I have a bag in my office filled with empty shampoo and body wash bottles, finished tubes of face lotion, cleaned-out tubs of cream. An outsider would think they had stumbled upon some sort of secret hoarding problem; regular readers of A Model Recommends would know that I am merely saving the packaging as a reminder to write up my beauty reviews.

There’s quite a stash, now, of finished-off baby products and so I thought I’d make a start on some recommendations. I think that possibly the most-used (or most useful!) baby bathtime product I can think of is the Foam Shampoo for Newborns* from Mustela. I’ve tried so many baby shampoos now (I get sent tonnes of beauty products for both adults and children, it being a big part of my day job to test them) and this one tops the list.

The usefulness of this foam shampoo is twofold: firstly, it requires minimal rubbing-in, so there’s less chance of product running into your baby’s face, mouth, eyes, nose, ears, any other place that’s likely to make them scream bloody murder. The foam just sort of “perches” on their heads, staying perfectly in place until you rinse it away.

The second very useful aspect of this shampoo is that (and I have only just discovered this) it has been formulated to help prevent and treat cradle cap. It has a low concentration (I presume, looking at the ingredients list) of salycilic acid, which helps to exfoliate the scalp and remove cradle cap flakes. It also contains moisturisers to keep the skin soothed and hydrated and help prevent further problems.

Does it work? Well. I didn’t use it with Angelica, until fairly recently, and she did have cradle cap as a baby. Ted hasn’t had any cradle cap at all and I’ve used it on him since birth. (Not literally his actual birth, because that would be weird. “Do you want skin to skin with your new baby, dear?” “Not until you’ve wiped him over, weighed him and washed his hair with foam shampoo, ta ever so.”) I’m sure that there are proper over-the-counter treatments and so on for cradle cap (are there? I have no idea!), but if it’s just low-level ongoing management you want then this did the trick for me.

I would have highly recommended this foam shampoo even without the cradle cap-treating aspect because for angsty bathers like Angelica (who cries if you even mention the word “hair”) it’s a total dream. No lathering required. Genuinely no stinging if it does happen to somehow go in the eyes (not like certain other shampoos that promise no stinging but make you feel as though your eyes have been replaced with aniseed balls!) and easy to rinse out.

Mustela Foam Shampoo for Newborns costs £7.95 at Escentual.com* and a bottle lasts for ages. You need far less than you initially think you will, unless you go crazy with the application and make snowscenes/crazy foamy hairstyles on their heads, which does end up being very wasteful. Ooh – a special mention must also go to the Mustela Gentle Shampoo* which does need lathering but has the most beautiful, beautiful smell. It’s almost worth Angelica’s bathtime hairwashing hell just to smell her head after I’ve washed it with this – it’s summery orange blossom overload. Absolutely gorgeous. You can find it at Escentual again, it’s £7.50 here*.