In today’s world, research is done constantly. As a result, what you thought was safe yesterday is no longer considered safe today. It’s hard to stay up to date on all the research and recommendations. New products are created all the time, regulations change, recommended lists of products have to be updated. As summer comes, everyone starts thinking sunscreen. It’s important to remember that even the winter sun can cause damage and sunscreen should be used year round. I’ve taken the time to come up with a short list of what I feel are suitable sunscreens to keep your family safe. There are other sunscreens out there that could make my list, but I tried to stick with the more common and readily available sunscreens.

Natural sunscreens use Zinc Oxide to protect against UVA and UVB rays. Zinc Oxide is on the FDA’s generally recognized as safe list. The zinc oxide is responsible for the lovely white appearance you get on use. Micronized Zinc Oxide creates the same barrier, but far more transparent. Nano Zinc Oxide particles are even smaller and therefore even less transparent. However, there is some concern that the nano particles can be absorbed by the skin and the effects of that are still unknown. Since the whole point of “safe sunscreen” is to avoid having chemicals of any kind absorbed, I feel it best to avoid nano zinc oxide.

Titanium Dioxide works in the same way as Zinc Oxide. It comes in the same “sizes” and carries the same hazards. In my research I have found that Zinc Oxide does protect a little more than Titanium Dioxide so I would not rely on a sunscreen consisting only of Titanium Dioxide, but rather one that incorporates both or only Zinc Oxide.

A note on the Environmental Working Group- while I love EWG’s work and use the cosmetics database often, it is important to read and learn about ingredients. EWG is now classifying all titanium dioxide as hazardous. They are not distinguishing between titanium dioxide and nano titanium dioxide. As mentioned above, there is concern that the nano-particles can be absorbed by the skin and the effects of that are still unknown.

On to the list, as with anything, what works for one, may not work for another. It’s all trial and error unfortunately. If you have experience with any of these, please do let us know. These are in the order that I would like to try them as I have not used any of these yet!

Badger All Natural SPF 30 Sunscreen for Face and Body

Contains: Micronized Zinc Oxide

Cosmetics Database Rating: 0

Comments: I like the short ingredient list. I’ve read many great reviews. While I haven’t tried this yet, it’s first on my list.

Soleo Organics Sunscreen, SPF 30

Contains: Zinc Oxide

Cosmetics Database Rating: 0

Comments: This one also has a short ingredient list. I have placed this second on my list to try.

Jason Natural Sunbrellas Chemical Free Sunblock Spf 30+

Contains: both Titanium Dioxide and Zinc Oxide

Cosmetics Database Rating: 1

Comments: This product is also known as Sunbrella and Earth’s Best.

Weleda Children’s Sunscreen SPF 18

Contains: both Titanium Dioxide and Zinc Oxide

Cosmetics Database Rating: 4 (I think this is because EWG list Micro Titanium Dioxide and Micro Zinc Oxide where I’m finding regular Titanium Dioxide and Zinc Oxide elsewhere)

Comments: For this one, I’m finding conflicting ingredient lists. Whether is regular Titanium Dioxide and Zinc Oxide or micro, I would like to try this product and feel it should make the list.

Sadly, my faves from last year did not make the list. We’ll use up what we have and replace with something from this list.

A note on SPF- many people associate SPF with the amount of time one can spend in the sun using a sunscreen. SPF actually refers to the amount of protection a sunscreen provides. It has nothing to do with time. Applying a SPF 50 sunscreen does not mean you can go hours longer before reapplying than you would with a SPF 15. A product with SPF 30 provides approximately 97% protection. A product with SPF 60 provides approximately 98% protection. Both should be reapplied after an hour and a half. If you burn easily, you’ll want a higher SPF, those that don’t burn so easily can get by with a lower SPF.

Tags: General, Health, Reviews, Safe Things, Shopping by Stephanie
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Blue House Soaps produces my absolute favorite soaps. This work at home mom has made a product that I come back to over and over again. Many of their soaps are 100% natural. Each bar of soap is made from scratch, hand cut and wrapped nicely. The ingredients are listed on the bars, as well as on their website.

If you have never used a shaving bar, I encourage you to try it out. I was so surprised at the nice, close, even shave I got when using a shaving bar and disposable razor. For added benefit, get an exfoliating bar! I love the Oatmeal Honey Vanilla. I have ditched all shaving gel now. These bars take up less space and aren’t nearly as messy. No more rusting cans in my shower, just a pretty bar.

