Holy grail of shower gel

[leftshark]

After yet another disappointment and an excemza breakout, I need help finding my holy grail of body wash.

I have been trying This Works but this seems to have just killed my skin, I assume because of the essential oils. Generally, i have my skin, make up and hair brands sorted but even when I try the shower gel of my most loved brands I end up either allergic or just don’t like them. Can anyone help?

requirements are:

• Something moisturising, rich and gentle, and not foamy


• preferably a cream rather than a gel or oil


• either non perfumed or a very bland perfume (I only really like almond, vanilla or similar scents in toiletries)


• something that won’t break me out 😭 so hypoallergenic or as natural/organic as possible


• nice packaging that will look nice in the bathroom


• something feels a bit luxurious even for the every day

My usual brands for hair/face/makeup are a mish mash of Aveda, Drunk Elephant, Beauty Pie, Oaui, Clinique - so I’m not a clean-beauty only devotee but do like something mid-range and leaning on the vegan/organic side of things.

Anyone got any recommendations for simple, luxurious and non-ezxema inducing brands? I do use E45 when I’m having a flare up but want something that feels a bit more indulgent for the day to day. Price wise - can go up to mid/high end if needed - just desperate to find the right product.

thank you wise S&Bers!

Dermatology person here. Westlab shower gel. Every time. Recommend by National Skin foundation and National Eczema Society, cheap as chips, won't irritate, 3 flavours (himalayan salt, dead sea salt and Epsom salt). Failing that, any Sanex, some patients quite like QV wash. Or you can wash with any emollient. Try not to use soap - raises your skin pH, which is, bad for dry/irritated or eczematous skin.

Sanex soap bars and shower gel suits my eczema prone sensitive skin.
I have Highland Soap company bars for hand washing too. Really like the nettle one.

Aveeno, only thing that doesn't give me an eczema flare up

Ooh I have a bottle of that, I remember liking it last time I used it
I have dermographism, cholinergic urticaria and spontaneous urticaria but weirdly totally not sensitive skin

I've been amazed this past week by the utterly glorious silky, clean, feminine feel my whole body now has due to using Dermol200 shower emollient, which only misses out on 1 of your requirements - no pretty packaging.

It was prescribed for me due to a persistent horrible rash under my boobs - which have sadly given in to gravity - and can be used neat as a moisturiser too, and you can easily buy it in a chemist or online.

I absolutely love highly perfumed shower products: I'm used to using e.g., Yorkshire Soap Company's Cherry Bakewell, but I truthfully won't ever turn my back on the Dermol200. (Easy enough to add a squirt of perfume when I've dressed.)

Cheapest I've found it, here: www.expresschemist.co.uk/product_2709_dermol-200-shower-emollient-200ml.html?msclkid=c7e9f4f6ce871a846c2897fbf8a23b61

Give it a try!

DS has very sensitive skin prone to eczema. He now only uses Faith in Nature's lavender and geranium, which is fabulous. It smells gorgeous too but doesn't sound like the scent range you like - they do a coconut one if that would appeal to you.

When his eczema was bad he used Dermo - very creamy and unscented. Can be used as a wash or a body lotion.

Tropic Rinse and Retreat body wash. It's the one they make for sensitive skin.
Creamy, a very light smell, SLS free, ph-balanced, plain white tube.
Bloody amazing for my menopausal dry and sensitive skin and has settled DH eczema patches too. Leaves skin feeling really moisturised but not "slimy".

If you would consider a bar I love conchus soaps, all natural and gentle. I switched to them a few years ago and would not go back. I use them for hand soap and the body in the shower. Love unpacking a new bar as they smell so good

You mention Aveda is one of your preferred brands, they do a cherry almond shower gel and it’s more almond than cherry

Same here. The moisturising one is the only reasonably priced gel I've tried yhst doesn't leave me dry and itchy.

