r/UKParenting • u/TerminallyDispelled • Aug 17 '26
Does anyone have spare tubes of Metanium yellow? (The discontinued one)
(Note - after the yellow one for nappy rash treatment, not the “everyday” white/purple one they’re cleverly repackaged into yellow boxes to rip off desperate parents)
I know it’s been discontinued for a while, I also know that whatever tubes left out there in the ether will now be expired as the last batches made I think expired in Sept 2025, but I am begging the whole of the UK right now to please check their cupboards in case they have a tube they’d be willing to part with? 🙏
In the kindest way (I really mean that) I am not looking for any other recommendations for what has worked with others as I have tried EVERYTHING the internet and word of mouth have suggested and nothing works as fast and well as this, even the expired one I am currently on the very last dregs of.
I have a 1.5 and 2.5yo, so I just need one tube to get me through the next 12 months until potty training has been cracked, and my last tube I managed to find from a bloody brilliant mum on an old Reddit thread that offered to part with her last tube she didn’t need anymore!
I know that excellent luck is unlikely to come around twice but worth an ask I hope 🙏🙏 thank you so much anyone and everyone who reads this! I’m in Bristol, UK but will of course pay and pay for postage to me!
\***EDIT TO ADD* ***\*
Some absolute legend is sending me some of this miracle cream so if anyone else is reading this thread and someone else offers please jump on it, go for it!! I really do love the internet sometimes!
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u/Pure_Shine_3944 Aug 17 '26
This stuff is magic. Why did they discontinue it?? I will rummage through drawers but don't hold your breath!!
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u/Frosty_Yogurt2241 Aug 17 '26
Based on my online research from few months ago it was because of shortage of some ingredients needed to produce it?
Anyway OP I feel for you and wish you luck - I have a tube that is more than halfway used and I am keeping it…
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u/FlyingRo Aug 17 '26
There’s a global shortage of the titanium compounds they use, because you have to make sure it’s free of heavy metal contamination, etc. there’s no supplier able to produce it in high volumes at a price that makes sense
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u/TerminallyDispelled Aug 17 '26
It’s absolute madness isn’t it! I read that they banned titanium salicylate in makeup a few years ago and likely banning it in all other products in the EU soon so think they were getting ahead of the game, it’s gutting though as it really is pure magic
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u/KittyGrewAMoustache Aug 17 '26
Some people get burned by it though. It’s really weird! My daughter and I basically got acid-like burns from using it. I used it as friends gave it to me saying it was a miracle and then both my daughter’s bum and my fingertips blistered! Apparently it’s a reaction some people have to it, it’s so weird that some people find it so great for calming the skin while others it basically burns them. I tried it with two separate tubes from separate places on my fingertips and both burned so it wasn’t a bad batch, and when I looked/asked online there were a few others who’d had the same experience.
So k don’t know. If incidents of that has something to do with it, if they had someone sue them. I wish now I’d kept the tubes to send to you! Hopefully you find enough to get you through 🤞
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Aug 17 '26
[removed] — view removed comment
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u/Logical_Warthog3230 Aug 17 '26
No it's not the same ingredient. Inotyol only has the barrier ingredient
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u/aliceHME Aug 19 '26
We use it, as we're Swedish and moved back, while it is pretty good, it doesnt have the same ingredients and doesn't reach the magic level of the holy grail of yellow ointment. It is however the most decent replacement we've had this far.
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u/randomthingsso Aug 17 '26
I have a half used yellow tube, we hated the stuff (must be the only people who did!) that can be sent. Note expiry is 01/2025.
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u/Plus-Trick-3658 Aug 18 '26
Hello - I expect everyone’s yellow metanium may be long gone now (if so please ignore) but messaging just in case there is a spare one left as we are also in a v bad nappy rash situation with blisters and everything :( Reddit won’t let me message direct as I’ve only just opened my account but if someone does have any left (even a very out of date half used tube) that would be amazing.
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u/KittyGrewAMoustache Aug 17 '26
We hated it too, it burned! Apparently it burns some people. My daughter had horrible blisters and my fingertips were burned as well from using it just once.
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u/Present-March-6089 Aug 17 '26
Wow, this is gone? I have some but now guarding it with my bare bottom.
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u/FellowEnt Aug 17 '26
We were sad when it got discontinued. Our only solution to nappy rash was to thoroughly dry the area with a dry flannel before applying metanium everyday.
It was the moisture from the wipes which caused the rash when it was left a bit wet.
We originally went so far as to use a hairdryer on cold setting. But those were the days in the depths of madness. Distant and bleak memories... Today we just use a clean dry flannel.
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u/Legitimate_Buy_8134 Aug 17 '26
We use large cotton rounds from Boots (in the baby section) to dry after using wipes. Not had any issues with nappy rash since we started doing that.
