Although raised by a crunchy mama, it wasn’t till I had kids of my own that I found my own way to all things crunchy. In my teens and early adulthood, I couldn’t care less what I was eating or putting on my skin. I had such bad acne and was so desperate to get rid of it. In turn, I used Proactiv for over 10 years. It definitely did the trick, but all I can tell you is that I used to have freckles on my face and now I don’t. Insert cringe face! Therefore, deciding to get pregnant and stopping to use it was the first step on my path to finding natural baby skincare.
Finding My Way To Natural Skincare.
At first, my skin wasn’t happy! Even though I had stopped using extremely chemical skincare products, what I was using still had a bunch of garbage in it. Same for my growing belly bump. I’m thankful that I found better alternatives for my 3 subsequent pregnancies.
So, as my sweet baby girl grew so did my knowledge of natural crunchy mama ways. I was set on having a natural birth and breastfeeding no matter what. We’d tried to get a Midwife, but we weren’t zoned at the time and got declined. We took birthing classes with a Doula. And after going to a baby show with my sister, I decided I was going to cloth diapers.
There was this wonderful store in Montreal called Bummis. The place where everything else I fell upon on my journey to motherhood unfolded. The wonderful world of baby carrying was shown to me, along with co-sleeping, and baby-led weaning. I had found my place! Towards the end of my pregnancy even started making my own belly butter. My husband found this little shop called Coop Coco where you can purchase all things natural to make your own beauty products.
Aleva Baby Wash.
I found a baby soap that I loved and to this day, 10 years later, still use on my toddler and shhh…wash my face with. I started using Aleva Sleep Easy Hair and Body Wash to wash my face when the baby my daughter was born. Why? I can’t remember, I must have run out of what I was using and just tried it. But my skin loved it, I stopped getting breakouts. It was so gentle that her skin could be washed every day, between her spitting up all day from a dairy allergy (took me months to find out she was allergic to the cow dairy I was consuming) to being covered in food at every meal when we started baby-led weaning, she was stinky by the end of the day.
I didn’t particularly like using the cream on her after bath time, so looked for alternatives. I didn’t know you could use oil! Now don’t go using olive oil! It so happened that I had almond oil left from making my body butter so gave that a try. I loved it! Applying it right after bath time made it absorb into her skin and did not leave her greasy at all! At that point, I also tried using it as a face moisturizer on myself. And so, I found myself going from using Proactiv to natural baby skincare products to wash my face. I also started removing my makeup with coconut oil. Along the way, I discovered Argan oil, it absorbs even better than almond into the skin. This is the Argan oil I’ve been using for years now.
Being very satisfied with Aleva, and loving the lavender/chamomile scent, never felt the need to look for anything else. I used the same combination of products for my 2 following boys.
Beauty From Bees.
It wasn’t till my latest pregnancy that I discovered something else. My sister-in-law had put together this beautiful gift basket for me with so much thought and care as to who I am, and what I’m all about as a mother. Filled with so baby goodies, including a whole sleuth of CALM products from Beauty from Bees. I had never heard of them. My first thought was “oh no! I won’t use this on my baby, it isn’t natural!” And why did I think that? Because it smells SO GOOD!!!!
The combination of the vanilla/lavender baby wash paired with the vanilla baby oil had my princess smelling like a cupcake! What was this sorcery?! How could something that smelled so good actually be natural! I was, and still am beside myself. I can’t wait to wash and sniff her at the end of the day!
She’d also gotten me the CALM Baby Body Balm which was great for that cold winter dry skin. Also, the CALM Mama’s Bump Butter which I used for the rest of my pregnancy. Next, the CALM Nipple Necessity which was fantastic after I gave birth. And lastly, the Baby Serum smells just like the baby oil, I love putting it on myself and the baby after we’ve spent a little too much time out in the sun on wet skin after we shower.
The CALM collection is a collaboration from Beauty from Bees X Angela Price. Being a Canadian, supporting Canadian businesses is important to us, Beauty from Bees is made Alberta. They use all natural ingredients, everything is gluten-free, nut-free and cruelty-free. Natural preservatives extend shelf life so you’re not left with rancid smelling product a month later. And a little goes a long way, specially on babies, it seems like the product last forever.
There you have it, these are the natural skin care products we’ve been using over the past ten years. 3 of my 4 babes have had cradle cap, eczema, and so many skin ailments and these products were always so gentle and soothing, not aggravating to their flare-ups. Our skin is the biggest organ. Everything we put on it is absorbed into our bodies, make sure the products you use on your precious little ones are safe and clean.
Thank you for stopping by today!
Elisa
