This is how you choose the best skincare for your kids

If the shelves are to be believed, we need everything. When doing some quick questioning with the parents out there, we arrive at a slightly shorter list. Next to that, you may or may not want to use certain ingredients. Take a careful look at this list and you're good to go.

What products do you need? For a newborn baby, it is useful to have a few basics at home. Care products you will use most often in the first period are: zinc cream (for nappy rash), a nurturing baby cream or body lotion (for dry patches) and a bath oil or mild wash gel (for in the bath or shower). Then you can expand with a baby shampoo and, for example, a bath foam. Also essential: plastic-free baby wipes! Welke ingrediënten wil je gebruiken (of liever niet)?

To protect the baby skin as well as possible, make sure to choose ingredients that truly are important for your baby, such as:

• avocado oil (nourishes the skin and is almost identical to human skin oils in terms of ingredients)

• camomile (bisalobol on the label), calms the skin and is used in diaper cream, for example.

• cottonseed, helps the skin to retain moisture

• zinc oxide, has a healing and cooling function with e.g. diaper rash

• nut oils like almond oil and macadamia oil. These often also have a healing and calming effect.

• Coconut - this is often used as an ingredient (coconut oil or coconut fat) as a natural foaming agent in combination with salt. It's much milder than, for example, harsh chemical foaming agents like SLES.

• Sunscreen with a natural UV filter based on zinc oxide. It reflects the sun rays instead of absorbing them in the skin. This means a lower chance at skin irritation and it's better for the environment.

Ingredients we prefer to avoid:

• Ingredients that can irritate or dry out the skin, such as aggressive foaming agents (SLES), hard alcohol (note the difference between hard or soft) or allergens in essential oils (often used as natural perfume).

• substances that can close off the skin, such as mineral oil (paraffin, petroleum jelly, etc.)

• substances that can disrupt the hormonal balance, such as PEG and synthetic preservatives (parabens, phenoxyethanol)

• substances that can be potentially harmful to nature, such as plastics, microplastics and ingredients in chemical UV filters (Oxybenzone, Octinoxate, Octocrylene). Fun fact: Naïf carries the Zero Plastic Inside certificate from the Plastic Soup Foundation.

When Naïf founders Jochem and Sjoerd first became fathers, they discovered that there are a lot of harmful substances in the world of baby care too. Therefore, always do your own research and make your own considerations. Do you want natural care, but are you not a fan of musty creams? Then you can opt for a synthetic perfume. This means your product is not 100% natural, but it is gentle on the skin. Want a foam bath but not dry skin? Meet in the middle with Naïf bath foam based on Coco Sodium Sulfate. Chemically the same reaction as the infamous SLS, but minimal in aggressiveness, as no alcohol is used in the base.

About Naïf Naïf's natural baby care contains everything the sensitive baby skin really needs. Nourishing and protective ingredients, without fuss. Naïf care products contain a soft and beloved fragrance, are 100% vegan, plastic-free and free of mineral oil, parabens, SLES and phenoxyethanol. Safe for sensitive baby skin and our planet. Want to know more? Go to the Naïf responsibility page.