11 Best body lotions for dry skin

If you have dry skin, you’re not alone. It’s estimated that over eighty percent of Americans suffer from dry skin at some point in their lives. Climate, age, environment, genetics, and chemicals in our skincare products can leave skin even drier, so it’s no wonder many of us suffer from dryness.

Even certain medications can cause the skin to become dry and itchy. But there’s hope. With the right steps, you can heal dry skin. Dry skin is caused by skin losing moisture too quickly, a common feeling for many people: dry, tight-feeling, itchy, or irritated skin.

If left untreated, dry skin worsens over time and leads to cracks in the skin, making the skin more vulnerable to infection. Also, untreated dry skin can cause red, itchy rashes such as atopic dermatitis or eczema. If your skin looks and feels dry or itchy, treat it accordingly; don’t wait until it gets worse.

Clean, Not Dry

Most people experience dry skin on and off throughout their lives. One of the most common things we do, even as often as every day, is a cause of dry skin: using soap and hot water. As great as a hot shower feels, when the water temperature is too high, and you pair that with harsh soaps, that strips the skin of its natural oils. Of course, we all need to stay clean, but choosing cleansers wisely and reducing water temperature can alleviate dry skin.

Use lukewarm to warm water to combat skin dryness when bathing or showering. Showers and baths open our pores, washing away dirt, but water that’s too hot seeps into pores and removes the natural oils that comprise our skin’s moisture barrier. Without this moisture barrier, the skin cannot properly lubricate itself or stay hydrated. Skin experts say the best temperature is just slightly above body temperature, somewhere between 98 and 105 degrees Fahrenheit.

There’s also a growing body of research proving the benefits of cold showers. In addition keeping the skin hydrated, cool or cold showers tighten and constrict blood flow to the skin, giving it a healthier glow. Cold water also has benefits for hair, too, closing and strengthening the hair cuticles, leading to shinier hair. If you think you’re up for a cold shower and want to test its benefits for yourself, start with warm water, and gradually reduce the temperature to allow your body to acclimate to the temperature.

As for body washes and cleansers, choose a body wash that has added moisturizers so that, as you clean, you’re still hydrating your skin. Common body wash ingredients that keep skin hydrated are glycerin, hyaluronic acid, vitamin E, natural botanical oils, and shea butter. It sounds obvious, but when choosing a body wash or soap cleanser, look for moisturizing or healing dry skin on the label.

Healthy Skin for the Win

Why is it important to keep skin hydrated and nourished? Skin is our largest organ and plays a vital role in protecting us from the environment and harmful substances. This makes a good skincare routine much more than helping skin look better or feeling softer and smoother. Well-maintained skin ensures this vital organ keeps functioning and working as it should.

Hydrated, moisturized skin has everything it needs to flush away toxins and carry vital nutrients to the skin’s cells. With three major layers of skin—the epidermis (outermost), dermis (middle), and hypodermis (bottom layer)—skin needs all the nourishment it can get. The middle layer of our skin, the dermis, does a lot of heavy lifting. Connective tissue, blood vessels, hair follicles, collagen, elastin, and sweat glands reside in this middle layer.

When it comes to skincare products, the goal is to penetrate the pores and reach this layer to make the top layer of skin look its best. Think of the middle layer of skin as the beams, wiring, and flooring that support your skin’s house. The better intact and more properly built the parts of the house you don’t see are, the longer the parts you do see will hold up.

Environmental factors like the weather, air humidity, sun, and pollutants all affect the skin and can cause dryness. If you live in a climate where the weather is cold and dry during the winter, temperatures and low air humidity—even inside your home—can contribute to dryness. Adding humidity back into the air can be beneficial for your skin. Simply using a humidifier in areas like the bedroom returns moisture to the air and helps your skin retain its own hydration.

What’s Inside Matters

The ingredients in skincare products, from cleansers to body moisturizers, determine how much they help your skin. Research shows that most skincare products only work on the skin’s surface and do not penetrate to the bottom layers, with a few exceptions. Skincare products like moisturizers contain ingredients that penetrate the skin and reach the layers below. An ingredient’s molecular size determines how deeply it penetrates.

Water-based serums penetrate the skin well. Additionally, vitamins C and E, as well as hyaluronic acid, have small molecules that can penetrate the top layer of the skin. Another category of ingredients called skin penetration enhancers also deliver nourishment that reaches the skin on a deeper level.