If you’re looking for an extreme moisturizing cream, look no further than BHS’s Extreme Cream. This stuff is thick, but moisturizes sooo well. It’s great for sensitive skin and eczema. You can choose any scent they offer, but I recommend the My Elysium. It really smells nice. Extreme Cream comes packed in a nice cobalt jar.

Go on over and visit Blue House Soaps and see what they offer. Support a fellow mom! When you check out, add my email address, steph_atm@hotmail.com, in the comments box so they know I sent you! These soaps are pretty and make great gifts so get started on that holiday shopping!

Tags: General, Reviews by Stephanie
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As many of you get ready to head back to school, I want to toss a product out there — reusable sandwich bags. Stop buying those ziplocs that get tossed into the landfill. Get or make something you can reuse over and over again.

For the uncrafty, there are Wrap-n-Mats. These neat little things pull double duty. They hold your sandwich for transport and then when you open it up, you’ve got a placemat. There are several prints to choose from, so everyone can pick their own.

The crafty moms out there can make their own. I found these great directions that you can follow. Think of the custom possibilities! Fabrics of your choice, embellish as you want. Reuse old t-shirts or whatever you might have laying around. Here are the directions. Maybe I’ll get brave and attempt to make a few…someday.

Then there are laptop, or bento, boxes. Bento boxes are popular in Japan and becoming more popular in America. The idea is to pack a nice, well balanced lunch into a hard, reusable container. One of the popular American varieties is by Laptop by Obentec.

Whatever you choose, your child can make a statement at lunch time this year and you can make a positive impact on the environment.

Tags: General, Reviews, Safe Things by Stephanie
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Thermos has a great line of stainless steel insulated drink containers. But why two, what’s the difference and which is better? I purchased both so I could figure out the answer to those questions and what follows is a detailed reason why I choose Foogo.

I must admit, the designs on the Funtainer are just plain cute and fun. Hello Kitty, Barbie, Batman, Speedracer, it’s not just plain silver (score 1 for Funtainer). Both will keep drinks cold for a very long time, I think I saw 16 hours at one point. As you can see from the image above, the size is very similar with Foogo standing just a tad taller. I think the height is due to the cap of the Foogo being taller. The Foogo comes with a “spill proof” straw while the Funtainer does not (score 1 for Foogo). My first question was, are the straws interchangeable? The answer is no. As you can see below, the Funtainer is a rounded triangular shape while the Foogo is a horseshoe shape.

The push button on the Funtainer is much larger than the Foogo. My 2 year old finds the Funtainer much easier to open (score 1 for Funtainer). Both sort of “lock” open and snap shut. Neither seems to spill while closed.

Both straws pop out easily for cleaning and disassemble for easier cleaning of the spout. The Funtainer straw comes apart into 2 pieces. The Foogo breaks down into 3 pieces.  I’ve found a pipe cleaning makes cleaning the straw parts much easier. All parts are replaceable via Thermos for a small fee. If I recall correctly, the Funtainer comes with an entire second complete straw piece and the Foogo did not.

Durability. With young kids, things need to be durable. With kids in general things need to be durable. Let me just say we are on our second Funtainer already and we’ve only had these for about 6 months (score 5 for Foogo). Our first Funtainer was dropped, as kids will do, and the bottom plastic cracked. Normally I’d be fine with a small crack, but this was sticking out in such a way that I scratched my hand while cleaning it. Thermos did offer to replace the item, I had to send it to them, they had to determine whether is was eligible for replacement. Not wanting to be out shipping fees, I just took it back to Target and replaced it with no problem. Our second Funtainer is about to be in limited use or replaced. I still need to decide. This time the hinge on the lid has cracked and while it’s in danger of hurting anyone, the lid is snapping shut completely and I’m sure we’ll see leaks pretty soon.

Total score for Funtainer, 2. Total score for Foogo, 6. My 4 year old is also the owner of a Funtainer. His was stepped on and dented, but still completely useable. I’m certain the same would happen to Foogo. The cracking plastic however, can not be overlooked. Especially when it comes to scratching and the like. If I had to recommend one over the other, I’d say get the Foogo.

If you liked this review, let me know! I hope to get a review up for Sigg pretty soon and follow that with Kleen Kanteen and Ecousable when they arrive and get put to use.

