Review :: Salcura Bioskin Junior Bathtime Shampoo

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3
  • Wash
  • Scent
  • Ingredients
  • Price

Summary

Salcura Bioskin Junior Bathtime Shampoo is a mixed bag.  It’s actually intended to be steroid-free, 92% natural origin shampoo for maintenance of your child’s eczema or dry skin. It is SLS free, it is also steroid free however we found it to leave hair and skin feeling stripped of oil i.e. dry.

If your child suffers from mild seb derm and isn’t too sensitive to e.g. fragrances, its definitely worth checking out.

However, if your child suffers from eczema or dry skin, the use of an anti-microbial anti-dandruff active also effective in reducing sebum production leads us to the conclusion this is not an all-round appropriate product for eczema or dry skin care.

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buy now on Amazon Eczema management for babies and children. Are you looking for a product or products which work?

A natural formula which could help prevent eczema flares?

A shampoo which is free from common irritants, colorants and steroids?

Salcura Bioskin Junior Bathtime Shampoo is making you all of these promises. A claimed 92% natural origin cleanser with natural extracts and an anti-microbial active ingredient known as Piroctone Olamine.

Could Salcura Bioskin Junior Bathtime Shampoo be exactly what your child needs?

Before we delve into Salcura Bioskin Junior Bathtime Shampoo ingredients list – let’s start at the beginning – who are Salcura?

Starting with their full name Salcura Natural Skin Therapy are a UK based company.

They’re headquartered in the UK (Middlesex) and manufactured in the UK.

Since 1999, a man named Martin Schiele – co-founder of Salcura and self-branded skincare specialist – has continued his father’s legacy. Dr M Schiele – Martin’s father was an active bio-medical researcher.

Read Salcura’s About Us and Our Story page and you’re going to be left in a head-spin of science words. Anyone without a science degree will not understand at first reading.

The underpinning of Salcura’s ethos is that they use a specific type of formulation technique called colloid formulations. This technique makes their formulas absorb quickly and deeply. It also means – in Salcura’s words non-greasy and non-sticky allergy prone skin management.

Colloid formulas are not a new discovery. Salcura is also not the only company to use colloid formulations. In fact, most creams, gels or cleansers are colloid formulations. Milk is a colloid of butter-fat in water. Fog is a colloid. The next defining attribute Salcura have is their aim to

‘provide the body with the vital nutrients that will alleviate problems, but more than anything, strengthen it and increase the chances of fighting off illness and disease.’

In this vain all

‘Salcura products contribute to this vital part of the body’s own healing, repair and regeneration process for long-term control and management of skin health.’

They are certainly qualified.  Let’s inspect the product itself. How should you expect a bottle of Salcura Bioskin Junior Bathtime Shampoo to arrive?

Salcura Bioskin Junior Bathtime Shampoo is a simply branded 200ml/6.7 fl oz bottle with a disc-top cap.

It’s functional. It also looks effective yet not medical.

The on pack claims include – for babies and children prone to eczema and severe dryness. That this shampoo will cleanse, soften and soothe...contains no steroids and no artificial fragrance.

As soon as you open the cap of your Salcura Bioskin Junior Bathtime Shampoo bottle you’re going to be hit with the scent of lavender oil. Exiting its bottle as a clear, slightly viscous gel like liquid it creates a modest in use foam. This is a clue that Salcura Bioskin Junior Bathtime Shampoo does not use traditional cleansers i.e. high foam cleansers which tend to come with irritating side effects.

If using on a young baby with a thinner head of hair you’re very unlikely to notice a difference vs. your usual shampoo. It foams well enough and quickly enough to spread evenly.

If using on a child with thicker hair – you may need more than just one dose.

Overall we found Salcura Bioskin Junior Bathtime Shampoo a little drying after wash-out. It left the skin and hair with a slightly stripped or de-greased feeling.

As eczema prone skin and dry skin can lack natural grease/natural skin oils – this is not ideal.

But what about the ingredients? What allows Salcura Bioskin Junior Bathtime Shampoo to claim they’re a steroid free alternative for management of eczema and dry skin?

The only standout in Salcura Bioskin Junior Bathtime Shampoo ingredients list is Piroctone Olamine – a non-natural ingredient with anti-microbial benefits.

As this ingredient is very low down Salcura Bioskin Junior Bathtime Shampoo ingredients list, we can tell they use a very small quantity.

This is not necessarily a negative – actives like piroctone olamine can give helpful benefits in concentrations as small as 0.5%.

Piroctone olamine is an active ingredient most often used in anti-dandruff shampoos. While seb derm, dry skin and eczema can look similar or at least have similar side effects, they do not have the same cause. Seb Derm, for instance, tends to occur on oily scalps or oily areas of skin. Eczema and dry skin inherently lack oil.

This is what studies tell us about piroctone olamine;

Included as an active in Salcura Bioskin Junior Bathtime Shampoo, neither of the above benefits seem appropriate. Malassezia yeast grows well on oily skin types – eczema/dry skin needs more sebum not less. However, piroctone olamine may help in other ways via a general overall reduction of microbes.

Eczema and dry skin types have a reduced barrier function which means they struggle to keep out potentially bad bacteria. Using a daily antimicrobial can help reduce irritation or inflammation caused by an under working skin barrier i.e. it helps prevent infection and resulting side effects.

Worth mentioning: Salcura use different to the norm INCI list naming i.e internationally accepted cosmetic ingredients naming on their ingredients list – this is a little strange. For instance, they call Panthenol (an INCI accepted name) Pantothenyl Alcohol.

You will very rarely if ever see this on an ingredients list. The same is true for a few other ingredients.

Other helper ingredients used in the Salcura Bioskin Junior Bathtime Shampoo formula include;

  • Panthenol – helps hydrate skin
  • Sodium PCA – which we believe is listed as Sodium Pyrolidine carboxylate – a hydrating component of skin’s natural moisturizing factor

Ingredients we feel conflicted about include;

  • Marigold essential oil
  • Lavender essential oil
  • Chamomile essential oil

These oils have reputed soothing benefits. Some also have antimicrobial benefits. They however come partnered with a fragrant allergen called linalool. This is not fantastic for allergy prone skin. Allergens are small enough to penetrate an intact skin barrier quickly. Eczema prone skin or dry skin types have a reduced skin barrier.

Also worthy of nothing is Salcura’s use of what they call Cocamidopropyl Betain however what is most commonly named as Cocamidopropyl Betaine – in a small percent of the population this can cause an allergic reaction too.

SUMMARY;

Salcura Bioskin Junior Bathtime Shampoo is a mixed bag.  It’s actually intended to be steroid-free, 92% natural origin shampoo for maintenance of your child’s eczema or dry skin. It is SLS free, it is also steroid free however we found it to leave hair and skin feeling stripped of oil i.e. dry.

If your child suffers from mild seb derm and isn’t too sensitive to e.g. fragrances, it’s definitely worth checking out.

However, if your child suffers from eczema or dry skin, the use of an anti-microbial anti-dandruff active also effective in reducing sebum production leads us to the conclusion this is not an all-round appropriate product for eczema or dry skin care.

Author

    by
  • First Class MChem in Chemistry A master of chemistry, a product formulation expert and a regular reviewer on this site. Megan wishes to remain partially anonymous so she can be candid about her employer's and competitor products.

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