As one who has needed to wear diapers for many years, I have always found the extra comfort provided by baby powders a must have staple of my diapering supplies.
You may not even realize it but there are A TON of different types of baby powder for adults to choose from. I honestly didn’t even realize it until I decided I was going to develop my own brand to add to the mix!
From those designed to help prevent diaper rash to those designed to help eliminate body odor, to those that are talc free and totally organic! Adults have many uses for different types of body powder that go way beyond what those of us who need to wear diapers use them for.
Johnson and Johnson’s Baby Powder
There is no way I can do a list of baby powders for adults without Johnson’s line of powders making the list.
With any search you just made that landed you here you probably already saw numerous articles covering J&J’s potential safety issues when it comes to the original Talcum powder that made them so popular.
That is a topic for another post.
Heck, examining and learning about J&J’s extensive history in the powder game is worthy of a whole page of content on its own!
No matter what their history is they are a mainstay in the baby powder market. As a result of the controversy surrounding talcum powder their current lineup of powders is now all cornstarch based.
In fact, their ingredients list says it also has Tricalcium phosphate, Aloe Barbadensis, Tocopheryl Acetate, and of course a fragrance too.
Tricalcium Phosphate is a common ingredient used in many types of cosmetic products. Things like toothpaste, deodorant, and hair products. In use as a powder on the skin it would bring antibacterial effects, antiperspirant effects, odor adsorbing agents, cleansers, the delivery of nutrients, and sebum adsorbers!
These are important features to have in a diaper powder! They help prevent diaper rashes, keep the skin healthy AND reduce potential odors.
Aloe Barbadensis is another very common ingredient found in many products. Heck, it’s just a common plant in general.
Many people keep an aloe plant or two around the house. Most normal people just call them Aloe plants though!
Aloe powder, which is used in many types of baby powder, has the same moisturizing and soothing properties as the gel that it is made from.
Tocopheryl Acetate provides the skin with vitamin E which is known for its antioxidant properties. It may also have an anti-inflammatory effect on the skin too.
All of these different ingredients combine to create a comforting formula of powder for your skin. One designed to help keep you dry, comfortable, and smelling fresh!
Note that their product makes no claims on the treatment or prevention of diaper rash. There are very few available powders on the market right now that make this claim.
The only claim they make is that the powder soothes and gently absorbs moisture to keep your skin dry and soft.
While J&J is undoubtedly the most known brand of baby powder on the market there are plenty more to choose from these days. There are plenty that are designed for an adult demographic too!
Caldesene
Caldesene is one of the very few powders out there that makes any claims towards treating and preventing diaper rash.
It’s difficult to pinpoint who the actual manufacturer of this product is but to the best of my ability it is now a product of a company called PrestigeBrands.
There is some evidence to indicate it was previously owned by Emerson Healthcare and that back then is made up of mainly Talcum powder and Zinc Oxide.
Now the primary ingredients are 81% Cornstarch and 15% Zinc Oxide. The remaining 4% is comprised of aloe vera, chamomile, fragrance, kaolin, and tricalcium phosphate.
Zinc Oxide is the most active ingredient of them all and the primary component that helps prevent and treat diaper rash. Many diaper rash treatment products contain Zinc Oxide.
This is one of the ingredients that can be found in Dynamo’s Diaper Powder as well.(Try It Now!)
Caldesene has a ton of glowing reviews from customers of their product. Some of them have been using it for several decades and swear by it!
Unlike J&J, Caldesene isn’t shy about making many claims on its bottle about what you can expect it to do.
First off, it’s important to note that they call it a medicated protecting powder. This type of powder is considered what is called an over-the-counter cosmetic drug.
As a result, when you look in the ingredients section of the bottle you will find a section titled Drugs and then one under it titled Active Ingredients.
Anything found here is regulated over-the-counter ingredients that the FDA says can only be so much of in any one product.
This is something I had to learn about myself while developing Dynamo’s Diaper Powder. It took me a while to realize I was trying to develop something that would be considered a drug.
Let’s look at another option that is designed to help with diaper rash too!
Baby Anti Monkey Butt Powder
If you’re shopping around for different types of baby powder to try you’re likely going to come across the Anti Monkey Butt brand of powders available.
