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| Thursday, August 16, 2007 |
KINeSYS |
It's no secret that my family burns in the sun. It is unusual for me to meet anyone who burns more easily than us. Part of our paleness comes from my efforts to avoid sunburn; I slab thick layers of sunscreen on us if we're going to be outside for long periods of time. That being said, I'm sporting a nice tan right now from burning on the beach last week.
Finding sunscreen that works for us can be challenging. My husband, younger son and I will all use whatever is available. My older son though tends to be very sensitive to the textures of lotion and can't stand a lot of sunscreens. The Parent Bloggers Network asked people to review a few sunscreen products by KINeSYS Performance Sunscreen so of course I had just had to try them out. They're made for athletes so I figured they probably wouldn't be as sticky.
The first product I tested was a sample spray of kids sunblock. It was Kids SPF 30 Sunscreen Spray with Parsol. What I liked about it was that it comes out at room temperature. I know that sounds weird, but some of the name-brand sprays come out cold which of course sends my kids howling. The other thing that's nice about it, is you can't really feel it when it goes on you; it's very light. You also don't need to use a lot of it. I personally am a fan of the pump because we weren't inhaling all those fumes the way we do with a spray. I did however still manage to get the sunscreen all over my shirt yesterday. We'll see how well it washes out.
What I didn't like is that I found it took longer than 2-3 minutes to completely dry. This of course could be entirely me. Particularly when the kids start hopping around because...well they're kids and they don't like to stand still, some body parts can get pretty heavily sprayed by accident. When it did dry though, it was really dry. It wasn't oily or greasy. It made my skin soft and had a nice faint scent to it. Also, it did seem like it really sank into the skin giving me the feeling that it protected better than other brands' spray.
The second product we tried out was the lotion version of the kids sunscreen. It was Kids SPF 30 Sunscreen Cream with Titanium Dioxide. Compared to other brands we've tried, this was far less greasy. (That's the part of sunscreen that my older son in particular hates. ) It's also the part that I hate because oily sunscreen = 100 million pieces of sand stuck to my younger son. I still preferred the pump spray though because it left less residue.
The last product I tried was a sunscreen for me. It was SPF 30 Sunscreen Spray with Parsol. It was also a pump. That one seemed fine. Honestly I must confess that I didn't see any difference on me between that one and the kid one which I also used. I suspect that the kid one is for more delicate skin. Speaking of which, the nice thing about the non-kid spray was that it didn't irritate my skin nearly as much as sunscreen usually does. However, if sensitive skin is a concern, they do sell a fragrance free product.
Overall I liked this product. Particularly if you have a child with sensory issues, the kids spray works really well. In case you are curious, it didn't matter that the SPF was 30 and not 50 like we usually use. We didn't burn at all. Apparently it's rated as number 1 for being safe and effective by the Environmental Working Group. The one drawback is that it's not as easy to find as other brands of sunscreen. It tends to be sold in sports shops and of course on-line. Right now the company is offering free shipping on orders over $45. All bottles are $15 for 4 ounces of sunscreen. |
posted by Alex Elliot @ 8:05 AM
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| Monday, August 13, 2007 |
Favorite Product of the Summer |
My favorite product of the summer is Dawn dish soap. No, it actually has nothing to do with washing dishes. I needed to clean off all the outdoor toys and I was trying to figure out which harsh chemical detergent I needed to use. I remembered seeing all those commercials where Dawn gets the grease off of ducks that have been caught in oil spills. I had a bottle of it under my sink. I put a little in and let it sit for a few minutes in our water table and our wadding pool. I swear they looked almost brand-new. As always, please don't ruin my good name by spreading the rumor that I give out cleaning tips! |
| posted by Alex Elliot @ 8:32 AM
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| Thursday, August 2, 2007 |
ImagiTales Review |
I have to confess that I'm not always very good at picking out presents for my kids. The things are very much hit or miss with them. I've been surprised at the things that they like. Sometimes a really great gift, in my opinion anyways, is ignored while great attention is paid to the wrapping paper and ribbons. For example, my one-year old younger son (YS) has spent a good 10 minutes during each of the last two days putting tissue paper in and out of a gift bag that someone gave me.
YS and my three-and-a-half-year old older son (OS) both have stories that include their names. Since they like them, I thought that they would probably like the ImagiTales which Parent Bloggers was reviewing. Not only are their names included in the books, but their pictures are on every page. Not their full pictures. Photos of their heads (which I uploaded and cropped from a regular picture of each boy) sit atop an illustrated body. It is incredibly easy to do. Basically you pick out a book from the Titles Library. Then you upload a picture. Finally you pick out (or perhaps indicate) gender and skin tone. You get to preview the book and confirm it. An email copy costs $2.95 a book and you get it in minutes. Family and friends can also view the book in your personal library and print it out. You can also order a paperback book which is shipped out to you. That costs $9.95. The books are stored in your account so you can order additional copies at a later point.
I picked out three different books: one for my older son, one for my younger son, and one where I was able to include both boys' names and pictures. I ordered You're Growing Up Too, Featuring YS, Things That Go, Featuring OS, and Nature Things, Featuring YS (but OS was also included as the second character of the story). They provide sample copies of the books in the Titles Library to make it easy to choose. That's how I knew that Nature Things featured two characters.
It turns out my instinct was right. The boys loved the books. Anything that makes them happy and is safe and not messy gets high ratings in my book. They've taken great delight in pointing out their own and each other's pictures. OS likes to talk about what he's doing in the pictures and likes to inform YS what he's doing in his own book. These books are frequently picked at naptime, bedtime and to flip through throughout the day.
So what didn't I like? My biggest complaint is that they are not hardcover. After a few weeks, they really showed the wear and tear. They are advertised as being tear and spill resistant and saddle-stitch bound. While I do think without question that are more durable than if I had printed them out myself, they show how well loved they are much quicker than I anticipated; particularly YS's copy because he just turned a year. OS knows how to be gentle when turning pages. That being said, his book always falls on the floor and gets shoved under couches and his bed just like any other book or toy that he owns. I would have been happy to pay a bit more for a board book. Particularly because some of these books are marketed toward babies, I think that they need to be stronger. At the very least, I think they need to be hard bound.
I also am not a huge fan of the way that the pictures look. Admittedly I should have used photos that were sized better. They remind me of something you would get at a fair because they have photo heads and cartoon bodies. However, I am also neither 3 nor 1 year old (although I am 31 interestingly enough) and again what do I really know about what types of toys kids like?
I think these books would make fun presents from extended family or close friends. They are definitely fun and a good way to spend some quality time with the gift recipient.
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| posted by Alex Elliot @ 11:50 PM
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My Profile
| Name: | Alex Elliot |
| Home: | MA, United States |
| About Me: | Professional Mom of two cats, a dog, an ant farm, and oh yeah...two boys: a 6 year old and a 3 year old. Also found in my house is my husband who is known on this blog as The Big Giraffe. |
| See my complete profile |
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