I had a girlfriend years ago with extremely sensitive skin... any perfumes or additives really irritated her.

After trying many creams and lotions, she found that a big jug of the plainest unscented Neutrogena lotion did the trick. And it wasn't expensive.

But I'm not sure they still market this in the large, plain packaging they used to. I suspect it may have cut into their profits -- the smaller tubes and speciality items have a much higher profit margin.

Anyone had the opportunity to try Burt's Bees products....????

Wonderful stuff, and we have yet to find anything that works so well, with such safe ingredients.

Hudson, you seem to care about animals a lot, so I wantd to tell you that Neutrogena is one of the most notorious animal-testing companies.

And I second the recommendation for the cosmetic database.

Peace!

burts is good stuff, unfortunately they are now owned by CLOROX!!!  Clorox is trying to become a "greener" company.   go figure that one out!!

I like Burt's Milk & Honey the best, though I don't know if they're paraben free or not (too lazy to go upstairs and check).  For my hands and feet/ankles, their little glass jars of hand cream are great--regular liquidy lotions just aren't moisturizing enough to prevent cracks.

That said, Burt's products are clearly not vegan; whether or not one is vegan, there's a certain logic to choosing products without milk in them just from an embodied-energy standpoint.

a mixture of veggie glycerin and apricot kernel oil works really well -- adjust proportions until you have something you like, add a little water if the glycerin makes it too sticky for you.  shake it all up and make just a little at a time so you don't have to worry about it going bad.  no scents, no parabens and very little to be allergic to.

A.  You're assuming we all know what parabens are--I don't, but at least on my bottle of Avalon Organics it does say "no parabens".

B.  I wish you'd tried Avalon Organics!  I've got their lavender hand and body lotion--it goes on nicely, is not at all greasy, has a naturally  and lightly fragrant odor, and best of all, moisturizes really well.

Now, to go off and try Vaseline's new hand and body lotion.  Wonder if it has parabens.

Alove Vera, It's a little sticky going on but rub it in well and no more dry skin :)

Upper Canada Soap makes great paraben-free, non-animal-tested lotions.  They work VERY well (I live in Vermont, so I should know) and have nice, mild scents.

In concurrence with the simplicity and DIY comments, my favorite is straight coconut oil.  It has very little scent and feels really smooth on your skin, it's very light.  It does feel oily when you first put it on but it absorbs quickly and doesn't rinse off easily like many store-bought lotions I've tried.  Oils seal in the moisture that's already in your skin (especially when you use them right after the shower) so your skin doesn't get as dry in the first place.

You also left out my favorite store-bought stuff - Avalon Organics lavender hand & body lotion.  Widely available at Trader Joe's & health food stores.

Avalon is a fantastic green company, plus it's cheap!  I use their unscented aloe lotion most of the time but love the lavender as well.  No animal testing, no icky chemicals (including parabens) and the price is right.  

I find it odd that in the entire article on lotions not once is "packaging" raised as an issue.  This is Grist isn't it?  All those pesky PLASTIC bottles of lotion - what to do?  Aloe plant = fantastic solution.  I recently purchased a beeswax bar to rub on with pretty good results (and its only packaging was its wrapping.)  Any others suggestions?

This is a great idea.  can you tell me where you found it or what the name of it was?  I would love to use something like this.