CJ’s BUTTer Review & Giveaway (CLOSED 3/15)

Mar 8,2012 / By Maria / 1 Comment

It’s hard to believe that I’ve been cloth diapering as long as I have, and I’m just now trying CJ’s BUTTer. I’ve heard so much about it, that I contacted them to see if I could buy a bunch of samples to use as prizes (they are sponsoring the next few months of “top fans” runner-up prizes) and they sent a few extra for me to try too.

BUTTer is a cloth safe diaper cream (as long as you use a thin layer!) that seems to work for just about everything! It’s available in tubs, sticks and tubes from $6.97 for a .75 oz stick, up to $19 for a 12 ounce tub. BUTTer comes in tons of yummy scents, as well as a plus formula (formerly the yeast formula) and a vegan version (shea butter, cocoa butter & sesame oil.) They also have a spray version, foaming cleanser, body lotions and more!

CJ’s BUTTer ingredients: shea butter, olive oil, coconut oil, lanolin, beeswax, cocoa butter, vitamin e, colloidal oatmeal, fragrance

CJ’s BUTTer PLUS ingredients: shea butter, olive oil, coconut oil, beeswax, cocoa butter, sesame oil, vitamin e, neem oil

Most of the samples had a safety seal, which foiled my plan to sit & sniff all your prizes. Hmph. If you want to try lots of scents, you can create your own sampler of .5 oz tubs.

When using this as a diaper cream, I got just a tiny bit on my fingers, rubbed them between my fingers & applied. I used a lot more in these photos to show the texture. It looks greasy above, but within a few minutes, it absorbed and left my skin super soft, but not greasy. I have terrible eczema and my hands crack & bleed in the winter (you can see band aids on my hands in some videos, LOL.) Luckily, my hands aren’t bad when I am pregnant or newly breastfeeding, but I’ve had bad patches on my upper arms lately. I applied CJ’s overnight, then lightly exfoliated in the shower and they are all but gone. I also used it on my feet and wore socks to bed (yuck on the socks in bed, but it worked.) I even put a bit on my fingertips, rubbed them together, then smoothed the ends of my hair. It tamed my frizzies without making my hair gross!

Oh yeah, it’s a diaper cream too. 😉 The fragrance was pleasant but not overwhelming, and didn’t seem to irritate my sons’ skin.

I also tried the CJ’s lip balm, which sells for $3.30 for a standard .15 oz tube. You can also get a 4-pack for $10.50 if you can’t pick just one flavor!

CJ’s BUTTer lip balm ingredients: soybean oil, cocoa butter, shea butter, apricot kernel oil, almond oil, coconut oil, vegetable glycerin, beeswax, flavor

I tried the strawberries & cream flavor (yum!) but I think they all sound fantastic, especially liptricity (peppermint), mint chocolate chip, mochaccino, lemon cheesecake & vanilla chai latte!

I’m particular about my lip products. I don’t like anything sticky or waxy. The CJ’s slicked on smoothly (didn’t need much at all) and felt satiny. Even after it started to wear off after drinking, my lips felt soft for hours. The overall texture of the stick seemed softer than most store bought lip balms at first, but after I used the top bit of lip balm, the rest of the stick was firmer.

Browse all of CJ’s products and find CJ’s on Facebook.

Giveaway: One reader will receive a 4 oz. Tube of CJ’s Original BUTTer® in his/her choice of scent. The retail value of this prize is $9.00. In order to be a “giveaway” the prize has to be free (of course) so this giveaway is open to the lower 48 states of the U.S. only. However, if you are outside of this area and would like to enter, CJ’s would ask that you pay half of the shipping. Void where prohibited of course! Entries go in the Rafflecopter form.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

FTC compliance: I received samples at no cost in order to review. I was not otherwise compensated for this post, and all opinions are my own.

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Giveaway Review Wipes Solution

Just Clean Wipes Bits Review & Giveaway – 3 Winners (CLOSED 3/21) U.S./Canada

Mar 7,2012 / By Maria / 2 Comments

Just Clean Wipe Bits are pieces of wipe solution you dissolve in water to make an easy, hypoallergenic (and vegan) cloth wipe solution.

