From the moment our little ones are born, we strive to keep them from harm. We scrutinize every decision–whether it is choosing a car seat, to picking out shampoo for our precious babies. Do you consider yourself “green” and “Eco-conscious”? Are you looking for ways to minimize your impact on the Earth while limiting your child’s exposure to harsh chemicals at bath time?

If your answer is yes, then here is a new baby care line for you to try. It’s called Live Clean (Baby). Live Clean is a Canadian company that is devoted to making products that carry as small an environmental footprint as possible, by limiting the harsh irritants and using organic plant based ingredients. All those chemicals you are encouraged to avoid- Phthalates? Parabens? Sulfates (SLS/SLES)? DEA? Many of these chemicals that have been used in personal care products for years as preservatives and lather enhancers are known irritants. Live Clean uses NONE of these chemicals in any of their products (including the non-baby collections). It should be noted that these products are considered Vegan and Gluten Free, they are not tested on animals at any stage, and are considered hypoallergenic. The plastic bottles used in the packaging are fully recyclable at your nearest recycling station/curbside pick-up program. Check with your local recycling station; If they accept soda bottles, you can recycle your Live Clean packaging.

The Live Clean (Baby) lineup currently consists of 6 items: Baby Bath, Baby Wash & Shampoo, Bar Soap, Moisturizing Lotion, Non-Petroleum Jelly (it’s petroleum FREE), and Diaper Cream. They come in two basic versions–regular and “Soothing”, with the exception of the Bar Soap–the alternate is Fragrance Free. The Soothing products generally contain the exact same ingredients as the regular version, with Oatmeal & Chamomile added. I did not have the chance to test the soothing products, or the fragrance free Bath Soap.

My first thought when I opened the box was the smell. It smelled like new baby. You know what smell I’m talking about. That yummy lavender scent that all the baby washes have that make you want to run find a newly bathed infant to sniff. Yes that one! I must admit, I was a touch put off at first since it did remind me of those early body washes we bathed my daughter in when she was itty bitty, and at 3 years old…my petite bather isn’t so “little” any more. I thought she was just too grown up for such a scent. Boy, oh boy, was I wrong.

We first tried the Baby Bath. Let me tell you, does this Baby Bath ever bubble! Now, my daughter is one of those kids that you have to pry out of the bath, she loves it that much. We spent a good 45 minutes in the tub before the bubbles started to wane. She loved it, and you don’t have to use very much at all to get a nice, full, long lasting bubble! We also washed her hair using the Shampoo & Wash. For products that removed lather producing ingredients, I was quite surprised at how well it lathered up. It left her hair tangle free, and delightfully shiny. Good Stuff! My husband and I tried it as well. It left my hair clean and fragrant, but I have thick hair that tangles easily, and still felt that I needed to use conditioner. My husband didn’t like it at all. He said it made his hair feel different and he felt like he needed to wash sooner than usual. I know that dropping the SLS/SLES from your shampoos takes a bit of time getting used to when you have been using them for so long, so if it is something you are interested in, keep using it and see how it works out.

Since our household doesn’t use bar soap that often, I put one bar at the bathroom sink for hand washing. Conveniently, we ran out of our usual liquid hand soap. We tried the regular lineup moisturizing soap (there is a fragrance free version) and my biggest issue with it (as with most bar soaps), is that it left my hands feeling dry after washing. Not that “my hands are cracked” feeling, but that squeaky dry. I’m not a big fan of that squeakiness, but guess what? Another Live Clean product can fix that! That leads me to the next product–the moisturizing lotion. I’m one of those weird people that can’t stand lotion on the palms of my hands–lotions, creams, sunscreen, nada. I don’t mind it on my body, but not on my hands. I always end up wiping my hands after applying lotions. Usually, lotions are just too greasy for my taste, but I really liked this lotion! It soaks into your skin very quickly and you don’t feel like you need to constantly reapply. I found myself applying the lotion after using the bar soap, and it is also a perfect massage lotion for your little one. When my daughter was brand new, she had a reaction to a well known brand of baby lotion and we haven’t used lotions since. I tend to have sensitive skin, and it’s usually the products with fragrances that bother me but I love this stuff. I’ll probably end up getting more once we run out of the 7.7 ounce tube.

The only products I haven’t been able to fully test out are the Non-Petroleum Jelly, and the Diaper Cream. We just don’t use much jelly in our home for baby care, but I have found it to be a great way to moisten my dry feet at night. It really helps hold in moisture after a bath, and isn’t super greasy. We cloth diaper, and I’m hesitant to use the diaper cream on my diapers, as it contains zinc oxide, which is not generally considered cloth diaper safe (it can cause the cloth diaper to repel fluid instead of absorb it if it doesn’t wash out). The folks at Live Clean have stated that is IS safe for cloth diapers because Zinc is not it’s main ingredient and it should wash out in the next wash, especially if you have soft water, which I do. I haven’t been bold enough to try it on our cloth yet.

Live Clean (Baby) has teamed up with Walgreen’s as the exclusive US distributor for their product. Make sure you check online for a full list of products, as some items are ONLY available at Walgreens.com . I did stop into my local Walgreen’s, and they had a decent selection of Live Clean products. The prices ranged from about $7-15 for the larger sized items. The sizes are quite ample compared to your standard baby care products.

While I think that most parents are on a budget, and the Live Clean products are slightly higher priced than your run of the mill baby products, I love that these are made and manufactured in North America from quality organic and earth friendly ingredients that do not put unnecessary chemicals into your sweet bundle of joy, or our landfills and rivers. I look forward to continuing to use these products with my current (and any future) offspring!

Live Clean can also be found on Facebook.

Jessica