This is the place where you will find tips for caring for your children's skin, easy tips on how to live more sustainably, play and all things general parenting.
After months of waiting it's finally here. Welcome everyone, I am so glad you have stopped by. My name is Chrissy and I'm the founder of Ara and Obi. I have two children who at the time of writing are 10 months and 4 years old.
You will no doubt know by now that the reason I started Ara and Obi, was because for some reason I found it really difficult to find bedding that would not irritate their skin further. So let's take it back a little. When my daughter was born 4 years ago I had no concept of how much babies could dribble, or how much they would posset.... for up to 6 months. On top of that she had eczema on her face and all over her body. I did the usual creams, soap free cleansers, non-bio washing powder, which definitely did help don't get me wrong, but I also noticed that every morning and after every nap her face just looked really dry and sore. This coupled with the fact that thanks to all the dribbling and posseting her sheets were always wet, were enough to get do something. I spent so much money on trying to find the right bed sheets for her. From cotton, to organic cotton to terry towelling (you know to soak up the dribble during the night and obvious nappy leaks), and nothing worked. The sheets would always stay wet for ages, and my poor baby’s face just looked so irritated, particularly when she had an eczema flair up. I started researching and seeing what else could be done.
*side note, I have always been a proponent of living and buying things as natural as possible*
I came across bamboo. Yes the things pandas, elephants, and deer eat, and that you may have tried in your local Chinese takeaway. One thing I was excited to learn about was it's many benefits, I will list a few below. I thought let me give this a try. I started of small with some organic bamboo muslins which I would put on top her sheets and noticed a difference immediately. Coincidence? Perhaps but the more I did it the more I was sold.
Fast forward 3 years and my son is born, and at 3 weeks old I see the same thing happening again. Now that I knew about bamboo, I looked to see if I could find bamboo sheets that would work for us, and came up short. I decided to create a brand and product line that would work not just for my family but for families with children who have sensitive and eczema prone skin everywhere.
In the UK one in five children suffer from atopic dermatitis (eczema), and in the US 13% of children suffer from it. The conversation is always around skin care, creams, soaps (or actually not), washing detergents etc, and I found little information about the impact of the fabrics that used in children's clothing, bedding and towels. Whether or not your child has sensitivities, allergies or eczema, paying attention to the fabric used in the above items can have a real impact on their skin.
Bamboo is super soft, hypoallergenic, temperature regulating, dust mite repellent, ultra absorbent, lightweight and breathable. Not only that the grass grows up to 1.5 inches and hour, it's deforestation free, and requires no pesticides to grow owing to the fact that it's naturally anti bacterial and anti fungal.
We have curated a really beautiful collection of 100% natural bedroom and bathroom linen products for babies and toddlers. All our products contain at 70% bamboo, and if they are a blend they are mixed with cotton. They are all OEKO-TEX Standard 100 Class one certified, ensuring they contain no nasties chemicals or preservatives (only the best for our little ones skin), and where they are organic are eco cert certified.
Have a browse, send us a message and let us know if you would like to see anything new, or have any skincare questions.
In the mean time we have some great things lined up for you on this blog so stay tuned.
Take care
Chrissy
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