Skin experts and dermatologists recommend applying lotions, moisturizers, and serums immediately after cleansing or bathing. When your skin is slightly warm but not completely dry, it is primed for the best product absorption.

11 Best Body Lotions for Dry Skin

Dry skin on your arms, legs, hands, and feet doesn’t have to be an issue. With the right routine and quality skincare ingredients, you’ll heal your dry skin and have soft, supple skin. Using the right products with ingredients that repair skin by adding back moisture stripped away from hot water, cleansers, and the environment will get your skin back to optimal condition.

For smooth, radiant, and glowing skin that makes us look and feel our best, let’s look at the 11 best body lotions for dry skin.

1. Blu Atlas Body Lotion

Dry, dull won’t be sticking around when you consistently use Blu Atlas Body Lotion. Suitable for all skin types, the hydrating formula of shea butter, jojoba oil and nourishing seaweed target dry skin and improve the skin’s own moisture barrier.

A powerful humectant, seaweed actually draws moisture to the skin for an extra boost of hydration. In addition to hydrating, seaweed can actually plump skin’s cells, turning thirsty, dry skin cells into plump, supple cells. This is exactly the type of cell renewal dry skin sufferers long for when choosing an effective lotion.

Blu Atlas Body Lotion has a classic, clean scent that draws from its natural botanical base. This soothing and hydrating lotion will become your new go-to lotion for keeping skin healthy and glowing from head to toe.

Blu Atlas Body Lotion is vegan, cruelty-free, and paraben and sulfate free and their products also have no synthetic fragrances. All Blu Atlas products are backed by their medical advisory board of medical, surgical and cosmetic dermatologists.

2. Supergoop! Body Butter

Supergoop! is a skincare brand founded on the premise that skin needs quality care but also protection from the sun. Nearly all of the products in Supergoop!’s extensive line of products for the face and body contain sun protection ingredients to shield skin from the sun’s damaging rays. Founder Holly Thaggard launched the brand in 2007, inspired by the alarming statistic that skin cancer affects nearly 3 million people worldwide each year.

Supergoop! Body Butter has SPF 40, so it combines sun protection with a hydrating all-over body moisturizer that is excellent for dry skin. Its creamy formula has antioxidants and natural oils like eucalyptus, clove, and vanilla. It also contains sea buckthorn fruit extract, rich in omega fatty acids, to nourish the skin on a deep level.

Online reviewers praise Supergoop! Body Butter for its rich, creamy consistency that feels perfect after a shower. They say its smooth consistency helps their skin feel hydrated without leaving a sunscreen film. They also love its light, delicate scent.

3. Naturopathica Sicilian Bergamot Body Lotion

With aloe and sunflower seed oil, Naturopathica’s Sicilian Bergamot Body Lotion adds silky moisture to the skin. Online reviewers praise this lotion for how quickly its absorbs into the skin, leaving them feeling hydrated immediately after applying. They also comment on the light, natural scent that doesn’t rely on perfume or synthetic fragrances and just smells outdoorsy-clean.

Naturopathica Sicilian Bergamot Body Lotion has all the natural, skin-nourishing ingredients necessary for healthy, glowing skin. The Naturopathica brand is built on the science of herbalism, holistic medicine, and wellness. Their line of herbal skincare is dye, paraben, and silicone free. Their products contain no harsh ingredients and are all cruelty free.

4. Paula’s Choice Retinol Skin-Smoothing Body Treatment

If age-related dry skin is an issue for you, let this retinol-infused body lotion transform your skin. Founded in 1995 by skincare and beauty entrepreneur Paula Beth Begoun, Paula’s Choice is a brand known for stringent research on all of its products’ ingredients, ensuring their effectiveness and safety.

Along with natural plant butters and plant oils to hydrate the skin, retinol increases collagen production and lightly exfoliates, helping the new, fresher cells deliver a plump, supple appearance. The combination of retinol and antioxidants like vitamin C and evening primrose oil deliver more hydrated, smoother skin.

Because this body moisturizer contains retinol, which can leave skin slightly more vulnerable to UVA/UVB rays, apply an SPF lotion of 30 or higher while using this product.

5. Clarins Moisture Rich Body Lotion

French luxury skincare brand Clarins has been creating premium products to enhance skin health since the 1950s. This powerhouse daily moisturizer for the body uses shea butter to deeply moisturize the skin, making it good for all skin types.

