Hold the front page - this week, we decided to trial two different nappy rash creams; Sudocrem and Bepanthen.

I'll spare you the details, but our findings below were as follows:

Sudocrem, best price £1.31 per 100g (Tesco)
Bepanthen, best price £6.03 (yikes) per 100g (again, Tesco).

The Sudocrem is the better product for our little lad's little bottom. It clears nappy rash faster than Bepanthen, and is handy for the myriad cuts and scrapes accumulated during the day.

Bepanthen however, has come up trumps with a rather unusual use - it makes for excellent nose and upper lip balm for runny noses. All is not lost.


Do you have a good bottom tip? Post below (on the page, not on your bottom).

You might also like:

Incredibly cheap, effective baby wipes
What to buy for a new baby

This is a guest post from my lovely big sister, who lives on the racy continent. 

Big sis - thank you so much for the most adventurous money saving tip that I have ever heard!


'The other week I ran out of cleanser.  Hot rats, as this is not the sort of place where you can go out to a late night shop and buy some more (ha! the very notion).  

Well, I held the front page and the nation held its breath and then I had a thought.  Could breastmilk be used as a cleanser?  Thinking along the cleansing milk lines - there must be something in it. And there is!  It works like a charm. 

I expressed some directly onto a cotton wool pad (yuck yuck yuck - wet cotton wool, but I manfully pressed on) and swept across face and voila, it removed all sorts! My skin felt nice and soft and CLEAN and it made me feel rather deliciously smug as was completely free and on tap! 


I couldn't recommend it for stubborn mascara as I wasn't wearing any at the time,  but worth a try, no?'

Cleopatra, coming at ya!

Have you a rather unusual money saving tip, or indeed use for breastmilk? Post below!

How on earth can it be September already? 

Autumn's marching on, and with it comes dry skin and for mammasaver, chapped hands.

Before you go out and buy a new industrial strength handcream, try the following homemade hand scrub. 

It uses ingredients that you will more than likely have in your kitchen cupboard already, and was invented by mammasaver's big sister when she was going through lean times.

Big Sister's Kitchen Cupboard Hand Scrub

Enjoy taking a bit of time and and the following steps for silky smooth, pampered paws at a tiny price.

Ingredients:

3 tablespoons of olive oil
2 tablespoons of brown sugar
Warm towel 
Bowl of warm water

What to do:

• Mix the olive oil with the brown sugar, and massage into your hands. Make sure to pay attention to any dry patches, the nail beds and the backs of the hands.
  
• Massage into your skin for about 3 minutes, or for as long as you like. The length of an episode of The Mentalist is ideal.
• Place your hands in a bowl of warm water, rubbing off the oil and sugar mixture.
• Take your hands out of the warm water and wrap them in a warm, clean towel.

Needless to say, this treat is for when the babies are in bed. Take your time and enjoy it!


What are your best kitchen cupboard beauty fixes? Comments welcome!

What do you really need to for your new baby?

A lovely friend is expecting her first baby, and kindly sent me her list of baby things to buy before her baby arrives.

It got me thinking - what do you think you really need? 

Lots of companies would have you believe that you must buy absolutely everything before your baby arrives. 

Couple that with a pregnant woman’s insatiable need to nest,  and before long you could have a great big hole in your bank balance.

Of course, everyone’s personal circumstances are different, but what are the bare-bones basics that you couldn’t do without for the first month?

Would you add or take away anything else from this list? Post your comment below!

1. Lasinoh nipple cream
   
2. Muslins
   
3. Maternity pads
   
4. Breast pads
   
5. Savoy cabbages for when your milk comes in
   
6. Sudocrem
   
7. Cotton wool
   
8. Cot bedding
   
9. Changing mat
   
10. Baby wipes
    
11. Baby vests and sleep suits
    
12. Baby hat
    
13. Warm Blanket
    
14. Pram or baby sling

L'oreal has been forced to withdraw a two adverts this week, following a complaint upheld by the Advertising Standards Authority.

Jo Swinson, a Lib Dem MP, complained that the airbrushing of Julia Roberts and Christy Turlingtons'  faces in these ads misled consumers.

Most of us are used to seeing airbrushed versions of actresses these days. What it highlights, instead of the ridiculous need to digitally enhance these beautiful women, is the sheer amount of money that cosmetics companies spend on marketing their products.

According to This is Money, L'oreal spent 6bn euro on marketing campaigns to reach 20bn euro in sales. with another 4bn euro spent on sales costs (shop floor positioning, promotion, etc).

Proportionally, it means that about 50% of the cost of your L'oreal cosmetics and face creams is spent on persuading you to buy it. 

Now that's a lot of persuading. 

In our article 'Are Expensive Moisturisers Worth It?' we looked a little into some of the techniques companies use to market cosmetics, such as 'fairy dusting.'

It is surprising how much cosmetics companies can get away with, in terms of marketing messages.

It's another 'one in the eye' for expensive creams. The next time you've run out of your favourite stuff, why not give the own brand a go.

Why? Because your wallet's worth it.

There's a lot of advertising out there at the moment promoting baby oil for baby massage.

Why not consider olive oil instead? 

It's a rich source of vitamins A and E, and will sink into your baby's skin, just as well as the branded baby stuff.
It may save you from applying lots of baby oil, as a little olive oil goes a long way. 

If you have the oil in your kitchen cupboards already, there's zero outlay on starting your massaging routine.


And as for your hands - they will (nearly) be as soft as your baby's bottom by the end of it!