Wilko Baby Wash

When you look at the plain white plastic bottle of Wilko Baby Wash, it looks cheap. But that's because it is ! It retails at under a pound, costing just 96p for a big 300ml bottle. As you can see from the cheeky bit of advertising above, Wilko, the own-brand label of high-street store Wilkinson's, pride themselves on providing quality products at much cheaper prices than their rivals. But are they really quality products ? Well, so far, I've tested their baby wipes and nursery surface wipes and I'll be testing their suncare range shortly (watch this space !) and I'm pretty impressed overall.

The label tells us, "Wilko Baby Wash is a kind and gentle cleanser that helps moisturise whilst washing. Its extra mild formulation with lotion is pH balanced to help leave baby's skin feeling soft and smooth. It will also help your skin feel baby soft too". I always like products that are suitable for the whole family - babies, children and adults alike - so the baby wash was already on to a winner.

The bottle says that for a baby, you should apply directly on to the skin with your hand or a sponge so I tried this out with Pierre at bathtime. It got him nice and clean, rinsed off easily and didn't cause any skin reactions at all. His skin didn't feel particularly moisturised or softened, as it does with some of the more expensive brands I've tested, but it did smell lovely. The fragrance is a typical "clean baby" smell and reminded me of the smell of talcum powder.

The instructions say that for grown ups, you should squeeze it on to a sponge or puff and work into a rich creamy lather. I tried this out in the shower and it worked really well, lathering up nicely - so nicely in fact that I successfully used the lather for shaving my legs, without the need for another product. I did however find that it smelt a bit too strongly of baby products for my liking !

As the girls also wanted a bath, I decided to try it out as a bubble bath and that was very successful too, making a lovely creamy lather that they happily played in, making beards and bubble bikinis and punky hairstyles until it was time to get out ! Sophie occasionally has flare-ups of eczema but had absolutely no reactions to the baby bath.

I was really impressed because you get a three-in-one product : baby wash, bubble bath and shower gel. That helps reduce household waste so is better for the environment but also reduces bathroom clutter so makes tidying up quicker. It isn't the most luxurious or deeply moisturising body wash that I've ever tried but quite frankly, for under a pound, I wasn't expecting it to be ! It's brilliant value and I'm amazed at how good it is for the price.

star rating : 4.5/5

RRP : 96p for 300ml