LilSugar

Itchy Baby? 5 Products That Provide Eczema Relief

LilSugar — Sat, 01 Oct 2011 05:40:02 PDT

Are you itchy, baby? Eczema is an inflammation of the skin, characterized by redness and itching, and about one in five babies is diagnosed with the skin condition before their first birthday. Now that Fall is officially here, lower temperatures and indoor heating can dry baby's skin - causing eczema flare-ups - and mama will try just about anything to make it feel better. Check out these five tried-and-true products to help give your munchkin some much-needed relief!

Babyganics Bye Bye Dry Eczema Lotion ($7): Au naturel! Bye Bye Dry is a natural, nontoxic solution that provides relief from baby eczema. It's safe and gentle on your little one's skin and soothes baby's eczema itch.
Baby Naturals Baby Eczema Cream ($6): It's super rich! This rich moisturizer specially formulated for babies with eczema nurtures baby's dry skin, soothing it from redness and itching.
Excederm Soothing Baby Oil ($12): Oil up! The key to eczema control is moisture - and nothing delivers maximum moisture for dry, delicate skin than baby oil. It's nonirritating formula makes it ideal for children of all ages.
Cetaphil Restoraderm Body Moisturizer ($15): Moisture for all! This doctor-recommended lotion - for anyone 3 months of age or older - repairs and protects the skin’s natural moisture barrier. It's also free of fragrances, parabens, and nut oils.
Aveeno Baby Soothing Bath Treatment ($4): Bath time! This soothing treatment is made with colloidal oatmeal - proven to relieve irritated skin - and a special moisturizer that forms a soothing milky bath for baby.

Eczema: Take This Skin Rash Test

LilSugar — Mon, 08 Feb 2010 09:00:09 PST

Don't scratch! Approximately one in five babies will be diagnosed with eczema in their first year of life. The red, itchy patches only become more inflamed when lil ones rub them and seem to appear at the most inconvenient of times. Take this quiz and see just how much you know about this skin rash.

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Take the Quiz

Baby Wellness: Baby's Skin Conditions

LilSugar — Thu, 20 Nov 2008 13:00:13 PST

Babies' skin is supposed to be perfect, so how come your bundle of joy doesn't look flawless? Newborns go through a lot to enter the world and most end up with some skin conditions. These imperfections shouldn't alarm or bother you, they certainly aren't bugging your newest addition (nor should they affect her later in life). Here are a few things that may show up:

Premature babies and even some full term can be born with a soft, fine hair (lanugo) covering the skin. This fur should disappear after a few weeks.
Any splotchy, peeling or cracking in your newborn's skin is normal and should improve over time. If it appears on her head it's called cradle cap and should clear up on its own after several months.

There are others including baby breakouts so

Baby acne is very common, and doesn't usually last more than a few months. Don't try to treat the blemishes yourself with creams or over-washing, it's best to just let it run its course - the acne will eventually go away.
Milia is another condition that is normal (and looks similar to baby acne) and harmless. The small white spots that occur on baby's cheeks and nose should fade within a few weeks.
Any small red spots on her forehead, eyelids, lips, and/or neck are caused by stretched blood vessels, and should disappear by the time she is 18 months old.

In the case of your wee one's skin conditions, patience is the best medicine. If you think your babe is experiencing something more serious (perhaps from an allergic reaction), contact her pediatrician.

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Why Didn't Anybody Tell Me: Itchy Itchy

babysugar — Wed, 15 Oct 2008 09:00:54 PDT

Everyone says that each pregnancy is different. My second time around hasn't been all that different from my first round but one major difference is my skin's sensitivity. Starting about halfway through the pregnancy, I started to experience an insatiable itching. I tried lotions and heavy creams but certain areas still feel like poison ivy has taken over my body.

Concerned that something might be wrong, I talked with my OB/GYN about my irritations. She said it could be a result of the increased estrogen levels I am experiencing or poor blood circulation in those areas. Luckily, she told me that it will probably go away after I have the baby.

