Has anyone else been searching for mostly natural baby skin care creams (sunscreen, diaper cream, lotions) that don’t require putty knife to put on and sandpaper to remove? Or a baby wash that’s fragrance and soap free with safer ingredients? Well, search no more. The Arbonne ABC baby skin care line of baby care creams and their baby wash are all mostly plant-based, and all of their chemical ingredients showed low ecotoxicology hazard on the EWG cosmetics database (yes I entered in all the ingredients for you!).* Also, all of the products are fragrance-free with a pleasant clean scent that isn’t hiding any dangerous ingredients.
Most importantly, the non-chemical mineral sunscreen glides on smoothly, with far less white residue than other sunscreens I have tried (I’m looking at you Badger) and far less grease than the new kid on the block (Honest!). With other sunscreens, I was either spending many more minutes than my toddler could tolerate trying to mash the thick goop around her face for full coverage, or I was trying to wrestle a greased pig into her shoes without shellacking my entire couch with sunscreen. ABC’s sunscreen has cut down our playground prep time significantly. Yes, sometimes my kid still looks ready for Halloween in June, but in the imperfect world of mineral sunscreens, ABC is the best one I’ve tried. Also, it’s zinc-based formula is a non-nano zinc which means the zinc is not easily absorbed into the skin which has been a controversial issue with some zinc-based sunscreens.
Diaper cream
The diaper cream is great too. Again, smooth application, low hazard or plant-derived ingredients, and it works! Previously I tried Butt Paste which worked but is aptly named since it resembles toothpaste in consistency and is a pain to try to adhere to a damp baby’s bum. I’ve also tried the ubiquitous A+D cream and ointment which are easy to apply but didn’t seem to do anything. ABC was easy to apply and cleared up my baby’s diaper rash.
Lotion
The lotion worked well, and the fragrance-free formula is refreshing. I use it after my baby’s bath and it keeps his poor knees nicely conditioned after all the rough treatment they get crawling on our carpet. I’ve used lavender fragrance lotions before in an attempt to mellow him out after a bath, but that never worked for me, so I prefer the fragrance-free option.
Hair & Body Wash
ABC Arbonne’s Hair & Body Wash is soap-free with plant-derived surfactants that provide worry-free suds. It’s a lightweight wash that’s also fragrance free which I love. My baby just smells like a clean baby, the best scent in the world. Because the wash also has some moisturizing properties, his hair is super soft after I wash it. I’ve also used Honest, and I prefer the ABC wash as it’s lighter weight and not as crazy sudsy. The one issue I did have was the cap leaked on my bottle of ABC wash so I had to decant it into another bottle. I’m hoping that was just a one-off issue though. I would suggest that ABC make their baby care product packaging a little more distinctive between products because it’s very easy to confuse the sunscreen bottle with the lotion or diaper cream when you’re in a rush, and no one wants that.
All in all, these are great products that I feel comfortable applying to my children’s delicate skin.
*Almost all of the ingredients scored in the low (1-2) range for all hazards. The exceptions were: Aminomethyl Propanol, a pH adjuster in the lotion, which scored a 3 (fair) for possibility of irritation, but low for ecotoxicology; and Sodium Lauroyl Sarcosinate
and Cocamidopropyl Betaine, both surfactants in the Hair & Body Wash, which scored 3 and 4 respectively (moderate hazard), with high risk for being contaminated with other toxic products, but low ecotoxicology risk on their own.
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