Ingredients are: Glycerin (kosher of vegetable origin), Purified Water, Soybean protein (conditioner), Olive Oil (naturally contains Vitamin E and anti-oxidants), Apricot Kernel Oil (softening/moisturizer), Witch Hazel (skin toner/healing) and Tea tree Oil

Just use 1 bit per 8 oz of water, heat the water & stir to dissolve. I like to use distilled water to keep it fresher. I typically use a spray bottle to spritz wipes (or directly on the bottom…that’s what I do for my older son but it seems to surprise the baby too much, LOL.)

This time, I folded my wipes to pop up and poured the solution over them (I used about 2 cups for 13 wipes.) This was nice, but I don’t often do it since I have two in diapers so what I can fit in one container isn’t enough for a day. Doing this would be better with thinner wipes and/or with only 1 in diapers!

The bits are available in 1 scent only, to keep prices down. The solution smells like its ingredients, and reminds me of a Clean & Clear shine control astringent (in a green bottle) that I used in the early 1990’s (probably the witch hazel?). My husband thinks it smells like a cleaning product.

It did the job to get my boys clean without leaving residue. It’s hypoallergenic and the witch hazel & TTO help soothe. A bag of 20 bits (makes 20 cups of solution) retails for $4.99, but is value priced at $2.99 through April 7th.

Shop the Cloth Diaper Fabric Etsy shop, “like” Cloth Diaper Utah on Facebook, follow Cloth Diaper Utah on Twitter and follow the Cloth Diaper Utah blog.

Giveaway: 3 winners will receive a 20 piece package of Just Clean Wipe Bits. The retail value of each prize is $4.99. Entries go in the Rafflecopter form.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

FTC compliance: I received product samples for review purposes. I was not otherwise compensated for this post, and all opinions are my own.

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Itti Bitti D’Lish SIO Cloth Diaper Review / Size Comparisons

Mar 1,2012 / By Maria / No Comment

Last year, I posted my Itti Bitti D’lish AIO and O/S Tutto reviews. Both of “the fuzzy diapers” are my son’s favorites! Itti Bitti also makes a D’lish “snap in one” (SIO) which is essentially an all-in-two (or all-in-three to be exact.) I’ve been curious about them, so when my affiliate, Kelly’s Closet offered a 15% coupon for president’s day, I bit. I needed a few more reward points to have enough for a gift certificate, and this bumped me over. See, it was a logical purchase!

Itti Bitti says size small will fit 8-16 lbs, medium will fit 14-26 lbs and large will fit 23-37 lbs. However, they are cut with a much lower rise than many other diapers, so if you are at all in doubt about sizing, size up. (My 2 yr 9 month old can still wear a large, but if there was an XL, I’d buy it!) My little guy is around 10 lbs, so I bought a small and a medium.

The d’lish SIO is very much like the AIO. It has snap overlaps to fit a wide range of babies, and has the same inner fabric and leg elastic. I do prefer the encased elastic of the tutto, but I prefer the fit of the d’lish, so it’s a trade off!

Like the tutto, the inserts for the d’lish SIO have color coded snaps, so you know where they go. The inserts for the SIO are sized, so there is a bit less snapping involved than with the tutto!

The two layer bamboo insert snaps in and tri-folds to give you 6 layers of absorbency.

The hourglass shaped insert has two more layers of bamboo (so 8 layers total!) plus a stay-dry top layer. (Their website says there are only natural fibers in the soakers, but the content tag says the top layer is 100% polyester, and it definitely is!) I love getting the absorbency of bamboo, but still having only stay dry materials touch baby’s skin. I know some people say they would prefer that only natural fibers touch baby, but I much prefer stay dry. 🙂 The only thing that would make it better is it was a pocket, but I can’t turn every diaper into a pocket. Although, if Itti Bitti made a pocket diaper with encased elastic, I’d be all over that.

