There's no place like foam! (Peppa Pig Foamy Soap)

Member Name: jo1976

Product:	Peppa Pig Foamy Soap
Date:	09/07/09 (66 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Cheap, kids love it

Disadvantages: Contains lots of chemicals, doesn't produce lather or bubbles

Bathtimes can be a little fraught at times in my household. I tend to bath both boys together but it can lead to conflict sometimes and I constantly looking for new tactics to avert tears and keep bathtime an enjoyable fun occasion. I spotted this Peppa Pig Foamy Soap being promoted as a half-price offer for £1 at Ethel Austin and I thought it was worth a try. (Typically, I saw it for sale for only 79p at Home Bargains just a few days later!)

There were other varieties of foamy soap available, including Winnie the Pooh and Noddy, but Peppa Pig seemed to be a fairly neutral choice as both boys enjoy watching the TV programme from time to time. I didn't particularly study the information on the side of the can before buying. If I had, to be honest, I might have reconsidered as it does say that it is not suitable for sensitive skin, which seems silly considering it's clearly a product marketed at very young children. The list of ingredients isn't particularly reassuring either. The can lists isobutane/propane (presumably the propellant as the foam is in an aerosol), stearic acid, sorbitol, triethanolamine, polysorbate 20, PEG-75 lanolin, methylparaben, parfum and hexyl cinnamal. Doesn't mean a great deal to me but it certainly sounds packed full of chemicals and is definitely not the most natural of products for children! Thankfully, neither of my boys have suffered any adverse reaction to using the foam and they do both have sensitive skin and suffer with bouts of eczema.

Both boys were initially delighted when I produced the aerosol at bathtime. It dispenses the foam easily and produces a white fluffy substance that looks like a cross between silly string and shaving foam! My boys both insisted on it being squirted on to their hands and then they rubbed it into their stomachs until they resembled miniature snowmen. The instructions on the can are simple - 'Apply to the body, lather and rinse well.' It all sounds very straightforward but the disappointing reality is that this product doesn't actually produce any lather at all. The foam stays as a moist lump but as soon as you start to rub at it, the foam just seems to disintegrate into nothing. I expected the foam to at least produce some bubbles or create some sort of lather in the bath itself but, again, it forms solid blobs on the surface of the water and then it eventually dissolves into nothingness without leaving any noticeable softness or silkiness to the bath or to the boys' skin for that matter.

The foam does leave a pleasant enough smell behind. It's an artificial strawberry flavoured kind of smell, if that makes any sort of sense! After the boys have been in the bath, the scent does linger slightly in the bathroom and it is vaguely reminiscent of paint but not in a negative way. The foam leaves behind a faint scent on the kids' skin after a bath but it is not overpowering at all.

The main selling point of this foam is the novelty, fun factor. The kids love squirting it out and covering themselves, each other and the entire bath in white fluffy foam! My oldest son's current favourite trick is squirting two big blobs on to his nipples - which leads to his little brother shouting 'My turn! My nipples!' In spite of its lavish use over the past couple of weeks, the can has been surprisingly long lasting and there still seems to be plenty left in the can.

I don't particularly like the amount of chemicals used in the product and certainly don't feel that it is particularly effective at cleaning at all, given the lack of lather. It is just a fun bath product that brings a smile to their faces. I probably wouldn't buy it again even at just 79p per can - unless I could guarantee bathtimes free of conflict and stress and I don't think this little can is capable of that!

Summary: One for occasional use