Our favourite eczema friendly bath time products
I’m always hesitant to try new bath and haircare products for my eczema prone son. Both my kids are very sensitive skinned, but my son’s eczema is particularly troublesome. It’s triggered by a variety of things, including many shampoos, body washes and bubble baths. So, when we find products that work then we stick with them!
Here I’m sharing the products which make the cut for my sensitive skinned family.
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For babies and very young children with eczema, it’s generally a good idea to stick to using their regular emollient at bath time. That’s also a sensible approach if you’re struggling to get an eczema flare up under control. The Eczema Society has lots of useful information about emollients; check it out if you haven’t yet found the right one for your child.
However, as they get a little older, you – or your kids – may get to the point where you want to mix it up a bit. We certainly did. Whilst emollient is great for calming skin, it’s not very satisfying to wash with or fun to use. Plus it’s so slippery!
Luckily there are plenty of other bath products suitable for eczema prone skin which you can try out. As with everything eczema related, finding the right bath time products will involve a bit of trial and error. Eczema is an annoying thing, in that what works for one person won’t work for everyone. I’d suggest starting off cautiously by just using a small amount as a test.
These are the bath products which make the cut for my eczema prone kids.
They’re the body washes, bath products and shampoos that we regularly use. Lots of these were recommended to me by other allergy parents or dermatologists. Many are specially formulated for sensitive and eczema prone skin. (Although a word of warning that many big brand products market themselves this way, but are not up to the job!)
Always check ingredients lists to check they are suitable for your own family’s needs. To test whether a new product is tolerated, start off by using a very small amount.
💦 Westlab dead sea bath salts
We tried dead sea salts* after reading about them being helpful for the eczema itch. I’m not sure how much they really ease the itch – but they certainly don’t cause any irritation, and the kids love using them. According to them, tipping a load of salt into the bath and watching it dissolve is great fun 😂 🤷.
Westlab say the dead sea salts support natural skin healing by protecting the skin’s barrier, which all sounds good to me! They’re easy to get hold of; you can buy big bags on Amazon*, the supermarket or from most pharmacies.
The standard salts are suitable for babies aged over 3 months. So, there’s no need to bother with the more expensive ones marketed at kids.
🚿 Olsson Scandinavia Haircare
The newest addition to our bath time line up is Olsson Scandinavia Haircare shampoo. All of the Olsson products are specially formulated for those who live with allergies and sensitivities like eczema and psoriasis. They’re the only haircare brand approved by Allergy UK, and one of the few beauty brands pure enough to pass the approval scheme.
The shampoo was kindly gifted to us a while ago, but I’m only sharing after we’ve given it a good try out! I was initially using it just for the kids, but I’m now using it for myself as I often have an irritated scalp. It has made it’s way firmly onto our list of favourite products.
If you want to give it a try, you can use AllergyMumsClub10 at checkout for 10% off your order.
🛁 Dermol 500 and Dermol 600
An allergy specialist recommended these products to us. Dermol 500 is an emollient which is good for using as a (non-foaming) body wash, and Dermol 600 is a bath oil. The reason we like these in particular is that my son is prone to his eczema getting infected, and they have antimicrobial properties which help protect against this.
Just be aware that both of these can make your child quite slippy, so take extra care when lifting them out of the bath. I use flannels or a towel for extra grip! It’s also worth talking to your GP about whether you can have them on prescription, although I know not all areas fund the bath oil (ours stopped a while ago).
🚿 Faith In Nature body wash
We use this for occasional bubble baths; not it’s intended purpose, but it does work well! Faith in Nature is the only fragranced range which hasn’t caused flare ups (for us). Having said that, I wouldn’t be using fragranced products during an active flare up.
Their products are all made using 100% natural aroma, and are silicone, paraben, SLS and SLES free. They are also vegan society approved. As well as the body wash we also like their shampoo and conditioners.
💦 QV body wash
QV gentle body wash* was recommended to us by a dermatologist. It foams up more than you will get from emollients, so it’s much more satisfying to use! It’s soap free, hypoallergenic, and specially formulated for very dry, eczema prone skin.
It’s also good for hand washing, and can be used for hair washing too. We get ours from Amazon* or you can get it in many pharmacies.
Working out other eczema triggers
If you’re struggling to identify what is triggering your child’s eczema, you might find it helpful to read my post on practical tips for working out and managing triggers. For us, there have been multiple factors; some have been long standing and others popped up out of nowhere! We’ve found that once we have got into routines to manage each trigger it has helped enormously.
You may also be interested in the following posts:
- The best sunscreens for eczema prone skin
- Eczema and handwashing in schools and nurseries
- Where to find support as an allergy parent (for free)
- Shop our favourite products for eczema, hay fever, and dust mite allergies
Finally, you can find a huge wealth of information and fact sheets on the Eczema Society website.
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