Natural Non-Toxic Body Lotions For Your Softest Skin

7th November 2024

If you’re looking for a natural non-toxic body lotion, welcome! I’ve hand-picked 25 of the best natural non-toxic body lotions. These lotions will cherish your dry skin with melting textures and delicious scents, leaving you with your softest skin yet.

So what do we mean when we say “non-toxic”?

I’m talking about controversial ingredients. There are some ingredients that I personally avoid in my body lotion because there’s controversy over their safety. Because, there are plenty of safer alternatives to choose from.

There are some I avoid because I prefer natural over synthetic ingredients. These are the personal preferences I’ve formed in nearly 8 years as a skin care blogger. Mineral oil and petroleum jelly are a great example.

However, I’ll let you into a secret. Personally, the term non-toxic irks me.

It sounds counter intuitive, but just because an ingredient in a product is “toxic” doesn’t mean that it can’t be used in safe amounts in skincare, or that the final product is full of harmful chemicals. It’s all about safe levels of chemicals used in skincare, and looking at the overall formula.

Try these non-toxic body lotions. I've hand-picked 25 of the best natural body lotions for your softest skin yet with no harsh chemicals - many with organic ingredients. Picks for all skin types and concerns.

Preservatives: a Harsh Chemical?

An example: preservatives keep our skin care products safe and pleasant to use, and increase their shelf life. But preservatives need to be able to kill or inhibit life. They’re essentially toxic chemicals.

Yes, they need to be toxic in order to work. But used at safe levels, as governed by legislation, there’s no reason to believe they make beauty products harmful to health.

Body lotion texture is an important factor - but all natural body lotions must be preserved

All this being said, not all preservatives are created equal. An example of this is parabens. Parabens are a group of preservatives in question for their safety. Some studies have shown that parabens hang around in human tissue.

Research has shown that they are potential endocrine disruptors. In America, parabens are not banned in skincare. However, in Europe, some parabens are banned. Until research is conclusive, I avoid parabens.

It’s worth remembering that body lotion covers a large area of the body – your skin is the body’s largest organ. So it’s one of the personal care products well worth choosing as clean as possible.

Here’s how to choose a non-toxic body lotion.

How to Choose a Non-Toxic Body Lotion

1. Avoid Controversial Ingredients (accurate, but time consuming)

Natural ingredients in body lotions add to their skin benefits

The most effective, but time-consuming, method of choosing a non-toxic body lotion is to scan the ingredient list to avoid any controversial ingredients.

If the jury is still out on a certain ingredient, avoid it. Brands who avoid controversial ingredients truly care what their customers think, and exclude ingredients like:

Parabens (endocrine disruptor)
Mineral oil (better ways to moisturise)
Silicones (environmental concerns)
PEGs (polyethylene glycol: contamination concerns, ethylene oxide and 1,4-dioxane)
Synthetic fragrance *
Read my full list

* Synthetic fragrance is a tricky one. Some trustworthy clean brands use artificial fragrances, and they’re used at safe levels. However, synthetic fragrance has been implicated in health concerns. My advice is to contact the brand.

Aloe vera is a soothing natural ingredient found in non-toxic body lotions

However, the list goes on and on.

So if you feel like you’d be there all day picking apart individual ingredients, you’re not wrong. Constantly referring to a blacklist of ingredients is time consuming and fiddly – not to mention, manufacturers introduce new ingredients you need to learn all the time.

You need to be super savvy and have lots of free time to check the ingredients of every product you buy.

So here are some easier ways to find non-toxic body lotions.

2. Buy from Natural Beauty Stores who Curate only the Safest Skincare

These days, you don’t have to look far to find natural body lotions with clean natural ingredients.

Choose from shops that finely curate their selections to match with their customer’s green expectations. I love Naturisimo, Content Beauty & Wellbeing, Cult Beauty Conscious, The Green Jungle Beauty Shop, Green People, Only Naturals, Mypure, Ecco Verde, Ethical Superstore, and Big Green Smile.

If you really want to shop clean, and you’re unsure about choosing natural beauty products, I would avoid Amazon for skincare shopping. On Amazon, the ingredients are unusually buried underneath lots of other product data.

3. Look for Organic Certification

Conventional body lotions rarely have natural and organic certifications

To save time, look for organic certification. Conventional body lotions rarely have this. To be certified organic, the ingredients that brands use must meet the approval of the relevant certifying board.

For instance, COSMOS only allows certain natural preservatives. This way you’re guaranteed to choose only the safest non-toxic body lotions. Here’s a short list of certifying bodies:

COSMOS Organic
COSMOS Natural
NaTrue
EWG Verified
USDA Organic

4. Use an App

Apps like ThinkDirty and EWG let you scan the product’s barcode to receive a simple rating of the safety and clean credentials of a body lotion.

To help guide you in your quest for body lotion perfection, also consider the following factors:

5. Is the Brand Practising Sustainability and is it Cruelty Free?

The brand who cares about you and your health, cares about the health of our planet and its people and animals too.

6. Does the Brand Share its Ingredient Provenance?

Visit the brand’s website. Is ingredient safety paramount to them? Can you trust where ingredients come from? Are synthetic ingredients explained? For instance: is the mica in the body lotion natural? Was it harvested ethically? Or is synthetic mica used (no risk of child labour).

7. Does the Body Lotion contain Botanical Ingredients?

Look for gorgeous botanical ingredients that are going to elevate your experience of the product and enhance your overall skin care routine.

Think about flower waters, soothing aloe, and sumptuous butters like shea butter. Then there’s cold pressed oils like sweet almond and avocado. And essential oils that are carefully blended for their therapeutic effects.

8. What is the Brand’s Stance on Fragrance?

Unpopular opinion incoming – I don’t agree that we should avoid synthetic fragrances completely, especially if we enjoy fragranced products.

Again, buy from brands you trust and who are transparent with their ingredients listings. Some synthetic fragrances are less volatile than essential oils, many of which can cause an allergic reaction.

For me, it boils down to this: can the brand explain the careful use of synthetic fragrances in their product?

25 Non-Toxic Body Lotions

Body lotions for all skin types and textures

Here you’ll find the best non-toxic body lotions for your skin type – be it dry, normal, oily, or mature. Additionally, if you have skin concerns, for example eczema, psoriasis, acne-prone, dull, or dehydrated – I’ve got you covered.

I’ve included value-for-money options, boutique body lotions, and luxury options. Of course, I’ve included some stalwarts of natural beauty like Weleda and Dr Hauschka.

There are fragrance-free options for sensitive skin that’s prone to skin irritation, and scented lotions for when you want to smell your very best. I’ve also included a couple of suggestions for non-toxic baby lotions, too.

These are the body lotions that are going to make you feel more alive, with soft glowing skin to feel amazing in! So let’s embrace the power of plant oils and butters, and dive straight in.

1. Weleda Skin Food Body Lotion

Skin Food Body Lotion takes the cult Weleda Skin Food and turns it into a softer, lighter body lotion that works well for dry skin. It will leave your skin soft, supple, and hydrated with its powerhouse of botanical ingredients including shea butter, chamomile, and vitamin E.