Shea butter is a natural emollient that contains several types of fatty acids to restore moisture to the skin. It also contains raspberry, which is high in vitamin C, to soften the skin. With the addition of oat extract to tighten and firm the skin, this moisturizer has an all-around beneficial effect for the skin.

Reviewers often say this is one of the best body lotions they have ever used and that its light, floral scent that isn’t too overpowering. Lots of reviewers say this is their body lotion go-to, and it successfully solves their dry skin issues.

6. Lubriderm Advanced Therapy Lotion

If you’re looking for a no-frills, workhorse lotion that soothes dry skin, Lubriderm’s Advanced Therapy Lotion is the right choice for you. The Lubriderm brand is touted among medical skincare experts for helping the skin repair moisture without too many extra ingredients that can weigh the skin down or cause irritation.

Lubriderm Advanced Therapy Lotion has vitamins E and B5, making it one of the 11 best body lotions for dry skin. With the addition of lipids, which are natural fats that act as a protective barrier for the skin, this lotion is moisturizing yet lightweight. With no added fragrance, it’s also an excellent choice for anyone with sensitive skin.

This dermatologist-tested lotion is sulfate and aluminum free. Reviewers like its simple, effective formula and say it helps solve their dry skin issues.

7. Beekman Pure Goat Milk Whipped Body Cream

This lotion has a thick, velvet-like texture and contains ultra-moisturizing ingredients like argan oil and rosehip seed oil. With milk thistle and pine extract, this scented lotion also has vitamin E for an antioxidant boost.

The scent of this moisturizing body cream is a defining factor, so if you’re a fan of fragrant body products, this is a great pick. It has a light floral and soft spicy aroma with the addition of ginger and verbena. Reviewers online love the scent and say it’s almost enough of a fragrance to wear on its own.

Because this lotion is so rich and thick, it’s definitely one you’ll want to use immediately after a shower when skin is damp and lotions are easily absorbed. This thick cream will soak into the skin and leave it supple and glowing.

Beekman 1802 originated as a working farm in upstate New York and uses natural goat milk as a base for many of their products. The line is named for the farm and the year the historic farmhouse was built.

8. AmLactin Alpha-Hydroxy Therapy Moisturizing Body Lotion

The element of scent is at the opposite end of the fragrance spectrum with AmLactin’s moisturizing cream. Although many reviewers cite its moisturizing qualities and ability to heal dry skin, some find the lack of scent and slightly medicinal aroma off-putting. But if you are looking for a no-scent or medicinal scent option, AmLactin has many great ingredients for dry skin.

With 12% lactic acid, AmLactin encourages skin cell renewal while attracting water molecules to the skin and creating a hydrating barrier. Used daily, it can help repair dry, cracked, flaky skin that desperately lacks hydration.

Although reviewers online comment on the lack of fragrance, many reviewers with sensitive skin appreciate the lack of chemical and synthetic perfumes that would irritate their skin.

9. Sol de Janeiro Brazilian Bum Bum Cream

A few months after Sephora began carrying Sol de Janeiro’s Brazilian Bum Bum Cream, it became one of their bestselling skincare creams. Since then, online reviewers are still touting this cream’s moisturizing, smoothing powers.

With a slight amount of caffeine-rich guarana, which applied topically constricts blood vessels and reduces inflammation and puffiness, Bum Bum cream makes skin appear more taut. There is also a blend of butters and oils like cupuacu butter, as well as coconut and açai oils, that hydrate the skin, leaving it looking sleek and radiant. But perhaps one of the most discussed aspects of Brazilian Bum Bum cream among reviewers is the delicate, tropical scent. With notes of pistachio, salted caramel, and vanilla, this all-over body moisturizer smells amazing.

10. Kiehl’s Crème de Corps Body Moisturizer

Kiehl’s is a brand known for its excellence in nourishing, clean skincare products. Their Crème de Corps lotion is no exception, with a cult-like following that touts its deep hydration and rich, creamy feel on the skin. With cocoa butter, shea butter, and squalane, this lotion is all about retaining and attracting moisture to the skin.

This lotion has a non-greasy texture that absorbs quickly into the skin and keeps it feeling moisturized all day. Keihl’s recommends applying their Crème de Corps lotion immediately after bathing while the skin is still damp for the best results. Without an overpowering scent and no synthetic dyes or parabens, this moisturizing lotion is excellent for all skin types but even better for sensitive skin users.

