Body Lotion or Baby Powder: Which Is Better?

Personal grooming in western culture has become more prevalent. Now more than ever, specifically when it comes to perfuming, moisturizing and protecting the skin, consumers have endless choices of products to assist in getting the look they want. Body lotion and baby powder are both staples in daily grooming of the skin but have differences in how they deliver, carry and maintain scent, moisture and skin protection 1.**

Scent

Consumers look to scent as a determining factor in purchasing body lotion versus baby powder. Baby powder is a popular scent many consumers recall from childhood or caring for infants and small children 1. Contingent on the brand, baby powder has a rather light, pleasing scent that many consumers can deal with and thus consider it an option for purchase 1. Most people purchase baby powder for babies or those who cannot deal with complex scents. Body lotion is a more complicated purchase in that each individual brand has a variety of scents to choose from. Due to the variation of scents, teens and adults usually go for lotion as opposed to baby powder based on style preference and maturing tastes 1.

Moisture

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Keeping the skin soft and supple is key to a great skin product. Baby powder is nothing more than a mixture of talcum powder and fragrance, thus its consistency is used mainly to absorb excess moisture and create a dry environment for the skin 1.** Body lotion is created and thus marketed to maintain, retain, and in some cases, increase skin moisture by using ingredients ranging from various oils to glycerin. Most consumers tend to purchase body lotion for achieving optimal skin moisture.

Skin Protection

Baby powder is good for skin protection because it absorbs moisture away from the skin. The talc in the baby powder acts as an astringent which closes pores to create a dry surface 1. This reduces diaper rash in babies and benefits adults with excessive sweating problems. Body lotion uses different items for skin protection including collagen, elastin and sunscreen and tends to be the better choice for adults.**

Price

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Both baby powder and body lotion are affordable and accessible; they can be as cheap as $1 at discounted retailers 1.**