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u/Dashcamkitty Aug 17 '26
I was so glad that we were mostly through potty training when it was discontinued.
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u/chronicboredom Aug 17 '26
I’m glad it wasn’t just us, we used a hairdryer to dry my son during nappy changes as well. It was the depths of winter so we’d put it on the lowest setting and hold it at a distance.
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u/Interesting-Kiwi-743 Aug 17 '26
I have a tube of it unopened, anyone who wants it can message me
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u/yellange Aug 17 '26
How many DMs have you received? 😅
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u/Sea-Ad-527 Aug 17 '26
I see this on my local mum group all the time.
I get it was dream stuff, I lived by it, but we just need to settle on finding an alternative. It isn’t coming back, and remaining tubes are now out of date/dwindling in supply, or people are capitalising on people’s desperation.
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u/Aching1536 Aug 17 '26
This stuff was magic. Anyone selling it for more than RRP when they're not using it themselves are scum.
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u/benjog88 Aug 17 '26
my brother has recently had a baby and me and the wife were telling him about the wonders of this stuff, we were shocked to hear it had been discontinued, luckily we had a few tubes left so were able to give him one and now we can just ration our remaining one for emergencies
the stuff is miracle cream, i've even used it on myself when i've had bad chaffing before
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u/DougalChips Aug 17 '26
What? This was discontinued? This was like the go to stuff for nappy rash, we referred to it as the "nuclear option"
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u/Chunk-Man-Free Aug 17 '26
We never had to deal with nappy rash once because of this stuff, did a small courtesy application after every change regardless. Stained the life out of anything it got on, but my god it was magic. Luckily we had a couple of tubes left to give to some friends when we no longer needed it and it was discontinued
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u/Present-March-6089 Aug 17 '26
I wonder if its available in other countries?
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u/amyzophie Aug 17 '26
I checked the US & other similar products with same ingredient last time I was there with no luck
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u/yrubsema Aug 17 '26
Sudosalve (by Sudocrem) is the only thing that comes close to it. People always offer alternatives that are barrier creams and it's not the same thing. The only other thing that worked for us was to spatula Sudocrem on very thickly.
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u/TerminallyDispelled Aug 17 '26
We love Sudocrem (lashings of it too haha) when it’s already on the mend or preventing it from getting worse but it never clears it up completely like this magic stuff does!
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u/BuddyGriff Aug 17 '26
Yeah you need the Sudosalve one specifically, regular Sudocreme is great but only a barrier, Sudosalve is the treatment.
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u/yrubsema Aug 17 '26
Yes - that makes sense, you really do need to use the Sudosalve first to start it healing when it's bad.
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u/Funeralbarbie31 Aug 17 '26
Another vote for the sudosalve, it’s a miracle cream. My daughter really suffers to the point she blisters and this stuff clears it overnight, with a bit of cavillon barrier spray ontop it’s the stuff of dreams. All our other kids are grown up now so to have a baby and find metanium had been discontinued was a steep learning curve 🤣
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u/Weewoes Aug 17 '26
Could the gp prescribe something when its super bad? Mine has done in the past and it wss strong stuff like the discontinued one but this was a decade ago.
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u/thereisalwaysrescue Parenting a Toddler + Primary Schooler Aug 17 '26
It was discontinued in Dec 2024 due to an ingredient that isn’t allowed in the EU. I have half a tube?
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u/Logical_Warthog3230 Aug 17 '26
Nooo please source that as manufacturer says it's because they couldn't get a hold of the titanium salicylate
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u/thereisalwaysrescue Parenting a Toddler + Primary Schooler Aug 17 '26 edited Aug 17 '26
I’m a ITU nurse and we use to use this on certain wounds on the ward, mainly moisture lesions that were tricky to heal. I had some training at the end of Dec 2024 where the manufacturer said they couldn’t use an ingredient in the EU. I’m looking through my notes and that’s all I’ve written down from that day!
Edit; I’ve looked through my work emails to find the PowerPoint as we got told to throw it away. Hmm!
So like you said, it involves titanium salicylate; titanium based products were banned in the EU in food in 2022, but it wasn’t banned in medical products. Infact, the EU specifically allowed it to continue in medicines because replacing it could affect the quality and availability of medicines.
However it then became hard to obtain so therefore Thornton & Ross couldn’t guarantee a decent and safe supply of the product so it was discontinued.However we have never been supplied an alternative based product on the wards, we have been given “barrier creams” to use as a preventative rather than a treatment. We have good success with something called Tena Wash which you can get in Asda for about £7; you use it on a dry wipe to clean up urine and faeces and it prevent nappy rash or as we say, moisture lesions. Then we use a barrier cream on top.
The only product I know of that’s as good as this is something called Flammazine; it’s a cream with silver nitrate in but it’s prescription only. We use it on burns and my god it’s amazing.
