The skin on my body has been so itchy this summer. One mosquito bite after another. They’re driving me crazy! 🙂
So when I was given the opportunity to try some MooGoo Skincare, an Australian brand that specializes in sensitive skin and dermatitis conditions, I gladly accepted. Anything that can relieve itchy, irritated, or sensitive skin is always welcome in my cabinet.
I also enjoy trying skincare made in other countries, especially Australia. Its climate, with intense sun and dry heat in certain parts, can be very inhospitable to skin. So with certain categories of products, such as dermatitis and sunscreen, I know they’re putting extra care into how they’re formulating.
Milk Wash
This is a milky cleanser that you can use on the body or face. The large size (17 oz, 500 ml) makes it economical for the body, which is where I have been using it. My skin is hyper-sensitive since it has fallen under siege from the insect bites. As much as you try not to scratch an itch, sometimes you just can’t help it. In my case, my bites were so itchy, I succumbed and scratched, making the inflammation worse 🙂
The cleanser is a light creamy liquid which is easy to spread. You don’t need a lot. In fact, I only need to use a little because it spreads nicely.
If you have dry or mature skin, this is an excellent alternative to even the most gentle shower gels, lotions, or shea butter soaps. It cleans skin without leaving it stripped or dry, and it doesn’t leave a filmy residue. I really like how gentle it is. So does my elderly mother who suffers from chronically dry, itchy skin. (I’ll be stocking up on this for her.)
The cleansing agents used in this wash are gentle alternatives to foaming sulfates. They are a group of glucose-based ingredients called glucosides. MooGoo’s website does a nice job explaining what they are, as well as the other ingredients in it. So I won’t repeat that here, but here is the list: Milk Wash Ingredients
Eczema Cream
This is a cream intended for eczema, psoriasis, other forms of dermatitis, and fungal and yeast infections.
Dermatitis means inflammation of the skin. A number of conditions fall under this term, including plain old itchy skin.
I don’t have eczema or psoriasis. But my skin is itchy! I was attracted to this product because one particular ingredient caught my eye – Colloidal Oatmeal. This cream has 2.5% colloidal oatmeal.
Oatmeal is a fantastic soothing ingredient for sensitive or irritated skin. It calms the skin quickly, which is great when skin is inflamed and red.
Oatmeal is one of those ingredients that works consistently well on many people, across a broad swath of skin types. With skincare ingredients, especially botanical ones that come from plants, you never quite know if it will create an adverse reaction. (Because everyone’s skin chemistry is different…makes things complicated!) Some people respond well to a popular soothing agent, while others have an allergic reaction to it.
Knowing that my skin was suffering from some inflammation (from the insect bites), I applied this oatmeal cream to calm it down. Also, I wanted a “clean” cream that would not irritate it any more than it was.
MooGoo calls this cream a natural alternative to the corticosteroids, which doctors typically prescribe for eczema and other forms of dermatitis. Besides oatmeal, there are a few more soothing ingredients (aloe, chamomile), two nice healing ingredients (Centella asiatica, allantoin), and some oils rich in essential fatty acids (sweet almond, olive). Eczema Cream Ingredients
One member of my family has eczema on her hands. I gave her this cream to try, and it helped right away. The flakiness disappeared.
If you have a baby or young child suffering from eczema, you’ll be glad to know this cream is made of edible oils. So if it’s accidentally ingested, it won’t cause harm.
Soothing Cream
This product is not shown in the pic because I couldn’t find it at the time it was taken 🙂
It’s a lotion with similar soothing benefits to the eczema cream, but with one key difference. Soothing Cream contains 10% organic sulfur, and no oatmeal. Eczema Cream has the oatmeal, but not the sulfur. Soothing Cream is recommended as an optional add-on after the Eczema Cream or as a stand-alone cream.
What I find interesting is the use of sulfur as a soothing agent. In the U.S., sulfur is typically used as an anti-bacterial ingredient in acne products (it kills the P. acnes bacteria).
The Soothing Cream is called a cream but you might think of it as a lotion. The texture is looser than the Eczema Cream. Soothing Cream Ingredients
While MooGoo Skincare is Australian, it’s available in the U.S. through its MooGoo USA website.
Parting Thoughts
When your skin is itching or irritated, look for soothing, healing, and anti-inflammatory ingredients. Sensitive skincare lines are obvious places to start browsing. In fact, I love raiding sensitive skincare lines even though my skin isn’t chronically sensitive.
The good news, there are many soothing ingredients! The bad news, there are many to know! But you can see some of the more popular ones here: Anti-Inflammatory Ingredients and Soothing Ingredients.
It never hurts to feed your skin with anti-inflammatory or soothing ingredients, even if there are no obvious signs of irritation.
Why? Because there is always a low amount of inflammation in your skin, called chronic inflammation. You can’t see it, but it’s lurking there. That inflammation is due to a constant onslaught of free radicals that are generated from the environment and normal metabolism. Even if you use skincare with antioxidants, it won’t neutralize all of them. There are just too many!
Further Reading:
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