Left to right is the Itti Bitti Tutto O/S, the Itti Bitti D’Lish AIO and the Itti Bitti D’Lish SIO. All of them have red snaps to receive an additional booster, though only the Tutto includes one.

So here’s the size small measured folded & stretched (keep in mind that this is far from an exact science!)

Medium:

Large:

All of the sizes are great, and the overlap snaps allow them to get quite snug. Here is my son at 2 1/2 months and about 10 pounds in the small and medium d’lish SIOs:

and in the large AIO!

Here he is in the smallest setting of the Tutto:

Lastly, my older son at about 2 years, 9 months old and approximately 29 pounds, also in the large AIO:

Take a look at my D’lish AIO & Tutto review to see my son in them at 21 months/21 lbs!

The D’lish AIO diapers sell for $18.97 and the D’lish SIOs sell for $1 more at $19.97. Choose an AIO print or a SIO print at no extra cost! To me, it’s worth the extra dollar to get the additional & even more customizable absorbency. The Tuttos are $26.97 for solids and $1 more for prints. Kelly’s Closet also has a few Tutto prints on sale for $20.95.

My older son LOVES the Galaxy print (the red diaper.) I took it off his brother and when he was choosing a diaper to put on himself, he chose that one and wasn’t hearing it when I told him it was a) wet and b) too small for him. 🙂

FTC compliance: I purchased the SIO diapers at normal retail prices, with a promotion available to the general public. I received the AIO & Tutto diapers at no cost to review them last year. I was not asked to write, nor was I compensated for this post, and all opinions are my own. This post contains affiliate links.

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Lifefactory Glass Beverage Bottles

Feb 28,2012 / By Maria / 1 Comment

Without going into great detail, I wanted a reusable bottle that wasn’t plastic or metal (that leaves glass, LOL!) and was easy to sip without a straw. It also needed to be easy to clean, and I preferred not to have to unscrew a lid each time. I’d heard of Lifefactory glass baby bottles, and I happened to be browsing around the time their flip tops were introduced. They were (and still are at the time of my writing) part of Amazon.com’s buy 3 get 1 free promo, so I bought 4!

They have a silicone sleeve to make it easier to grip & less likely to break (though they are still glass of course!) You don’t have to remove the sleeve to wash the bottle, and the whole shebang is dishwasher safe.

They are available in 22 ounce bottles and 16 ounce bottles. I pre-ordered all 4, but only the 22 ounce bottles arrived. The 16 ounce bottle hasn’t shipped yet.

The tops are interchangable between sizes, and you can buy the tops separately.

The flip top moves all the way back out of the way, or just push it back a little bit. The handle makes it really easy to carry.

I haven’t broken one yet and the water tastes great. The opening could stand to be a tiny bit bigger. I like the oval shape (I don’t dump water on myself) but it kind of makes a “glug glug glug” noise as the water comes out.

The 22 ounce bottles (including flip cap and sleeve) are $24.99. 16 ounce bottles are $22.99. The bottles with the standard screw on caps are cheaper, and Amazon’s prices are a little less all around.

I love these & I wish they had a thick glass “cup” with sleeve for kids who are too big for sippies but not quite big enough for regular glasses!

FTC compliance: I purchased the pictured items at normal retail prices, with a promotion available to the general public. I was not compensated for this post, and all opinions are my own. This post contains affiliate links.

Sakura Bloom Essential Linen Ring Sling Review

Feb 8,2012 / By Maria / 10 Comments

Post contains affiliate links. I love, love, LOVE my Boba Wrap (formerly sleepy wrap), but I had heard so much about ring slings, I really wanted to try one with this baby. The wrap meant I’d have to put the baby down to wrap or unwrap it, and it was yucky to have it drag on the ground in public if I had to take it off and put it back on. I was also never able to easily nurse in the Sleepy Wrap, which meant I’d have to take the baby out to nurse, which was kind of a pain. I still love it though! Most comfortable and easy to use thing ever!! I got a Maya Wrap Ring Sling and liked it, but the padded shoulder was really kind of narrow, and always ended up sitting on my shoulder like a purse, making my back and shoulder really hurt, even though my son is just a newborn.

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