11. Aveeno Eczema Therapy Daily Moisturizing Body Cream

Aveeno is the OG for severely dry skin and a brand many skincare experts and dermatologists recommend. Heavy on moisturizing but light on any synthetic ingredients that irritate the skin, this lotion is a great choice for skin so dry it becomes red, itchy, and uncomfortable.

This fragrance-free formula has colloidal oatmeal and ceramides, which bind moisture to the skin and soothe itching and redness. It also helps balance the skin’s natural pH levels, which is the measure of acidity versus moisture in the skin. The skin’s barrier is naturally acidic to help keep bacteria out. If the skin does not have enough acidity or alkaline, it can appear red and flaky and lead to conditions like eczema or acne.

Reviewers love this simple formula and say it works well without feeling too heavy or leaving them feeling over-moisturized. Aveeno is an excellent option for an easy-to-use lotion that soothes the skin but doesn’t add any unnecessary ingredients.

How to Apply Body Lotion 101

Now that we’ve looked at the 11 best body lotions for dry skin, it’s time to up our body moisture game. Applying body lotion properly—at the right time and in the best way—ensures your skin gets the hydration it needs to stay supple and soft. Here are some tips for body lotion application:

Timing

After you shower or bathe, your pores are dilated, and the water on your skin will dry very quickly. Immediately adding moisturizer after bathing helps the skin retain the water so you have a better chance of hydration penetrating your pores. After bathing, blot your skin dry—don’t rub vigorously, or you risk irritating your skin—and apply a generous amount of moisturizer from head to toe.

Amount

Use a large dollop, or a few tablespoons, of moisturizer to cover your body. You should have enough moisturizer to cover your skin from the neck down. Typically, you will use a different moisturizer for your face than your body.

Areas of Focus

It’s important to moisturize your arms, shoulders, hands, chest, abdomen, legs, and feet. Pay special attention to areas like elbows, heels, and hands, which can become dry and rough and may need more moisturizing. If you need to reach your back to apply, use a back tool or a spatula to add moisturizer to hard-to-reach areas.

Re-application

If you need more than a once-daily body moisturizing treatment, keep a trial size of your favorite moisturizer with you, and re-apply during the day. Hands, elbows, and arms may need extra moisturizing, and you can also re-apply at nighttime before sleeping to keep skin hydrated throughout the day and night.

Getting Savvy with SPF

If the body lotion you choose doesn’t contain sun protection factor or SPF, then make sure you’re adding that critical step to your moisturizing routine. Dermatologists and skincare experts agree that wearing sunscreen is one of the easiest and best ways to protect your skin and keep it looking radiant and young at any age.

The sun’s ultraviolet or UVA and UVB rays can cause significant damage to the skin. These rays cause damage to the very core of the skin’s molecules, DNA. By disrupting the genetic code of skin cells, mutations can occur, leading to cells becoming vulnerable to certain skin cancers. Damage to cells also leads to photoaging, which causes wrinkles, dark spots, and sagging skin from the loss of elasticity.

Even if it’s wintertime or you don’t spend long periods of time outdoors, you’re still susceptible to the sun’s damaging rays. While most home, car, and office windows filter out some of the sun’s ultraviolet rays, they don’t block them all, so wear sunscreen year-round, even if you spend the majority of your time indoors. UVA/UVB rays can even penetrate clouds on a rainy day.

Ready, Set . . . Routine

Knowing why skincare is important and how to choose the right products are the first steps. Now, it’s time to make daily body moisturizing and skincare part of your routine. Adding this step to your grooming process, just like showering, hair care, and brushing your teeth, ensures your skin stays in tip-top shape as you age.

Remember that skin is an organ and should be treated with the same care we treat other areas of our bodies. Skin needs nourishment and protection to look its best. Dry skin doesn’t have to be something you just accept. With the proper care, your skin can maintain its natural hydration and radiant glow.

Keep your body lotion handy with other products you use after showering, like deodorant or cologne. Adding a few extra moments of complete body lotion application immediately after your shower will become part of your overall routine in no time. In fact, if you skip a day, you may notice your skin craving that extra moisture boost. Just like eating right, exercising, and getting enough sleep, your body knows instinctively what it needs.