In the meantime, she gave me some tricks to help ease my pain. To see what they are,

Mix a bit of anti-itch cream like Cortaid with my pregnancy tummy rub and apply that to the itchy areas.
Keep the showers warm, but not too hot as hot water tends to dry out the skin making the irritation worse.
Apply unscented lotion immediately after bathing so your skin can soak in the moisture.
Avoid using using too much soap in the shower as it can dry the skin out.
Soak in an oatmeal bath.

So far, the best solution for me has been the first tip. What worked for you?
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Do You Know Your Baby Skin Conditions?

babysugar — Thu, 18 Sep 2008 07:00:27 PDT

Newborns do not usually have the flawless skin they show in the movies. Rather, they may have bruises from their birth experience, acne and a number of other imperfections when they enter the world.

As the child grows, a parent will begin to notice a number of other skin conditions on their lil one. Take my quiz and see if you know what you are looking at on your babe.

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Take the Quiz

Boating Safety: Things to Know Before You Go Afloat

Jenny Sugar — Sat, 26 May 2012 19:27:32 PDT

It seems like boating season unofficially begins on Memorial Day weekend with everyone headed to their lake houses, weekend river residences, or the beach. In different parts of the nation, boating accidents, injuries, and unfortunately fatalities are on the rise. Now that I've captured your attention, let's review a few tips on boating safety.

Boater's fatigue is real, and it can wear you down. The US Coast Guard warns people about this condition, created by the combination of wind, noise, heat, and vibration of the boat. All these elements can mentally and physically fatigue boaters and subsequently impair their judgment.
Personal flotation devices, otherwise known as life jackets, are vitally important for everyone on board the boat, be it a canoe or a speed boat. Some states even require children under a certain age to wear life jackets, so if the little ones complain about wearing the big orange life vest, tell them it's the law.
Boating and alcohol don't mix. Alcohol impairs your judgment, balance, and coordination, affects your swimming and diving skills, and reduces your body's ability to stay warm. Coupled with boater's fatigue, folks on a boat will feel the effects of alcohol faster than they would on land. Plus, driving a boat while intoxicated is illegal.
The wind can keep you cool and make you forget you're in the sun, but don't forget to reapply sunscreen every two hours and always after swimming. Lube up even if it's overcast since UV rays can still damage your skin through clouds.
Watch the weather to keep an eye on local weather conditions, and be prepared for electrical storms. Water conducts electricity, so you don't want to find yourself on the open water during a lightning storm.

Hysteria Director Tanya Wexler Talks Vibrators, Faking It, and Duck Sex

Tara Block — Fri, 25 May 2012 04:00:15 PDT

Don't be shy . . . It's time to talk sex toys! And Hysteria director Tanya Wexler is writing us a prescription for pleasure. Tanya's film - what she calls "the vibrator movie you can bring your mom to" - is in limited release and stars Hugh Dancy, Maggie Gyllenhaal, and Rupert Everett. When working on a romantic comedy that centers around the invention of the vibrator, you end up with some entertaining and embarrassing situations along the way, and lucky for us, Tanya spilled all the hilariously dirty details. From teaming up with the film's partner Jimmyjane for a drive-by vibrator drop-off to a certain female Oscar-winner to trying unsuccessfully to get ducks to shag on command, Tanya was bursting with great stories from working on this very unconventional film. And while Tanya isn't ashamed to discuss the sexy subject matter of her latest film with us, the mother of four and her partner of 21 years did have a tricky challenge telling her preteen kids what her movie was about. (She eventually gave them the script and let them figure it out themselves!) Check out our interview with the fun-loving director now, and we dare you not to have a girl crush on her by the end!

TrèsSugar: What were some of the challenges to getting a movie made about vibrators?
Tanya Wexler: Getting the script right was tricky because if you just make a movie about the invention of the vibrator, it's actually a really short movie: you go "bzz" and it's done. And we had a kind of light romantic comedy. I say I made the vibrator movie you can bring your mom to. But some people wanted it to be raunchy or some people wanted it to be more serious and about feminism. People project a lot onto this movie of what they want, because there isn't a lot out there about vibrators and women's pleasure, and we still don't really deal with that topic very well, or we're overly antsy around it. And as a result, people have a lot of ideas of what the movie could and should be, and you can't please everyone. [laughs]

TS: Ha, good one.
TW: It's nonstop!

