NEEM - Margo Neem Soap

I have tried tons of soaps and facial washes and very few ever do the trick. I Love to use neem soap. The only downside is that its hard to track down. I use: Margo Neem Soap.

It washes all the dirt and oil from your skin. Leaves you feeling fresh and clean. Not the most fragrant but what good is a fragrant non-performing soap?

What Is Neem?

• Azadirachta indica
• What is neem? For over 4000 years, women in India have relied upon Neem for flawless skin. The Neem tree is an evergreen tree that is part of the mahogany family and is a common feature of the drier regions of India, Southeast Asia, and parts of Africa. Neem bark, leaves, fruit, seeds and oils all contain medicinal qualities. Neem is highly treasured in India and is used extensively in Ayurvedic medicine for many skin

Fair & Lovely - Anti Marks - Fairness For Pimple Prone Skin

I have used this and can say it works for me. My skin has not gotten lighter and my marks are s-l-o-w-l-y fading if at all.

PROS:

• I has great pimple control. When I do get a pimple it goes away fast! Even period pimples. And period or no my face has a tendency to get very pimply.
• It does not bleach my

Weird Baby Care Advice

Here is some odd baby care advice I received from family, friends and strangers:

1. Hold the baby under her thighs and not directly under her bottom so that the baby wont have a flat ass.
2. Give the baby a bit of brandy so she wont be frightened easily.
3. Cut her hair directly after birth because the hair will eat her growth.
4. Avoid the sun so her skin wont darken.
5. Throw tiny baby up in the air and catch her so she can get used to being thrown.
6. Carry baby on your back so she wont refuse later.
7. Give her cooking oil with salt to aid digestion.
8. Cooking oil also helps with gas and oils the poop so it comes out easier.
9. Have a traditional healer type of person check the babies fontanelle.
10. Nurses say a lot, don't listen to it all.
11. A mother should not peak at her babies budding teeth as it will stop them coming out.
12. A penis can somehow magically "cure" a fontanelle.
13. Ingesting cooking oil helps a baby sleep more.
14. Dont allow an "evil" person to hold the baby before her umbilical cord stump falls off.
15. Bury umbilical cord stump to protect it from witches.

I found it best to just nod and smile.

Do you have any strange advice you were given?

Length Retention - 4c Hair

Moisture:

• Yes, you will get a lot of reversion but if your hair is short and you are trying to grow it out. 
• I feel that's a small price to pay. 
• For the health of your hair it needs moisture. 
• Avoid products that lock moisture out and products that strip it. 
• Our hair is different so each person will have a different reaction to products so find those that work for you.
• Water, water, water!

Patience:

• Do not handle it roughly. 
• When unbraiding or detangling please take your time otherwise you will be breaking off your hair and you will wonder why its not growing. 
• It will be growing but it you break off the hair you wont see any progress.

Slippage:

• When braiding or unbraiding your hair needs something to lubricate it.
• Lubrication to unbraid to avoid excess tangling and breaking.
• Lubrication to braid. 
• Spray with water or oil it. Moist hair seems to fare better at being combed and tugged whilst braiding.

Condition:

• Condition your hair.
• Home made or store bought conditioners.

Cradle Cap Remedy For Baby With 4c Or Tightly Coiled Hair

Cradle cap drove me crazy for a while. To the point where I had decided to let it be and just leave the baby like that as it does not hurt the baby. But it can turn into big scales which quite frankly are hard to look at.

Chances are it probably bothers you more than other people considering not a single person said a thing about it, and people had a lot of "advice".

I tried the oiling and gently brushing thing but it did not work for us. My bun was born with a full head of coiled hair, this hair is 4c - The Buns Hair. Black babies seem to be born with straight hair? I don't have much experience with this as I have seen very few newborns and most of them are always bundled up and wearing a hat. But the ones whose heads I saw had straight hair.

The using a toothbrush or baby brush obviously did not work us because her hair was coiled from the get go.

This is what worked for  us:

I use Johnson & Johnson products on

NAPPY/DIAPER RASH

There are several causes of diaper rash. These two links can help give you clearer more detailed information:

Wikipedia - Irritant Diaper Dermatitis
Chealth - Diaper rash

In our case it began with what seemed like a sudden onset of a mild running tummy. The buns poop which had always been yellow had become green, slimy, foamy and very frequent. The bun would usually poop once a day or once every two to three days was now pooping several times a day, sometimes more than once in an hour. The bun is exclusively breast fed so fortunately these changes brought no new odors with them.

The buns bottom was bright red and swollen and she would scream at the slightest touch.

Possible Causes:

1. Prolonged exposure to moisture from the running tummy?
2. Changed diapers from Huggies Gold to Pampers Premium Care? 
3. Using baby wipes? 
4. Friction from the numerous diaper changes could have irritated the skin.

OUR SOLUTION:

• To clean her we began

Things I Did Not Know About Babies

These are some of the things about babies that caught me off guard:

• Farting
• Cradle Cap
• Their Nails
• Body Hair

Other things weren't such a shock as I had read about them on-line. For a more detailed account of my little surprises -


Farting
Yes they are human and have all the necessary parts to toot but it still caught me off guard. A tiny newborn is gassy but it is odorless, then one day BOOM it stinks. I mean it really really reeks. Perhaps its their little tummies adjusting. Then you ask how can such a cute little thing be so stinky? Fortunately they ball aren't gaggers and they stink for short periods then back to normal.


Cradle Cap
This bothered me at first, as I did not know how to handle it. I found a pretty good solution HERE. My little bun.