaste came sealed with a thin foil for hygienic and safety purpose. It assures me that the toothpaste has not been tampered with and produced with utmost safety in mind.

Moving on, I explained to our kiddos especially our older 2 (girl 5 years old and boy 7.5 years old) that mummy need them to try out a new toothpaste and to provide their honest feedback on how they feel after using it.

We started off with the SensiTeeth Kids Tooth Paste - Fluoride 500ppm and Calcium which I let our 2 girls try out (they are 3 years old and 5 years old) By 3 years old, children should be able to spit out the toothpaste after brushing. It is now that we as parents should introduce them the toothpaste with calcium-fluoride formulation, as fluoride helps to prevent and control tooth decay while calcium can help to grow stronger teeth.

SensiTeeth Kids Tooth Paste - Fluoride 500ppm and Calcium provides the appropriate amount of fluoride of only 500ppm for kids at 3 years old and above. It is specially designed for the youngest of mouths to get them used to the taste of toothpaste as well as coming in a baby-friendly blueberry flavor.

Our 5-year-old girl was the first guinea pig for the night hahahaha... well only because she is straight-up honest and is very very picky and super sensitive to what goes into her mouth. She squeals when she realized the foam forming in her mouth as her current toothpaste does not do that at all, so this is a new experience for her. I asked her whether the toothpaste is sweet and she said no and continued brushing her teeth. She gargled and rinsed off and proceeded to tell me the toothpaste is okay for her and that she likes it.

Next guinea piggy in line is our 3-year-old girl who was the second picky person in our family. I dabbed on half a pea size of the same toothpaste that her elder sister just used. Up until today, she is still using one brand of toothpaste meant for 3 months to 2 years old because she just does not like the rest of the toothpaste I got for her. So, I took a deep breath and proceeded to brush our 3-year-old's teeth (she can brush her own teeth but it is not thorough so we prefer to do it for her at the moment)

She did not wail out like what she did with another toothpaste I purposely bought for her but stood still letting me brush on. Phewww... with a heavy sigh of relief, I continued brushing her teeth and she gargled and happily trotted off to join her sister in bed. For this girl of ours, her actions are louder than her words. The very fact that she did not flat out reject the toothpaste says a lotttttttttt already!

Final guinea pig on toothpaste products for the night is our 7.5-year-old boy. I let him used the SensiTeeth Kids Tooth Paste - 1000ppm Fluoride and Calcium which is meant for children age 6+ years. This toothpaste is especially catering for the tooth transition phase which is when their milk tooth will have loosened and eventually fall off and replaced with permanent tooth.

Our 7.5-year-old boy has used a couple of different toothpaste brands so far and he said the one he is trying out now smells good but does not taste sweet. He dabbed on some onto his electrical toothbrush and quickly brushed his teeth. He said the toothpaste is okay, not minty like the one he likes (which is sweet - yes, I tasted that too LOL)

Now I must confess, boys being boys, they are like men with a few words. Hard to wriggle out more words from them at times, so as a concerned mum and this being a product review, I decided to try out the SensiTeeth Kids Tooth Paste - 1000ppm Fluoride and Calcium toothpaste. I dabbed on a big pea-sized toothpaste onto my toothbrush and noticed the strong strawberry smell. I brushed slowly, even tasted some to check whether the toothpaste is sweet or not - nope, they are NOT! To be frank, I am not used to this toothpaste as the one I'm using is minty and taste a bit sweet hahahaha... but okay, I guess no complaints from our kiddos means all is good!

Our last product to review is the SensiTeeth Kids Mouthwash-100ppm Fluoride and Calcium. Do you know that brushing alone only reaches 25% of your mouth? Hence, mouthwash that contains fluoride will provide an extra dose of cavity protection as well as reducing germs and plaque left behind after brushing.

This mouthwash is meant for children 3 years old and above so I let our older 2 kiddos try out the mouthwash after they brushed their teeth. Just want to note that our kiddos have not been exposed to any mouthwash products prior to this review so this is a new experience for them. Picture shown below is our 5-year-old girl slowly gargling her mouth with the mouthwash. She giggled and was happy when I told her that her mouth smells good after she gargled with the mouthwash. She left the bathroom mouth wide open and I can hear her asking her little sister to smell her mouth LOL.

