Customer Reviews

California Baby Calming Shampoo and Bodywash, 19 fl oz

5 star:		(13)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(3)

 

 

I used to LOVE California Baby products, they seemed like a great company and their products contained no parabens, sulfates and other potentially unhealthy chemicals. This product worked well for my children and I was very happy with it. WAS. In the past couple of months, CB has changed, reformulated, their products. Here is a direct quote: 'Due to the volume of comments and questions on our Facebook page, we have been unable to respond individually to each person as we normally do. Instead, we have compiled a response to the most frequently asked questions below. As natural products consumers, you hold the companies you purchase from to the highest of standards, and we applaud you for that. In fact, we were founded by a mom just like you who decided to dig deeper into the products she was using for her children. However, before making any purchase decisions or spreading information to other moms online, we urge you to take the time to look at the available data (we suggest [...]) and decide for yourself what is safe for you and your families. We remain committed to creating the safest, most effective natural products available and are thrilled to have customers as devoted as you are as part of the California Baby family.

A RESPONSE TO YOUR QUESTIONS ABOUT OUR USE OF SODIUM BENZOATE IN WASHES AND BUBBLES: First, we discovered after extensive testing that the preservatives we were previously using (Capryloyl glycine and undecylenoyl glycine) were, over the life of the product, causing the products to separate, thus making them less effective. Although you could simply shake to mix the product, that wasn't up to our quality standards, so we decided to seek a new preservative that would be just as safe but would keep the product consistent over its lifetime.

We then learned that there was new research about sodium benzoate, a preservative that there was previously insufficient information about. Based on the results of these new studies, sodium benzoate has since been certified as allowed for use in organic skin care products by Ecocert, a certifying organization that sets standards for organic cosmetics. It is approved by Whole Foods for use in premium skin care products and is also ranked as a 1 out of 10 (with 0-2 being the lowest hazard level) by the EWG's Skin Deep Cosmetics Database. After a thorough analysis of the newest safety data and extensive testing of the final products, we determined that it was a suitable substitute to the previous preservatives in our washes and bubbles. As a bonus, since it is certified as allowed for use in organic skin care, it actually brings us one step closer to organic certification for our final products. There has been a lot of misinformation circulating about sodium benzoate. This is because much of the information that is available online about sodium benzoate is in regards to its use in soda and other beverages, and is not applicable to its use in skin care products.

In addition to sodium benzoate, we also added gluconolactone, which is corn-derived, non-dairy, and is ranked as 0 on the EWG's Skin Deep Cosmetics Database.

A RESPONSE TO YOUR QUESTIONS ABOUT OUR CALENDULA CREAM: Due to the issues discussed above with our previous preservatives (capryloyl glycine and undecylenoyl glycine), we made the decision to use new preservatives (caprylhydroxamic acid and glyceryl caprylate) in our creams and lotions. These are naturally derived from coconut, are from the same class as amino acids as the previous preservatives, and have the same properties and functionality. As well, due to an unsteady supply of organic safflower oil that met our specification, we switched to organically-grown canola oil and added it to our Calendula Cream for extra moisturization. It is produced in single-item facilities, which ensures it has no cross-contamination with nuts, another example of our very strict ingredient standards.

Some customers have noticed that our Calendula Cream has a slightly different smell. This is because we recently began extracting calendula in-house, so it is much more concentrated and has a more pronounced herbal scent. Because it is more concentrated, we can use less of it but get the same level of effectiveness as before (this is also why it has moved down on the ingredient list). You can see the difference in the picture on this post.

Some customers have also said they are experiencing irritation from the cream. Since the ingredient changes were very minor and the products went through extensive safety testing before they were released, the irritation is likely being cause by a sensitivity to essential oils. We suggest customers who are experiencing this switch to the Super Sensitive/No Fragrance lotion.

A RESPONSE TO YOUR QUESTIONS ABOUT WHY THE NEW INGREDIENTS WERE NOT IMMEDIATELY POSTED ON OUR WEBSITE: We truly apologize for not posting the new ingredients immediately on our website. We are a small company and were still in the process of aggregating all of the new information and putting together a complete list of all the changes that we could share with you. We are sorry to have let you down by not informing you of these changes in a timely manner. However, it is important to note that all products with updated ingredients are properly labeled as such, so when you purchase our products you can be assured that you have the most accurate information on the label. As of January 19th, the ingredients are also updated on our website. We have also submitted the new ingredient information to EWG's Skin Deep Cosmetics Database, and they are in the process of reviewing it before they update their database.'