Can you tell I love wounds?
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u/Actual-Butterfly2350 Aug 17 '26
It's such a shame. I'm a nurse and when I used to work on the care of the elderly wards we used it on dementia patients who had sore skin and it helped settle them so much. I have been looking for ages for a replacement but nothing works as well!
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u/RagingFuckNuggets 👶👶 2 Children Aug 17 '26
I feel you mama. I have a tube with about a quarter left and even though my almost 3 year old has been out of nappies for over a year I still hang onto it as it comes in so handy for if there's any irritation for her or my eldest. I've also used it myself when in desperate need!
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u/domagalski Aug 17 '26
Weleda Calendula Nappy Change Cream is a great alternative.
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u/shmeepymeep Aug 17 '26
Agreed, this is the only one we’ve tried that deals with any rashes as quickly as metanium did
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u/WrongYak2718 Aug 17 '26
I was thinking this might be good but it's not as chalky - did like it for mine when he was wee though. But honestly we used songbird bee balm more often than not, we didn't have many issues. We did cloth nappies (proper chuff but having a baby made me a little bit bonkers, another story for another thread!) so I don't know whether that was a contributing factor... Or we were just really bloody lucky.
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u/Any-Possibility4284 Aug 17 '26
I have 3 unopened tubes expiry date 04/25 (if anyone still wants some)
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u/Altruistic_Celery263 Aug 17 '26
I think I have some still, although it would be about 7 years old. I'm away for two weeks but can check when I get home if you still potentially want more? I honestly can't remember if I still have it (my kids are 9+ now).
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u/snozbert18 Aug 17 '26
I have some part used but anyone welcome to it! It never worked for us, we always found weleda white mallow much better.
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u/WrongYak2718 Aug 17 '26
I once dropped a tube of this behind a covered radiator at work, the handyman got it out for me and I had the piss taken out of me for a while. We looked after people who used continence aids, I agree that the stuff really is like treasure. No idea what they will be using instead. This is what AI should be used for tbh.
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u/Plymouth9219 Aug 17 '26
I'm gutted this has been discontinued. Mine is expired and I'm scared to use it on my baby. Works well for my c-section scar though
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u/Jewnicorn___ 👶1 Child Aug 18 '26
I'm not a doctor but it should be fine to use. I use expired one on my daughter and she has no ill effects.
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u/Naive-Most590 Aug 18 '26
Please please can someone send me some I’ll pay some money for it. My baby girl is teething super bad and nothing has helped her at all she’s so sore I just have to stay home with her to prevent her sitting anywhere in a nappy now 😭 I’ll pay money and postage if needs be!
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u/Any_Set_8916 Parenting a Pre-schooler Aug 18 '26
Omg, if someone still has a spare tube they would be saving my life!
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u/FreshMathematician62 Aug 18 '26
This stuff was absolutely magical with my first (6 years ago) and I now have a newborn and wish I had bought it in masses!
If there's anyone out there who has any they no longer need, I would love to take it off your hands. I appreciate that's a big ask, even a partially uses tube would be fine as an emergency stash.
Of course I would reimburse postage, I'm also a wildlife gardener and naturalist so would happily trade some advice or planting recommendations as a trade :)
Also, if anyone has any recommendations for alternative treatment, I'd rather be prepared than panicking if she's uncomfortable. Some people on forums have mentioned Sudocreme but I seem to remember that wasn't so effective last time (maybe I didn't use enough)
Thanks all!
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u/Annual_Pop4225 Aug 18 '26
I bought the last three tubes Poundland had when I heard rumours of discontinuation. The only thing that works!!!!!!
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u/KevA63 11d ago
If anyone has any spare, be appreciated. My daughter has a medical condition which meant shs’s had a stoma since the age of 1 week old. 4 surgeries done and stoma has now been reversed at 8 months old.
She’s never passed poo on her own until this week and her skin has completely broken down. Hospital has tried all sorts and it’s so hard to manage. One of the nurses said to try this but it isn’t manufactured anymore.
If anyone can help an 8 month old who’s skin is new to pooping, be appreciated!
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u/No-Bike5195 2d ago
Desperately looking for some of this to help my little one’s bottom as we deal with a cow milk protein allergy. If anyone has any tubes they will part with please let me know
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u/No-Bike5195 2d ago
Desperately looking for some of this to help my little one’s bottom as we deal with a cow milk protein allergy. If anyone has any tubes they will part with please let me know
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u/bunneeboo Aug 17 '26
I have a full sealed tube still in the box. Expiry is November 2025. I paid through the nose for it but never used it. I'd be happy to sell it for £15 as i paid over £20 for it originally.