TS: Do you find sex toys inherently funny or something to be seriously celebrated?
TW: Yes!

TS: Both?
TW: Yes! Yes. I think they make me laugh, and I think that the inner kind of Beavis and Butt-head in all of us goes "[laugh]." You know, that inner 13-year-old, like, "Hahaha vibrator . . . " and yet they're awesome and fun.

TS: What shocked you the most when researching the movie?
TW: That ducks are the rapists of the bird world, and you'll see when you see the movie, because there's a little bit of questionable duck behavior - or awesome duck behavior - in the movie. It's totally a sidebar, but you cannot make ducks shag on command. I'm just saying.

TS: What about the whole history of hysteria being a medical condition?
TW: When I first heard the idea, I was like, "What do you mean it was invented in Victorian times?" I knew about hysteria, but the idea that the treatment was manual [British accent] massage deparaxism - which is what they called it - and, of course, the denial. The most shocking thing is the denial, that they didn't think it was sexual.

TS: Do you think they were really in denial?
TW: No, I don't think that some people were. My college roommate was with her high school boyfriend for two years and she had never had an orgasm. I think there's all kinds of denial, especially with women's sexuality. So the fact that there are young women today who haven't had an orgasm, whether self-induced - which is insane - or with a partner, then why wouldn't we think back then that women wouldn't know what orgasms were?

They would get a massage, and the doctor's saying, "Without a penis, this isn't sex, because sex is about procreation," so what is this? The best physical therapy you've ever had. So once you don't think of it as something other than what the doctor's supposed to do to cure your uncontrollable crying or uncontrollable laughter or whatever, then it's just an awesome muscle spasm. If you don't think women have their own inherent sexuality, then you're not thinking about it like that.

Keep reading for Tanya's thoughts on Fifty Shades and more!

What We're Sweet On: A Brush For the Blemished

Annie Tomlin — Thu, 17 May 2012 03:30:00 PDT

Countless praises have been sung for Clarisonic, the cult-favorite sonic skin cleansing brush. But until now, the acne-addled haven't had a version that targets their complexion condition. Enter the newest incarnation of the Mia 2 brush and salicylic acid-infused cleanser ($169), which aims to keep blemishes at bay. We gave the brush a spin (courtesy of public relations), and like the original, it removes the dirt and makeup that doesn't always come off through washing by hands alone. The new brush head ($25) is softer than the original, though, and it's especially gentle for anyone who's experiencing stubborn blackheads or painful nodules. While no product will produce flawless skin overnight, with consistent use, having clearer skin may only be a matter of time.

It's Easy Being Green (If You're Talking Concealer)

Jaime Richards — Thu, 03 May 2012 11:59:00 PDT

Ever been confused by the multicolored concealer palettes you see at the stores? The confusion stops here. Over the next few days, let's explore the art of these color-correcting concealers, starting with green. Wicked Witch of the West? Don't think so, my pretties. When it comes to color correcting, it's all about using the color wheel to figure out a balance.

Green, for instance, is opposite of red on the color wheel. In theory, it will neutralize any unwanted red hues from things like acne, rosacea, birthmarks, port-wine stains, ruddiness, pimples, and even scars. But do green correcting sticks, powders, and primers work? When it comes down to it, yes, but to find out a few ways to avoid looking as if you've been hit with a bad case of food poisoning, just read more.

Two Home Remedies That Zap Away Acne

Jaime Richards — Mon, 30 Apr 2012 05:03:00 PDT

The next time a breakout decides to crash your clear skin party, no need to run straight to the store for a quick-fix cream (or, not to mention, tube after tube of concealer). What you need is probably already in your medicine cabinet or kitchen pantry. Find out what two common household ingredients will assist you in banishing spots on the spot when you read on.