Many customers had expressed concern over CB products during the last few months, saying they, or their children, had experienced rashes, burning, and hives due to using CB products. CB maintained, up until January 20, 2012, that their product was unchanged and that they (CB) were clueless as to the reason for these reactions to their products. Since coming forward and admitting that their products have indeed been reformulated, CB has removed all questions, complaints and the like from their Facebook page, thus trying to cover up this change and the problems it is causing. It is disappointing, CB used to be a good, honest company. Be aware that their products have changed, and not for the better, in my opinion.

The pictured product is not what you will receive. They changed the product and changed the ingredients to include sodium benzoate.

i put in a lot of time and effort to make sure the products i use on my baby are safe; specifically, i try to avoid products that contain phthalates, parabens, and other harmful substances. i tried a lot of different body washes for this purpose and found that most of the safe and natural washes either smell really bad and/or don't work that well. of all the products i've tried, the california baby was my favorite. it's very pricey but it's so pretty concentrated so we only need to use a tiny drop to wash my entire baby, head to toe. (plus babies don't need that much soap anyway.) we've been using the california baby body wash for about a month now with baths everyday, and the bottle is still practically full--it looks almost brand new still. the smell isn't as bad or strong as some of the other products--it doesnt have the gross "unscented smell" nor does it smell so strong that my baby smells like he just came out of a spa. plus, once he's all dried off, the smell doesnt linger so he just smells like baby. also, my baby developed eczema at about 3 months old and i've noticed that his skin has gotten much smoother and softer recently. this stuff is expensive but totally worth every penny. it works well and it lasts!

California Baby products are great, chemical free, less fragrance and feels more natural. we shop most stuff on amazon and recently moved buying toilet paper, kitchen towels, soaps etc to online too. I see that Soap.com and diapers.com are offering better prices than amazon on baby products, wonder why, usually amazon is the best in most others. Anyway FYI, on soap.com 19oz body wash is 20.99, here its 27.99 thats a huge difference.

This is a wonderful shampoo/body wash. My husband said our kids smell like the just got back from a spa lol (in a good way) The scent is herbal. Ever since we started using this my child's eczema has gotten MUCH better. It will also help with cradle cap. The bottle lasts forever! We use it on both our kids and we aren't even half way through the bottle! Definitely worth the money.

Our baby smells nice after we bathe her with this and it leaves her hair and skin soft and healthy. Plus no parabens or other harsh chemicals like the more popular brands of baby wash. It's tears-free so doesn't bother her if it gets in her eyes.
It is somewhat expensive but lasts us around three or four months of daily baths. The first bottle we purchased only lasted six weeks but that was our fault for using too much as it doesn't really lather - so that's something to keep in mind. We've repurchased several times and plan to keep doing so despite no discernible calming effect on our baby.

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Disappointed in the company's decision to add preservatives. I will not be purchasing from California baby again. Such a disappointment

I have been buying this product for my daughter since she was born, 2 yrs. My daughter and I both have sensitive skin, so I use it from time to time also.
I was prepared to leave wonderful feedback, until I read the most recent reviews. I have not researched their new ingredients myself, and have not noticed rashes or the like, but the fact it seems to have caused a number of skin conditions in other people.... Well, it makes me hesitant to buy again.
I ran out about 2 weeks ago, and was getting ready to purchase more. Now I will probably search for a new product to use. Disappointing :(

Im giving it 4 stars bc you can get it less at Target. I really like the smell and love the fact that it is Organic, especially after learning J&J products have carcinogenic ingreidents. Thank god I never used the J&J we received as gifts. Went straight in the trash! She's only 3.5 months and I'm already half way through the bottle. Its very gentle and smells great!

My daughter has a small patch of eczema on her wrist that won't go away. Johnson's baby soap seemed to make her eczema worse, spreading to neck and inside of elbows. Tried a few differant lotions (Cerave-highly recommend; Eucerin-thought i liked it at first, but now won't even finish tub; Hydrocortizone eczema relief-not a miracle worker, but continue moderate use), before i decided i should change the soap. Noticed vast improvement w/first couple uses, and though wrist patch is still there, have permantelty switched to this soap. Great smell, good lather (use a lot of water in hair to lather better), even put a few squirts w/a swishing of bathwater to make a "pretty good" alternative occasional bubble bath (not as good as ACTUAL bubble bath, but i can't use the real stuff on her).