Index / Calamine / Lotion
Calamine

Lotion.

Calamine Lotion
Moisturizers

About this product

A topical lotion containing calamine (zinc oxide and ferric oxide) designed to soothe itching, reduce inflammation, and dry weeping or oozing skin irritation.

Best for

Sensitive skinAcne-prone skin
Moisturizers

The Guru Index verdict

65%

Mixed

~Mixed · 65%
2Reviewers
1Approved
0Mixed
1Skip

What the gurus are saying

The experts who reviewed it praise calamine lotion for its cooling, drying, and anti-itch effect, especially on weepy rashes like poison ivy or eczema flare-ups. Plain formulations without added numbing agents or menthol are considered safe even for infants and during pregnancy. However, one creator cautions that daily use over large areas or on intact skin can irritate and damage the skin barrier, so calamine works best as a spot treatment for small patches of active irritation rather than an all-over moisturizer.
Synthesized from 2 expert reviews
Every take, in full

What the gurus are saying.

Every take we've logged from this product's reviews across YouTube. Click any row to watch the moment they said it.

All takes Approved only Skip only Mixed only Hide sponsored
Approved
"As the water in calamine lotion evaporates off the surface of the skin, evaporative water losses help to draw heat away and cool the body. It also has astringent properties, anti-itch properties, and antimicrobial properties. Plus, it creates this kind of protective barrier on the skin surface. One of the advantages of plain calamine lotion is that it can be applied to a large surface area. Calamine lotion has been used for a very long time. It's safe to use in pregnancy, breastfeeding, in children, and in infants, although you have to be really careful and check the ingredients because what I'm talking about here is bland calamine lotion. There are other formulations out there that add certain ingredients like benzocaine, pramoxine, menthol, camphor, for example, which are not something that you would necessarily want to use in an infant. But bland calamine lotion is very safe. You'll often hear people recommend it for poison ivy, poison oak rashes because they are super itchy and they tend to ooze and weep. The drying properties of calamine lotion are desirable to dry up that fluid and it has the anti-itch effect. Plus, it's cooling."
All 2 takes from Dr Dray
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"Calamine lotion is kind of a similar approach to aluminum acetate soaks with a drying effect, and it is essentially a drying lotion so you can be very soothing because that oozy weepy stuff ends up being very itchy."
Calamine Lotion Hacks Nobody Told You About
"As the water in calamine lotion evaporates off the surface of the skin, evaporative water losses help to draw heat away and cool the body. It also has astringent properties, anti-itch properties, and antimicrobial properties. Plus, it creates this kind of protective barrier on the skin surface. One of the advantages of plain calamine lotion is that it can be applied to a large surface area. Calamine lotion has been used for a very long time. It's safe to use in pregnancy, breastfeeding, in children, and in infants, although you have to be really careful and check the ingredients because what I'm talking about here is bland calamine lotion. There are other formulations out there that add certain ingredients like benzocaine, pramoxine, menthol, camphor, for example, which are not something that you would necessarily want to use in an infant. But bland calamine lotion is very safe. You'll often hear people recommend it for poison ivy, poison oak rashes because they are super itchy and they tend to ooze and weep. The drying properties of calamine lotion are desirable to dry up that fluid and it has the anti-itch effect. Plus, it's cooling."
Skip
"Calamine lotion day in and day out on your skin is going to wreak havoc. It'll take a long time to fix. Calamine lotion is not meant for mass use, it's meant for small areas of irritation, not to be used as a primer."
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