I have eczema and more recently psoriasis so I feel your pain, literally. I've usually been alright with the original source shower gels, but for some reason, I can't recall why, I switched to Australian Body care teatree wash and can use it for body, hair, hands and face. It is not the most moisturising so that may seem like a strange thing but I just find my skin feels clean and as long as I suitably moisturise, face and body, after then it's fine and doesn't irritate. I can't use Dove or E45 or Lush or stuff like that due to skin reactions, I have been ok with most l'occitane, aveda, sanex, Molton brown stuff but I don't get on with liz earle shower products, though most of facial range is OK. I used to use SBC collagen wash which was moisturising but think it got a bit expensive.

Espa

L’occitane almond or Shea shower oil is also divine. I love that. But not sure how it is for your eczema prone skin?

Thanks for sharing this, it is very useful.

My eczema-y skin prefers bar soap. I think it's the slimy layer that shower gel leaves on the skin that irritates it.

I like Aveeno lotions and creams, so I would think theirs might be better and less likely to leave that weird coating. Possibly.

Look up Moogoo - great products!

Just back after the weekend and OH my gosh I can’t believe how much amazing advice there is here! Thank you so much everyone - I will keep you updated!

Thanks for sharing this useful information.

This is very good.

@leftshark where do you stand on citrus?

I've got eczematous skin and am a big fan of L'Occitane verbena and REN neroli and grapefruit.

My weekend indulgence is the beauty pie soul providers sugar scrub which removes all the dead skin and leaves my skin really nourished.

Day to day moisturiser I'm currently using the L'occitaine extra gentle lotion. I have the verbena scented one.

If you aren't into citrus all their shea products come in a more neutral scent but I like citrus in the morning.

I second L’Occitane Almond Oil shower gel. I would avoid E45 as it has lanoline which stings like made during a flare up.
Aqueous cream doesn’t and is much better and only £1 from the pound shop!
I bought my son a Gallinee cleansing bar for his face and it has worked wonders you can also use on your body. He loves it and his skin is now amazing.

Moo Goo is brilliant for eczema and really sensitive skin. They are an Australian company, check out their website, they do bodywash, moisturiser, shampoos and conditioner etc. All with natural ingredients that are explained (in dumb terms so everyone can understand what they are and why they are there.)

We started using Aveeno body wash out of desperation as eczema was just getting worse and worse.

It's been surprisingly good. I even used it as bubble bath yesterday to soak my weary joints.

It goes everywhere when you first open the bottle but it is lovely stuff. Eczema has improved since using it.

However, oaty bodywash isnt very glam for the bathroom shelf.

Hi all - i just wanted to give a massive thanks to everyone who gave suggestions. Lots of brands I’d forgotten about that of course I should try again - weleda, aveeno, Jason @MrsPetty , korres- and also some amazing new ones - hadn’t heard of westlab but appreciate the professional opinion @liverdoc and have ordered some. Also who knew method made a shower gel - I love their other household products religiously @CuppaWhiteTea.

since initially posting it all got progressively worse with red scales literally all over my body (luckily not my face) and I ended up on quite strong steroids and a derm referral which has never happened to me before - so bad I couldn’t really wear tight clothes or go into the offfice, and it’s only just starting to clear up. Interesting about the antihistamines @dannydyerismydad @Luredbyapomegranate - they seemed to help immeasurably so maybe there is something going on in the air this year?

Feeling much more cheerful now though and just about to go on an ordering spree for some new things to try as I battle the end of the worst skin I’ve ever had in my life - thank you all so much and so good to have some solidarity ❤️

Oh you poor thing, sounds like a horrible few weeks.

If you haven't tried gentle salt baths yet, you could give that a go - it's really wonderful for my and my DD's skin when we're having an atopic flare. If you want to try, add a cup or so of plain table salt to a warm bath, and soak for 15-20 mins. No soap/gels/anything, just the salt.

Then pat dry gently and apply your steroids and moisturisers.

If you find it's helpful, you can buy table salt in 1kg bags very cheaply at most supermarkets. We go through heaps of it but it's cheaper than every other treatment and tbh I think is often more effective.