When the nice people at Nivea noticed we were soon to be headed on a family holiday to France (from the brilliant Keycamp) they wrote and asked if we would mind awfully trying out their new ‘Swim & Play’ sun lotion, designed specifically for busy summer children.
Crossing the vat of sun lotion off my boots order, I quickly replied that I supposed I could be persuaded, and so it was that a tube of Nivea’s Swim & Play found its way into my bag and across the channel.
And was promptly forgotten.
Until, that was, we found ourselves standing in a shadeless queue at Disneyland Paris, and I noticed that tight hot feeling. After a quick rummage in the depths of said bag, I produced the tube with a flourish, and proceeded to smother small shoulders,necks and ears in the stuff (one child in particular, who shall remain nameless as it embarrasses him, is VERY prone to burnt ear tips. Not that that they stick out in any way. No no no).
I noticed that for a nice thick cream – which meant a little went a long way – it sank in very quickly, and there were lots of comments from the boys that it smelt nice and not too girly (clearly an improvement on our usual stuff. Who knew the old one ‘smelt girly’?).
Glad to report not a shoulder or an ear was even slightly reddened, despite me forgetting to refresh it till mid-afternoon, and the temperatures reaching 40º.
But the biggest test was still to come – the water park at the next campsite. Me being an Organised and Efficient Mother, the first visit was accompanied by much clapping of sun lotion poolside onto excited wriggling bodies, along with stern admonishes to departing backs to not go in the water for five minutes to let the cream dry off. Again, the thick cream sank in very fast, went a long way – and must work pretty fast as they left me, ran 10 steps and leaped straight in the water. Of Course. Once again, no pinkness was found when we left the pool – two hours later, with no top-ups.
Most days I remembered to apply the cream before we left the van for the pool, but it really did seem to work instantly. The older children spent an awful lot of their holiday in just a pair of trunks (Pink is still manage to fit into her Beach Factory UV sunsuit, looking cute AND protecting most of her from the sun), and the temperatures were in the high 30º’s most days. But we have come home with children healthily glowing – not a burn or a tan in sight. Way to go Nivea – you’re now officially on our Holiday Essentials Packing List.