As for our 7.5-year-old boy, he initially does not like the idea of gargling with the mouthwash until I told him that the mouthwash helps to reduce germs and plaque left behind after brushing. He promptly gargled and I heard a soft whine from him after he was done though I can see him running off to his sisters and asking them to smell his mouth hahahaha... I think this need more practice for them to get used to. I too gave the mouthwash a try after I brushed my teeth. It smells good and tasted sweet, making me gargled furiously after that. It left a lingering berry scent in my mouth after gargling. Not bad apart from the taste.

I would like to point out that we did not get to review 2 products at the moment of writing this review:

- The SensiTeeth Epismalto Tooth Paste-1450ppm Fluoride and Calcium which I will let our 7.5-year-old boy try out later as this toothpaste has higher fluoride content which can be used to prevent tooth decay as cavities is a popular disease among the children at 6 years of age and above as they start to drink or consume foods containing sugars.

- The SensiTeeth First Tooth Paste which I will let our 4th kiddo (currently 2 months old toothless hahahaha) try out when he starts teething. I am happy to know that this toothpaste is safe to swallow as it is not easy to look for one with this feature in the market and the one we currently use is a tad sweet (yes, I tasted them hahahaha)

Overall, an alternative to good oral care products for your kiddos and I love that there are different levels of fluoride and calcium to suit different age groups!

The products are now available exclusively in Guardian and selected independent pharmacies.

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.

** Note: I have disabled the commenting feature on my blog engine thanks to all the spammers who happily spam my blog every day. If you wish to ask me any questions, you can find me at my Facebook page (I'm there almost every day) or just drop me an email if you wish to maintain some anonymity.

I have been cutting down on doing product reviews since 2014 and what more with baby #4 on the way this end of year, all the more I need to be particularly picky and selective with the products that I'm reviewing. Not that I'm trying to be hard sell, no, definitely not! But with 3 kiddos + 1 on the way, being a housewife at home with kiddos all the time and helping out with hubby's business, I just feel it is not fair to make companies and PR reps wait for my reviews while I slowly review and look for time to spare to draft out my feedback you know? But of course, like I said, I have to be selective, so products that we can definitely fit into our family dynamics (especially books on parenting or homeschooling stuff, family products, something along those genre) will be accepted!

When I received an email asking whether I would be interested to review a range of healthy fruit snack, I quickly inquired for more info and after seeing the potential on how I can incorporate the snack products into our family, I decided to go ahead with the review.  

About the company:

"Nutrio Food is a food company by parents who understand the challenges that a family faced especially in maintaining a healthy family lifestyle. Derek, Frutzee’s managing director, is a father of three adorable children, but turned out they are very picky eaters! With his 10 years background in the food business and immense commitment in providing the best for his family, he and his partners, Eddie, came up with this new concept of snacks that’s not only healthy, nutritious, but also super tasty.

Nutrio Food uses a patented and proven cutting-edge technology, whereby fruits are washed and placed in a vacuum chamber to be cooled up to -30 degree Celsius. By freezing the fruits at fresh point, the natural freshness and taste are retained. In addition, air is pumped out in the vacuuming process, changing the frozen water crystals into gas and leaving the fruit dehydrated. The nutritional benefits are preserved for over one year through this particular process, while also giving the products its trademark crispiness!"

About the products:

"The Frutzee Family is the first healthy fruit snack series to be out in the market. Available in four real fruit varieties, Banana, Grapes, Apple and Strawberries, Frutzee is designed catering to the needs of children starting 12 months old and above, but always supervise your children with care. Made from real fruit freeze-dried immediately after picking, Frutzee locks in all the natural goodness and nutritional benefits of the fresh fruits."

We received the following products from Nutrio Food for our review. Currently there are 4 flavors available: Apple, Banana, Berry and Grapes.

