Gaia Skin Naturals
The products of Gaia Skin Naturals caught my eye while as I was going around the expo because theirs come in smaller and more compact bottles perfect for travel as compared to the other brands. I also love that it is a homegrown business based in Hallam, Victoria and that they offer products that are great for sensitive skin (think eczema) and are made for everyday use.
They had an expo-exclusive offer wherein if you buy 3 bottles, you’ll only have to pay $25. The recommended retail price per bottle is $11.50 which would give expo-goers a nice saving of $9.50. Again, I had been given this hard decision to choose just 3 bottles from their range and I was bombarded by a lot of products while I was browsing at their booth. It is a good thing that one of their friendly staff had approached me and explained each product better so I got an idea what to get. I asked what are the best products for newborn. She told me that it would be best if I do not get the shampoo for now since Bibibam won’t have that much hair to wash for the first few months . She continued that I could just get the Bath and Body Wash for daytime use and Sleeptime Bath for night-time use which has this amazing lavender smell that would be helpful for the baby to sleep better and relax. The bath washes can also double as a shampoo so I’d be hitting two birds with one stone by buying these products.
I also asked if a moisturizer is essential. She said that any form of moisturizing is good after bath. Gaia’s Baby Moisturiser is perfect for daytime use but the Massage Oil of course gives more moisturizing depth. Fair enough! Thanks to this lovely booth attendant my decision-making process had became easier. I ended up getting the Sleeptime Bath, Bath and Body Wash and Baby Moisturiser. She also gave me one free pack of Bamboo baby wipes, making my total stash of baby wipes now three, and a sample sachet of each of their products. Sweet!
Moving on, I had also been on the lookout for some easy-to-wear, for-everyday-use baby clothes and of course, I haven’t given up on the swaddle/ sleep bag just yet. Whenever I am on the lookout for an item to buy, the first consideration always is the price. I do not go for the premium brand or the most expensive one, what I usually check first is the cheapest one and just move on to the next in line should the quality of the cheapest one is not that great. An ultimate buy is always the one that I’ve paid not much for but will exceed its worth and more. That is why whenever I am checking out a booth or a shop, I’ll check first if the products there are within my budget range because seriously, what is the point for me to look around if I know that I’d just end up not being able to buy them.
Silly Billyz
Continuing on my mission, I found this booth that sells random baby stuffs from different brands and while I was looking around, my eyes just went directly to the Muslin swaddle wraps from Silly Billyz displayed at the front - just for $10 for the 2 packs of 2. Now that is a great deal. I just had to buy them!
Since Aaron had already bought 2 swaddle wraps during a recent baby expo in Manila and I already got 4 more, I’ve decided that I’ll just drop the sleep bag since I do not see anymore the point of buying a product that would serve the same purpose as the wraps. I can surely handle a little bit of origami!
Ergopouch
The last thing in my agenda are the zippered baby clothes. I’ve read comments from moms of newborns that the zippered ones are the best options due to their manageability and ease of use. You just have to put the arms of the baby in the arm holes, close up the garment and zip up. Worries such as flailing arms and too much movement from your baby are not legitimate worries anymore with the zippered clothes!
I had a hard time looking for baby clothes that would fit my budget so to encounter ergoPouch had been really an amazing blessing! ergoPouch is a known innovator when it comes to natural, organic babies and toddlers sleep products. Think of swaddles, sleeping bags and sleep suit bags! They definitely have one of the best, if not the best, of these items in the market. Aside from these, they also offer what they call layers which are basically baby clothes which comes in short-sleeves or long-sleeves. Since Bibibam will be born during summer, I was actually leaning towards on getting a short-sleeved layer for daytime use and long-sleeved layer for nighttime. Seeing that they only sell the layers for $20 each for short-sleeves and $25 each for long-sleeves, I was already ready to grab one but seeing the term TOG made me take a step backwards and assess what that means. Good thing one of the lovely attendants there saw the look of confusion in my eyes so she approached me to discuss everything she knows about the layers.
Apparently, TOG rating is a common term in the baby-sleepwear universe. It stands for ‘Thermal Overall Grade’ which is basically a measurement that tells you how much a fabric insulates. The higher the TOG rating is, the higher its ability to insulate. The lowest they got is 0.2 TOG, which is perfect during summer and the highest is 1.0 TOG which proves to be better for winter.
I eventually decided to get two 0.2 TOG short-sleeved layers: one for Bibibam’s newborn phase (0 to 3 months) and another one when he’s already 3 to 6 months old. I also asked the saleslady who’d assisted me if she can give me further discount since I bought two items and she happily said that she can let me have both for just $35 total. I was so ecstatic! Who knew that I could still bargain my way through here! * rubbing twice my left shoulder *
I left the expo feeling accomplished since I was able to check off every essentials that I listed and I was able to get all of them for a fraction of their retail price. Though I ended up going home tired with all the walking and carrying that I had to do, I can truly say that the effort and time I spent there was well worth it! By doing these mommy things like going to baby expos, shopping for the little one's clothes and stuffs and getting excited about the fact that he'll be using all of these 3 months from now, there is no denying that I'll become a mommy soon. Each day, the feeling and thought that 3 months from now someone will be purely dependent on me has already been sinking deeper in my well being. As scary as it may seem, I am ready for the challenge. With you in the picture, I know that I will do whatever it takes to be a better version of myself each day and the best mommy that I could possibly be to you.