The best Unscented Body Washes For Men In 2023
- Best For Sensitive Skin: Cetaphil Ultra Gentle Body Wash
- Best Organic Body Wash: The Seaweed Bath Co. Body Wash
- Best Budget Hypoallergenic: Dove Fragrance-Free Body Wash
- Best For Dry Skin: Aveeno Skin Relief Fragrance-Free Body Wash
- Best To Exfoliate Rough Skin: CeraVe Body Wash with Salicylic Acid
Fragrance-free body wash products for men are a very popular consumer staple. The lack of irritating fragrances is great for sensitive skin while the addition of natural ingredients and essential oils can give your skin the moisture it needs to feel and look healthy.
As with any popular consumer staple, there are tons of body wash brands on the market. Here is a curated list of five of the best unscented men’s body washes.
Best For Sensitive Skin: Cetaphil Ultra Gentle Body Wash
Cetaphil is a company that’s been making body cleansers for over 70 years. They are a respected company with an overall positive reputation in the skincare market.
This body wash is a perfect representative of the company. It’s a unisex body wash that is perfect for sensitive skin since it’s fragrance-free, hypoallergenic, and non-comedogenic (meaning it won’t clog your pores). As the name states, it’s very gentle on your skin, leaving it feeling soft and supple rather than dry and uncomfortable.
The main two ingredients in the body wash are water (which is usually the base of all body washes) and glycerin. Glycerin is a colorless, odorless substance that comes from vegetable oil or animal fats. It sounds strange, but it’s the third most used ingredient in cosmetics.
Glycerin is known as a humectant which is an agent that is used to trap moisture in your skin. The fact that Cetaphil Ultra Gentle Body Wash has a high amount of glycerin plus aloe barbadensis leaf juice powder and panthenol (Vitamin B5) means that this product will hydrate your skin like a champ!
Best Organic Body Wash: The Seaweed Bath Co. Organic Body Wash
The Seaweed Bath Co. began as a passion that one person had for the benefits of seaweed for their family. As friends and locals began to catch on to how great the products were, the products blossomed into an entire brand with all-natural, organic products that stand apart from the competition.
This organic body wash is specifically made from Maine bladderwrack seaweed. This seaweed contains over 65 beneficial vitamins, minerals, and other substances that hold enormous benefits for hair and skin. Two of these substances, fucoidan, and phlorotannin, help to reduce inflammation in the skin. That means that this body wash will not only get you clean but will provide you with therapeutic benefits as well.
The Seaweed Bath Co. Organic Body Wash is a little pricey compared to typical body washes, but this makes sense is that it uses such high-quality ingredients. It’s a cruelty-free, vegan product that’s manufactured in the United States. It’s a premium body wash that is worth every penny.
Best Budget Hypoallergenic: Dove Sensitive Skin Body Wash
Dove is one of the most recognized skin cleanser companies in the world. When people purchase a Dove product, they’re sure that what they’ll get is a high-quality product that will offer numerous benefits (especially moisture) to their skin.
Before diving into the benefits of this body wash, it’s important to note that it’s not completely fragrance-free. It contains a miniscule amount of fragrance, but the body wash is formulated for sensitive skin so the fragrance most likely won’t irritate you.
Besides water, the most abundant ingredients in the body wash are Cocamidopropyl betaine. It’s a mouthful to say, but it’s very gentle on the skin and aids in helping the body wash to lather.
The next most abundant ingredient is sodium hydroxypropyl starch phosphate. This is a sugar that helps the body wash to thicken and leaves your skin and hair feeling soft and velvety smooth. It’s also very gentle on the skin.
The Dove sensitive skin body wash still has all the impressive qualities of Dove’s original body wash but none of the harsh chemicals that can irritate sensitive skin. Its pH is balanced and free of parabens and sulfates. It has glycerin to aid in moisture absorption, though not as much as Cetaphil.
Best For Dry Skin: Aveeno Skin Relief Fragrance-Free Body Wash
Aveeno is a national brand that sets its products apart from competitors by adding Avena sativa kernel flour to its formula.
Avena sativa kernel flour is a fancy name for finely ground oatmeal. Oatmeal is great because it provides you with health benefits externally just as it does internally.
Oatmeal has many beneficial properties for the skin including its ability to protect injured skin, exfoliate dead skin cells, and even treat acne. It also aids in bulking up the body wash formula so it’s not watery. The thick lather leaves your skin feeling smooth. Since Aveeno also has a fair share of glycerin, your skin can absorb the moisture, especially after your pores are opened from exfoliation.
Terms like “exfoliation” may sound a little girlish, but everyone needs to get rid of dead skin cells. The company even recommends, right on the bottle, using the body wash as a shaving cream. This helps to bring it back to the masculine side of skincare. Aveeno Skin Relief Unscented Body Wash is a great, dye-free, fragrance-free, soap-free body wash for men.
Best To Exfoliate Rough Skin: CeraVe Body Wash with Salicylic Acid
Here is another unscented body wash that stands out from its competitors. This CeraVe body wash contains salicylic acid. This substance is often used to fight acne (and it works miracles).
However, in a body wash, it’s used to help moisture penetrate the deepest layers of your skin and it’s good at doing that also. These two actions are what make this body wash a perfect solution to rough and bumpy skin as it states on the bottle.
The innovation in this body wash doesn’t stop there. CeraVe has developed a patented delivery system called MVE technology. Think of it as a time-release delay system. Over a 24-hour period, it continually delivers moisture to your skin. If you suffer from skin that goes dry a few hours after you’ve just lathered on lotion, this is the system for you.
To finish off the benefits of the body wash, niacinamide is added. This substance essentially rebuilds your skin’s protective barrier after the salicylic acid breaks through it.
CeraVe is not just a body wash. It’s a complete, skin-rebuilding system that will get you clean without being too harsh on your skin. You’ll enjoy smoother and less bumpy skin before you know it.
Unscented Body Washes For Men Buying Guide And FAQs
With sensitive skin, it’s important to find a great, unscented body wash that will protect your skin instead of irritating it. Still yet, it can be hard to find the right product for men who have sensitive skin. The curated list above has great options to choose from. At the very least, it will point you in the right direction.
Here are a few things you should know before you buy one.
What Is Fragrance?
The term “fragrance” is referring to any chemical, natural or synthetic, used in relation to the scent of a product. According to the FDA, there are over 5,000 different fragrance chemicals used in products today.
Why do companies use fragrances in their products? In simple words, the fragrance is added to products to make them smell better.
However, did you know that a fragrance allergy is the number one cause of cosmetic contact dermatitis in the U.S. They are also linked to many other health issues, from asthma to cancer!
Difference Between Unscented and Fragrance-Free
Because many people assume that unscented and fragrance-free are the same terms, we are here to clarify the differences for you.
What Does Fragrance-Free Mean?
Fragrance-free means none of these ingredients (artificial or otherwise) are included in the personal care, skincare, or cosmetics your choosing to buy. Nothing is added to remove the natural scents from the product.
The biggest benefit of buying fragrance-free products is that you know exactly what you’re putting on you.
What Does Unscented Mean?
The term unscented means a fragrance may have been used to mask an odor that is a natural part of the raw ingredient.
Unscented does not mean fragrance-free. In fact, unscented products typically have added fragrance agents used to mask the other smells.
Why? Because some ingredients used in personal care products may have a scent, which is not pleasant. While unscented products are specially formulated to have no smell, however, they may contain ingredients that have a smell, so they need to neutralize the smell by other components.
Main photo by Susan Yin