The first thing I take note when it comes to reviewing food products is of course the packaging and safety of the products. Each box comes with 4 smaller air-tight and moisture-free packaging. I like the convenience of the smaller packs as you can easily slot in some in your handbag/diaper bag for snacking anytime. I did earlier wonder why no resealable feature but then I realized, for freeze-dried fruits, once you opened up the seal and the snacks are exposed to the humidity, the crispness will not be long lasting, hence not feasible to have the resealable feature.

The next test is of course whether they are delicious or not! Pictures below is how each freeze-dried fruits look like once the sealed packs have been opened up. I have initially thought all the flavors would have the same look and shapes but am pleasantly surprised that each flavors have their own unique look and appearance. I am also not ashamed to say that I did whacked a few packs of the snacks ahahahah... my personal favorite is the banana flavor. Our 7.5-year-old boy preferred the grapes and berry flavors while our 2 girls are more into apple flavor.

The cool thing with these snacks is the versatility. You can straight eat these freeze-dried snacks as it is or turn them into toppings for your dishes. Picture below is one of the usual dish I cook for our kiddos' lunch. Instead of the usual oats + chia seeds + fish or chicken, I add the berry freeze-dried snacks and it can easily be served up as well. Other than that, you can also add these freeze-dried snacks onto your fruit juice, yogurt drinks, ice cream... endless possibilities! Yums yums!!

There is also a fun way you can do with the empty boxes once you are done with them. Lined them up next to each other and you get a continuous picture puzzle. I have tried different ways to line up these boxes and you get different outlook everytime. Fun way to get your kiddos to play while enjoying their snacks as well.

I also enjoyed the educational information at the back of the packaging box. For each flavors, you get to read the benefits of grapes, berries, banana and apples.

I even brought some of the freeze-dried snacks to our 5 year-old girl's kindy when we celebrated her birthday with her class friends. Gave each of the child there a pack and enjoyed seeing their happy faces as they devoured the healthy snacks. Even the teacher in-charge inquired about the products as well as she has not seen such products before.

Overall, an alternative to healthier snacks for your kiddos! Convenient, versatile, nutritious and has a variety of flavors to try!

The Frutzee Family is now available for purchase online at www.frutzee.my, and www.motherhood.com.my

You can also purchase Frutzee at the following store location: http://frutzee.my/stores/

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.

** Note: I have disabled the commenting feature on my blog engine thanks to all the spammers who happily spam my blog every day. If you wish to ask me any questions, you can find me at my Facebook page (I'm there almost everyday) or just drop me an email if you wish to maintain some anonymity.

I have been cutting down on doing product reviews since 2014 and what more with baby #4 on the way this end of year, all the more I need to be particularly picky and selective with the products that I'm reviewing. Not that I'm trying to be hard sell, no, definitely not! But with 3 kiddos + 1 on the way, being a housewife at home with kiddos all the time and helping out with hubby's business, I just feel it is not fair to make companies and PR reps wait for my reviews while I slowly review and look for time to spare to draft out my feedback you know? But of course, like I said, I have to be selective, so products that we can definitely fit into our family dynamics (especially books on parenting or homeschooling stuff, family products, something along those genre) will be accepted!

When I was contacted to review products from Merries and Kao, I immediately remembered the pleasant experience I had 3 years back when I reviewed Merries diapers for our 2nd kiddo! So needless to say, of course I say yes!  

KAO, Japan’s Home Care Expert, has recently launched "Welcome to My Modern Parenthood" (WTMMP) to help new and anxious parents with minimal to zero know-how in transitioning into effortless, enjoyable parenthood through insights and education.

We received the following products for our review, they are basically the 3 ideal home care solutions:

• Japan’s No.1* Baby Diaper, MERRIES;
  

• Japan’s No.1* Home Care Range, MAGICLEAN; 
  

• Malaysia’s No.1* Laundry Concentrated Powder, ATTACK
  

After all these years, I am still impressed with Merries diapers. Just love their pants diapers and this time, I get to review the tape version as well (previous review 3 years ago was on their pants diaper version) Below snapshots on the tape and pants version - front and back view so that you can have a look at how they differ.

