Sebamed does a Balsam deodorant that is alcohol and aluminium free. Kiss My Face also does one. I got mine from the pharmacy at the Spinneys Centre on Al Wasl Rd but you can probably get them at most pharmacies.
hilsbils the symptoms you described are exactly the same as what I experienced a few months ago. In the end I am certain the source was a rice and quinoa salad I prepared at home (so completely my fault and thank goodness the children did not have any). But I have never felt so sick and even after a course of antibiotics it took another couple of weeks to come right. I was shaking under piles of duvets too with high fever for days and my system was so traumatised I was just passing blood. Really learnt my lesson when it comes to cooking and storing rice and other grains.
Yes Julian told us the photos would be printed in the UK and should be ready within 21 working days. But he also agreed to send us the proofs to review before the photos were printed. When we ordered and paid he said the proofs would be with us in the next couple of days - a week later no proofs so I e-mailed, no response. A few days later I called and he said he was really busy but I would have them that afternoon. A week later I still didn't have them, so I e-mailed again and again he said he had been busy but I would have them asap. Anyway, many e-mails and phone calls and over a month later I finally got the proofs. At the time I commented on the sizing of the images in relation to one another but he said they were just screengrabs to show the image and he would sort out the positioning of the final photos. It then took another 5 or 6 weeks to get the actual photos. When we finally got them I was disappointed but decided to just draw a line under the whole experience. But the more I looked at them the more disappointed I felt - we were told that they would be chemically printed and they look like blown up grainy images. The framing is flimsy and it is obvious that there was little if any post production work as the images are all different sizes and as mentioned the background of one photo is a completely different shade (not obvious from the proofs as they were all shot against the same background but the lighting must have been different for that shot). If we had paid less I could have accepted it but for AED4500 I expect a better product and service. I have tried to talk to Julian about this but so far no response.
It is obvious to me that Barton Portraits is a one man operation and he has taken on more work than he can handle through deals such as the Living Social one that we initially bought. It is fine if you just want a couple of value for money snaps but not if you go outside the deal and pay premium prices for portrait shots. Once we had paid the money the customer service ended, he was too busy taking money from the next punters.
It has been so long since I posted that I have forgotten my old sign in details so am starting over again. But I was motivated to add to this thread because I chose to use Barton Portraits based on the below recommendations and unfortunately I have not had the same positive experience the others did. The photo shoot itself was fine and the photo selection was ok, nothing amazing but we were happy enough and chose three images of our children. We paid cash upfront (big mistake) and spent more than two months chasing to get the photos. I sent e-mail after e-mail and rang at least half a dozen times. Most of my messages were ignored but when I did manage to speak to Julian he kept saying the photos would be with me 'within the week' and then another week would go by before I chased again. When they finally arrrived they were poor quality - grainy shots, printed on cheap board and markedly different coloured backgrounds (two children on dark grey backgrounds and one on light grey - not noticeable when we selected the photos but obvious now that they are 'blown up'). The images are all different sizes too - our youngest son's face fills the frame while his older sister's face is much smaller and the middle child just floats in the middle of the frame, it looks odd. They cost AED4500, so it was an expensive mistake. By contrast we had photos from Stu Williamson a couple of years ago - for AED3600 we got three bigger images, faultless quality and speedy service. I did not want to go back to them as I found them pushy to deal with but I regret not using a better known photographer now. I should say that we also did the Living Social deal for Barton Portraits and I thought that was good value for what we got, it was the extra money that we spent on the other portraits that was the mistake. Never again!