While at first impression the name Anti Monkey Butt seems whimsical and humorous it is based on a slang term. As the story goes a couple of dirt bike riders got tired of getting chaffed up, or what they called suffering from monkey butt!
Even if you don’t need to wear diapers yourself, anyone who sweats enough or experiences prolonged damp cloths can experience chafing that a good body powder can help with.
Thus the Anti Monkey Butt Powder was born! Check it out on amazon!
Eventually, they made a special mix for helping to prevent and treat diaper rash in babies.
The most active ingredient in their formula is Calamine Powder or Calamine Clay. Calamine powder is comprised primarily of Zinc Oxide with about 0.5% ferric oxide mixed in.
This is why Calamine powder has a bit of a pink tint to it and is used in all sorts of cosmetic products.
The Anti Monkey Butt Powder is about 8% Calamine Powder with the rest of the mix being Cornstarch, Tricalcium phosphate, and a bit of fragrance.
After doing my own experimentation with Zinc Oxide to develop my very own diaper powder formula I’m sure this mixture of ingredients will be effective at what it claims.
Preventing and treating diaper rash is really important no matter the size of the person in diapers. Even though this particular formula was made with babies in mind I think it would work just as well for adults in diapers too.
As one who is trying to create a product to compete with them, I must also give them credit for being among the lowest cost per ounce of powder mix. It’s going to be hard to compete with their price point until I can scale up and do more volume in sales.
I guess the added benefit you get with buying my product is knowing that it helps to support the production of more awesome content like this!
Era Organics Baby Powder
Another baby powder you will see come up in a lot of your search results is the Era Organics baby powder.
Era Organics is a skincare company whose stated goal is “To make safe,plant-basedproducts using ingredients scientifically proven to work”.
This is certainly an admirable guiding principle I can get behind!
They seek to only use ingredients that are backed by published medical research. The story behind the brand is actually pretty inspiring but you can read more about that on their website here.
The Era Organics Talc Free Baby powder is comprised of Arrowroot Powder, Cornstarch, Kaolin Clay, Calendula Extract, Rosemary Extract, and Non – GMO mixed tocopherols.
Arrowroot powder, made from the roots of the Maranta Arundinacea plant, is a fine white powder that has beneficial properties for the skin.
When used as a powder on the skin in this way it absorbs excess moisture and leaves the skin feeling soft.
This is one of the main components in Dynamo’s Diaper Powder and I can say with certainty it definitely has some skin softening properties to it. I’m not sure my skin in my diaper area has ever felt so soft!
Cornstarch and kaolin clay are commonly used in different types of baby powders.
Tocopherols protect the skin from free radical damage and strengthen the skin barrier providing the skin with Vitamin E.
I’m not sure about the Calendula and Rosemary extract. The fact that it says extract makes me think those are primarily used as fragrances but I do know that Calendula has some positive benefits on skin as well.
Calendula powder can treat acne, shrink varicose veins, heal inflammation, and soften skin. This is something I will be experimenting with more for my own line up of diaper powder products.
Gold Bond Powder
The first thing to take note of when it comes to Gold Bond powder products is that they offer them in both talcum powder and cornstarch.
So if you’re looking to avoid any products with talcum powder in them be sure to read the label carefully to make sure you’re getting the right one.
It has taken a lot longer for some of these big name brands to move away from talcum powder but as I’m sure you’ve noticed by now most brands these days stay away from it entirely.
The baby powder brand of gold bond is made of cornstarch though so that is a good one to go with.
The active ingredients in it are Zinc Oxide and Kaolin Clay. With 15% of the mixture being Zinc Oxide, 4% of it being Kaolin Clay, and 79% cornstarch. This particular mixture of powders can be quite effective.
The one thing that Gold Bond uses in their mixture that I hadn’t really seen in any other powders is Silica. It is a very small percentage at about 2% of the entire mixture but that is still significant enough to have an impact.
Apparently, it does have some absorption properties that make it useful in a variety of cosmetic products.
Every one of these brands has some ingredient or something about it that makes it different. These small percentages of certain materials do make a noticeable difference when experimented with.
