Look, feel, and scent: There’s nothing particularly eye-catching about this product: It’s tough to compete with Honest’s sleek bottle and smart, semi-toddler-proof pump. The scent, while initially pleasant, smells a bit…manufactured. According to the label, this is a “new gentle fragrance.” To us, however, it’s best described as “Johnson’s Baby with the faint essence of plastic.” All that to say, we do like the thick lather and shampooing aspect of this product, especially when it comes to taming a mop of curls. Of the products we’ve tested on said curls, this left them the least gnarly.
Effectiveness: If Aveeno doesn’t totally nail a sensitive skincare product, well, that’d be a problem. Good news is they can and do, and these suds treated our little tester–who has eczema–well. Zero irritation or dryness after use, and left him smelling like a baby (yes, with subtle notes of plastic).
Ingredients: “Natural oat extract carefully extracted from the oat kernel” proclaims the bottle. Is this a good thing? Do we do more with oats than eat them? Yes, says the National Library of Medicine…maybe. Quoth: “Oats are a centuries-old topical treatment for a variety of skin barrier conditions, including dry skin, skin rashes, and eczema.” Great! But then: “However, few studies have investigated the actual mechanism of action for the skin barrier strengthening activity of colloidal oatmeal.” So perhaps there’s a touch of gimmick mixed with all the other hypoallergenic, sulfate-soap-paraben-phthalate-free stuff in here.
