#BepanthenProtects sponsored by Britmums

WHAT IS BEPANTHEN

First, lets begin this blog post on what Bepanthen actually is and a bit of history behind the product!

Bepanthen spent over 70 years globally specialising in skin and developing solutions that help your skin unleash its own potential to protect and heal from within, keeping your skin healthy and you connected to what matters.

It was launched in 1944 and has been led by Bayer since 2005 and began with just three formulas, including their core product – Bepanthen Healing Ointment. Today, they’ve developed a wide range of pioneering skincare!

BEPANTHEN RANGE

Such a vast range now for baby and mother!

• For baby – Bepanthen Nappy care ointment and Bepanthen Baby moisturiser.
• For mum – Bepanthen stretch mark cream.
• Suncare – Bepanthen Baby Sun Cream.

I RECEIVED

If you didn’t see my instagram box opening I received two tubes of Bepanthen- 100g and a 30g – plus a musical ‘row, row your boat’ book and a little penguin teddy. The book was a hit as coincidentally it’s one of my infants favourite song at the moment.

 

 

 

THE SCIENCE BEHIND THE PRODUCT

What we want in skincare is something that actually works and this product is designed to:

• Promotes cell division and cell migration
• Supports the production of lipids in the skin
• Stimulates skin regeneration
• Relieves inflammation
• Promotes wound healing
• Improves skin hydration.

 

The skin is the largest organ of the body, with a total area of about 20 square feet. The skin protects us from microbes and the elements, helps regulate body temperature, and permits the sensations of touch, heat, and cold.

Skin has three layers:

• The epidermis, the outermost layer of skin, provides a waterproof barrier and creates our skin tone.
• The dermis, beneath the epidermis, contains tough connective tissue, hair follicles, and sweat glands.
• The deeper subcutaneous tissue (hypodermis) is made of fat and connective tissue.

The skin’s color is created by special cells called melanocytes, which produce the pigment melanin. Melanocytes are located in the epidermis.

The way Bepanthen is designed is to protect baby’s skin with the main ingredient being Pro Vitamin B5 that on a cellular level, Pro-vitamin B5 is rapidly turned into pantothenic acid, a constituent of coenzyme A.

Coenzyme A plays an important role in many cellular processes, promoting regeneration in the skin epithelium. 

Baby skin in comparison to adult skin!

The Pro-vitamin B5 gently helps sensitive skin to repair its natural protective barrier while keeping it soft, smooth and moisturised. The water-in-oil formulation seals in the skin’s natural moisture and provides optimal conditions to allow gentle skin recovery without drying out your baby’s delicate skin, keeping it healthy and hydrated. 

When products such as lotions, creams or ointments containing provitamin B5 are absorbed by the skin, the provitamin transforms into vitamin B5 (pantothenic acid). This has a natural ability to moisturize, soothe, heal and regenerate the skin.

To find out more check out their Health professionals – it can also be used on minor wounds click here for more information.

“As the CPD module explains, infant skin forms less of a barrier than adult skin: full-term infant skin is only between 40% and 60% of the thickness of an adult’s skin, for example. This structural and functional immaturity means that infant’s skin lacks adequate defences against damage. As a result, prolonged exposure of the skin to risk factors for nappy rash undermines barrier function and results in the distressing clinical signs and symptoms.”

 

Adult skin.

 

PRO VITAMIN B5

Thought I’d do my own research into this as it’s easy to write about things and not really understand the use of it – I found some information from here.

This vitamin has the ability to work as a humectant. Natural humectants serve dual purposes as they are able to physically attract moisture to the surface of the skin and they deliver major moisture and nutrients to the deepest layers of the skin. Some humectants can improve the skin’s natural ability to hydrate itself. Provitamin B5 is a humectant and is a water-binding substance that both attracts and retains water.

As a humectant, this provitamin stabilizes the skin’s barrier function, reducing the amount of water that is lost through the skin and evaporated into the air.

By applying this to your face, you will do several things for your skin with one benefit being you will be improving your skin’s softness and elasticity plus increasing the skin’s hydration! 

It is also able to act as a skin healer and protectant! When applied to the skin it offers a relief from possible itchiness and pain plus also reduces redness. Wounds that are treated with vitamin B5 have resulted in regenerated tissue that is more solid and elastic!

If you need more advice on infants skin click here for details on Eczema, cradle cap, baby acne etc.

 

INGREDIENTS

Free from fragrances and colourants.

It contains petrolatum which is commonly known as petroleum jelly – that is widely used as an over the counter skin protectant and additive in many cosmetic products.

Petrolatum is mineral oil jelly which is a waste product from the distillation of petroleum to produce gasoline so essentially this product prevents evaporation of moisture from the skin.

The main ingredient of Bepanthen is dexpanthenol which is derived from panthenol. In the cosmetic industry, this is used as an emollient and moisturiser. As an ointment, it penetrates the skin and is used for minor skin irritation such as nappy rash and sunburn.

Paraffinum liquidum, more commonly known as mineral oil – that’s also a petroleum by-product and is basically a liquid form of petroleum jelly. 

Lanolin and lanolin alcohol are also found in Bepanthen ointment –  an oily material that is secreted from the sebaceous glands of sheep (not a Vegan product). It is used as an emulsifier meaning it binds well with water which makes it very useful in cosmetic formulations and is generally safe on the skin.

Other ingredients are aqua or water, Prunus dulcis or almond oil as emollient, cera alba or white wax which is a bleached form of or cera flava or yellow wax. It also contains cetyl alcohol, stearyl alcohol, and glyceryl oleate as emollients and thickening agents

 

HOW I USED THE PRODUCT

As Bepanthen works by forming a transparent, breathable layer, helping to protect even the most delicate skin from irritants and rubbing I applied on my infant during nappy changes and after bathtimes to prevent rashes too as a full term infant skin is only between 40% and 60% of the thickness of an adult’s skin so it needs the extra barrier from dampness from a nappy.

Bepanthen is gentle, it can be used at every nappy change to help the most sensitive of skins – including that of premature babies – which is awesome.

I applied a layer of it on my baby’s clean, dry bottom after each nappy change, especially at bedtime when the nappy is usually on for the longest during the night. 

As the ointment (or cream as I call it) comes in two sizes with the large being a 100g tube and the smaller 30g tube you get to be able to choose what’s a perfect to fit for your nappy bag for when you’re out and about or what’s easier to use in the home!

Now, as you can see the main image for this blog post is of my 4 year old son in the warrior pose – I wanted to be able to show you that not only is this cream good for newborns/babies but for older children too. My son gets quite spotty/rashy skin on his arms, face and bottom and also has bedtime pants so I’ve been using it alongside his baby sister to help his skin (older kids are our babies too! Plus I’m really vibing the photo!)

 

OVERALL

So, in summary after trialling this product for 2 to 3 weeks I can easily say it’s a great cream to apply not only on infant skin but older childrens skin and my own skin (I accidently cut my leg while shaving so applied some, it protected the skin from further damage – adults obviously need the extra help now and again)

The ointment has a nice consistency as it’s ‘creamy’ and feels like it is really creating a barrier, it does leave a weeny residue on your own hands after using as it is so creamy but soaks in well and also washes off easily although you can leave it on, extra nourishment why not!

I have one in my baby bag and one in the home which I can whip out whenever and apply to my children whenever and as I’ve mentioned I have found it definitely useful on the whole family.

 

This post is an entry for the #BepanthenProtects Challenge, sponsored by Bepanthen. Learn more about how to protect baby’s sensitive skin on https://www.bepanthen.co.uk

By baby.