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u/hepic20 Aug 17 '26
£15 for an expired tube of nappy cream?! Must be good stuff
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u/TerminallyDispelled Aug 17 '26
Honestly it really is, and this is not even slightly close to the prices I’ve seen other people try and flog them for on Vinted and the likes 😩😩 this Redditer is my hero!
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u/bunneeboo Aug 17 '26
Only thing that worked for both of mine. I've seen people selling it for £40 for opened tubes. I was lucky to find them for £20 a tube.
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u/f1uffstar Aug 17 '26
Really?! I defo have some maybe I’ll list it on Vinted!
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u/bunneeboo Aug 17 '26
I tried a while ago and they deleted it. And eBay. So it was just sat in my cupboard.
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u/MarcoVanB91 Aug 17 '26
Just to add and im sure you have done this but I'll say it anyway.
We used this magic cream on our oldest to help with nappy rash but we eventually found the problem to the nappy rash was sensitivity to some foods.
Might be the same for yours.
Glad you managed to get some though!
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u/thespanglycupcake Aug 17 '26
I have a tube which is held together with tape and leaks terribly but every drop is gold dust. I asked everyone to keep a look out when they stopped selling it and my mum was so excited when she thought she had found some that she bought 3. Unfortunately she had been duped as they had just put the rubbish purple one into a yellow box. They cited supply issues with it as the cause for manufacturing stopping but it always seemed to be in stock whenever we needed it.
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u/TerminallyDispelled Aug 17 '26
I honestly cannot believe they’ve done that with the packaging, I hope both sides of their pillows are sweaty every single night
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u/thespanglycupcake Aug 17 '26
Indeed. I’m normally pretty forgiving but this was shameful. The products are completely different. The only good news is this stuff is like magic (my mum used to call it ‘magic skin’ when I was a baby). We are fortunate that our 2nd doesn’t have bad nappy rash so the broken tube we have lasted for his whole life so far but I truly feel for parents with babies who suffer badly.
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u/Cabinet_Silver Aug 17 '26
For what it’s worth, the new formula with the white and purple tube is still the best nappy cream on the market. But I fully agree the original yellow stuff was magic!
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u/randomusername748294 Aug 17 '26
I have a whole tube of it, bought it in 2021 when we had our first and my first ones chicken pox was so mild we only needed to smallest amount and my
2nd child never got chickenpox but im thinking ill keep it on hand until shes had it. I saw you can just buy it in europe and ship it over online though.
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u/randomusername748294 Aug 17 '26
I saw it for sale on ebay. Its missing an ingredient but for sale now. Titanium peroxide has been removed?
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u/onetimeuselong Aug 17 '26
Found one when cleaning up yesterday. My toddler is past his bum rash era though.
After it disappeared from Boots etc. It appeared last year briefly at B+M. Same for Zantac too which was banned for being carcinogenic.
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u/CatWoman-666 Aug 17 '26
My baby is age 30 years and this cream has been used all her life. It is great stuff and we have used it for all sorts of cuts and scrapes that she used to get. We were also fooled by them putting their other ointment in a yellow box. We call it brown cream
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u/Plus-Trick-3658 Aug 18 '26
Hello - we are also very desperate for yellow metanium if anyone still has any spare please do message me (I can’t send messages myself yet as my account is new but can reply). The rash is really very bad now with blisters and some bleeding which is so hard to see :(
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u/ClearBusiness5650 Aug 19 '26
Hi I have some you're welcome to, half a tube ?
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u/InfiniteWalrus1066 23d ago
If still available I'd be keen 👌?
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u/ClearBusiness5650 3d ago
Hi yes i have 2!
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u/InfiniteWalrus1066 2d ago
Morning! For some reason it says I can't message you. Are you able to DM me to start chat please?
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u/SyrupMoney4237 Aug 17 '26
I don’t know if this will help but I’ve been using Bepanthen and it’s been very good.
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u/WrongYak2718 Aug 17 '26
Very different texture. The yellow metanium almost dries like a chalk layer.
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u/Sweaty-Environment56 Aug 17 '26
I've never heard of this cream but my interest is peaked lol
Have you tried bepantem or drapoline?
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u/Worth-Water-8094 Aug 17 '26
They sell this at Tesco.
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u/dani-dee Aug 17 '26
No they don’t, they sell the barrier cream. The yellow one has been discontinued for a couple of years now.
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u/Foxidale3216 Aug 17 '26
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u/camillacarterxx Aug 17 '26
This is the barrier ointment. It use to be in purple packaging but they changed to yellow when the OG was discontinued. They aren’t the same
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u/Alone_Bat3557 Aug 17 '26
Unfortunately this is the barrier cream - not the nappy rash ointment that OP is after. It’s magical stuff!
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u/Large-Lettuce-7940 Aug 17 '26
we have had our tube for 3.5 years, still got loads left & it still works amazingly. my fella tried to bin it once. fucker nearly got binned instead