How much of a difference that 2% of Silica makes I’m not yet sure about as I haven’t tried this powder myself and it also isn’t an ingredient I have experimented with in my own products.
Nature’s Baby Organics Powder
Nature’s Baby Organics Powder is going for the all organic branding with their powder. They are particularly keen and making sure you know that their powder isn’t just talc free but corn free too.
Instead of using cornstarch they actually decided to go with tapioca starch instead. They are seeking to ensure all of their ingredients fall within the USDA guidelines for organically grown products.
Tapioca starch is a bit of a different ingredient to use for a powder base but not really all that different from corn starch or arrowroot powder.
There are other types of cosmetic products for makeup that make use of tapioca powder too. It is said to create a soft and silky smooth skin feeling.
Usually, this part of the powder formula is the bulk of the powder you will be getting. Whether it is cornstarch, arrowroot powder, tapioca powder, or talcum powder these base powders comprise anywhere from 80% to 90% of the powder formula.
So whatever this base powder is, it’s important to note its effects on the skin as well as the steps necessary to take in order to produce it.
Especially for a brand like Nature’s Organics whose entire company mission is to be as ecologically conscious as possible while providing great quality skin care products.
The other 10% to 20% of their powder contains chamomilla recutita extract, aloe leaf extract, and echinacea agustifolia extract.
The chamomilla is used primarily for its anti-inflammatory properties. It also has some antimicrobial and antiseptic properties too.
The echinacea extract helps to boost collagen production, provide hydration, and brighten skin.
Between all of these different powders and their properties, this product would likely do a good job at helping to keep my diaper wearing friends out there nice and comfortable.
How well it would do against treating and/or preventing diaper rashes I’m still up in the air on. I don’t have enough experience with the ingredients being used to say one way or the other.
Burt’s Bees Dusting Powder
There are many great stories out there of the humble beginnings many companies are born from. Burts bees began when the founders started rehabilitating a bee hive only to later find themselves with all sorts of extra material that could be used.
Today they’ve used those materials to build a line of honey based cosmetic products. The most popular of which is burts bees lip balm but that is by no means thair only product.
That brings me to Burt’s Bees Baby Bee Dusting Powder.
Just like most baby powders and diaper powders on the market these days they have gone with a cornstarch based powder mix.
They do use a number of other ingredients that are unique to their product. Montmorillonite clay is one ingredient I don’t think I’ve seen listed in any other products yet.
It is a lot like bentonite clay, which burts bees powder also has, in that it is used to detox the skin and boost collagen!
Ulmus Fulva, or Slippery Elm Powder, which was used by Native Americans for healing wounds, boils, burns, and skin inflammation.
In way of diaper rash, anything to reduce skin inflammation is key!
Hello Bello Organic Baby Powder
Hello Bello is one of the bigger names on this list. While not quite as big and known as J&J it does have the backing of hollywood star power behind it.
Kristen Bell and Dax Shepard are some of the co-founders of the company whose mission is to make sure parents have premium choices for their baby’s care at great prices!
While both of these people have brought us all joy and comfort with their on screen performances in great pieces of entertainment like “The Good Place”(Kristen) and “Without a Paddle”(Dax).
They now seek to bring even more comfort to our rears with their Hello Bello Organic Baby Powder!
While I’m sure they designed it for the use on baby’s bottoms there is no reason any adult who needs to wear diapers can’t use it too!
This powder uses a combination of Cornstarch and Arrowroot as the base ingredient powder.
One of their more unique ingredients in the mix is the use of Bamboo Powder to mildly exfoliate the skin removing dead skin. I honestly would need to try it out to see what this feels like.
The other ingredient unique to this particular mixture is the Chaparral extract. Chaparral extract is said to decrease inflammation, pain, and the healing of minor wounds.
It also includes things we’ve previously discussed like Calendula, Aloe, and bentonite clay.
As one who needs to wear diapers and use these types of powders to prevent diaper rash myself, I would need to actually try this product before I could comment further on its potential effects.
Either that or get my hands on some of the ingredients and try them in my ongoing experiments for the development of Dynamo’s Diaper Powder.