Tags: General, Reviews by Stephanie
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I’ve been looking for alternatives to Tupperware. I do not want to continue using my beloved Rock N Serves that contain BPA. I’m leaning toward Pyrex, but I know some of their lids are plastic. It’s so hard to know who to trust these days. I need something for my husband to carry leftovers to work and reheat in the microwave, so it’s gotta be leak-proof. Before I sink money into these containers, I wanted to know what type of plastic is used for the lids. I shot an email off to Pyrex and here’s the reply.

Thank you for contacting World Kitchen, LLC

There is no BPA in our Pyrex Storage Deluxe plastic covers.

For further assistance, please contact our Consumer Care Center at 800-999-3436. Representatives are available from 8am to 6pm, EST, Monday through Thursday and 8am to 5pm on Friday, and will be more than happy to assist you.

Sincerely,

Misty

World Kitchen Consumer Care Center

---

From: Stephanie Pleasants
Sent: Sunday, June 08, 2008 11:55 PM
To: Consumer Help Center
Subject: Form Post from Firefox

FirstName=Stephanie
LastName=Pleasants
Brand=Pyrex
Reason=General Question
Message=I am looking for items to replace the plastic ware in my kitchen. I’m interested in purchasing Pyrex storage sets. Do your lids contain BPA? What type of plastic are they made of? I will be using this information to write an article so anything you can share with me will be appreciated.

So they didn’t exactly answer my question of what type of plastic is used, but they did say no BPA. I’m undecided. I really would like to know what type of plastic is used. I have some emails out to a few other companies. I guess I won’t be buying anything today.

---

I decided to reply asking exactly what type of plastic is used in the lids. They can’t seem to give me what I want to know. If you have any information on these items, please let me know or post it here so we can get the right answer.

The American Chemistry Council provides an informative and concise description of the resin identification coding system put into place by the Society of the Plastics Industry, Inc. in 1988 (http://www.americanchemistry.com/s_plastics/doc.asp?CID=1102&DID=4644). Categories 1-6 relate to specific families of materials while category 7, “other” includes laminates and compounds. All of the 7 categories have multiple examples of safe usage in food contact applications.

World Kitchen’s lid material is a compound, with the components selected to cost-effectively provide exceptional properties in a broad range of use conditions, including the freezer and microwave oven. No single family of material can provide this range of performance characteristics.

The components making up World Kitchen lids are individually certified by suppliers to meet relevant requirements for intermittent food contact in accord with 21CFR177 and the compounded lid has been tested to, and passed the requirements of 21CFR177.1810.

Sincerely,

Misty

World Kitchen Consumer Care Center

Tags: General, Reviews by Stephanie
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My 18 month old ditched the high chair early on, okay so maybe it was more me that ditched it. I hated cleaning all those little nooks and crannies! She hated the booster, preferring to sit on the table instead. We’d start a meal with everyone seated and before long, she would wiggle free from the belt and climb onto the table. We needed a solution. Not a highchair and yet, not a booster. Enter Kaboost. I was actually looking for a short stool or something similar that would be like every one and yet, left her enough so she could comfortably eat. As soon as I saw it, I knew right away that Kaboost was the answer for us. I went right out and bought it.

Kaboost was super easy to install. It’s made of heavy-duty plastic. It’s spring loaded arms stretch out to grip chair legs. It stays attached at all times. It does tend to make the chair a bit heavy, but I’ve noticed that’s actually a good thing. It keeps the chair from tipping over! The rubberized grips on the bottom keep the chair from sliding around and protect floors. Kaboost can be used two ways, simply flip it over, to provide two heights. It can hold up to 300 pounds and is geared toward ages 20 months through 6 years. [ I have not yet met a 300 pound 6 year old, but that's good to know! ;o) No, really, that means it's okay if someone sits in the chair not noticing the Kaboost! ] Retail price is $37.95

Kaboost is available in 4 colors- green, chocolate, natural and charcoal. We have the awesome green! You can choose the color that best matches your dining room chairs or be cool, go green! You can also get a travel bag so you can take your Kaboost with you wherever you go. While we haven’t taken ours to a restaurant yet, we have considered it. We will take it with us on our trip to Disney World in the fall.

I did find it a bit easier to to install with two people. I think it was more because I was in a rush to try it out. Kaboost fits 4-legged chairs. It can be used with chairs that have a diagonal leg distance of between 19.5 inches and 30 inches.

My favorite thing about Kaboost- no more little, hard to reach, nooks and crannies to clean!

Psst! As of this posting, the nifty green is on sale at Amazon for only $22.39 with $9.99 shipping, via Babyage.com, or purchase from Amazon for $33.63 and free shipping!

Tags: Reviews, Safe Things by Stephanie
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