Personally, I feel both tape and pants version has their own pros and cons. I love the convenience of using the pants version and generally prefer to bring the pants version for our family outing. It is easy to take out, just tear the sides, roll up the diaper and stick the blue tape at the back to hold it together. For the tape version, if your child is still young and need to lie down to change their tape diaper, I guess this would be a better option but, yours truly here is a seasoned parent for 3 kiddos (4th on the way) and have over the years mastered the skills of changing kiddos' diapers while they are standing LOL so for us, tape or pants, no problemo!! So at the end of the day, it really depends on your skills as I see both tape and pants version are of equal quality and comfortable material (not to mention high absorbency!)

We received several Magiclean products for review and I have initially wanted my hubby to try out as well as he cleans the house more than I do hahahaha but in the end, I decided that being pregnant at 5th months now, it would be particularly handy if these products are able to help me out as I really do not want to just depend on other people to clean up my house unless my pregnancy really requires me to rest a lot, otherwise, I think I'm good and I also wanted to use the opportunity to get our kiddos to do the house chores as well heheheh...

Okay back to the Magiclean products... the one that I'm particularly very satisfied and thrilled to use is the Magiclean Wiper Handy Duster Extendable! It looks like a normal peachy colored woolly duster but then you realised you can actually adjust the handle to extend from 46cm to 95cm and then bend it to few angles which gives you the additional reach and convenience to clean high and hard to reach places... whoaaaa... I love it!

I'm also impressed with its high absorption fibres that effectively pick up, trap and hold even the finest dust! Cleaning is so so easy now!

The next item worth mentioning in the Magiclean range of products is the Magiclean Wiper Mop. It can handle wet and dry mopping where you apply on either wet or dry sheets onto the mop. I love the ultra-slim head which allows me to reach deep and narrow spaces and its 360° dust catching pattern improves overall dust trapping ability, you can easily flip left, right, front, back and I think because of this feature, our 4.5 year old girl enjoys mopping our rooms very much! She started out mopping our bedroom (despite my hubby mopping the room just the night before!) and you can already see how dirty it is after the mopping (our house is near the highway so the dust is horrendous at times)

Our girl was so enjoying her mopping that she happily volunteered to mop our staircase as well. This time, I changed the sheet to dry ones to try out. Ahhh.... so easy, even a little child can do it!

I'm also particularly impressed with the Magiclean Kitchen Cleaner Refreshing Lime Trigger. Very impressed with the instant stain-dissolving foam that easily removes the greasy stains in just 1 wipe. I demonstrated it to my mother-in-law and she went 'Whoaaaa... I always have to put some other cleaner liquid and scrub the cooking area real hard and this one is so easy?! Look at how shiny it is also!' Parents, get this mother-in-law approved product!

Some items worth mentioning in the ATTACK range of products are the Attack Ultra Power and Attack Detergent plus Softener liquid detergent. We've always been the powder detergent users (front-loading washing machine) and I feel that the liquid detergent is not bad as well. Smells good and cleans our clothes wonderfully. The softener also made our clothes smooth and soft.

To sum up our experience, I'm grateful for the opportunity to try out the wonderful range of products from Kao & Merries and believe that they will truly transform your parenting life and makes it way more convenient for you to do your house chores, even our young kiddos can do it easily!

Do check out Kao's website to find out more!

Btw, Kao is holding a "Parenthood Home Makeover " contest. You can stand to win a home makeover & KAO products worth up to RM30,000! To join the contest, you need to purchase RM38 worth of Magiclean or Attack products and a minimum of 1 pack of Merries diapers. Do note that the contest runs from 2 May to 31 July 2016. So hurry up!

Also, do note that there is an event happening from 13th July to 17th July at the Ground Floor Centre Court (Old Wing) in 1 Utama Shopping Centre. Do join the event for more great deals and promotions!

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.

** Note: I have disabled the commenting feature on my blog engine thanks to all the spammers who happily spam my blog every day. If you wish to ask me any questions, you can find me at my Facebook page (I'm there almost everyday) or just drop me an email if you wish to maintain some anonymity.