PRODUCT NAME:             

QV Baby Range

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PRODUCT CATEGORY:

Skincare 

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COMPANY PRODUCT DESCRIPTION:

• Suitable for use on dry skin, eczema, dermatitis and psoriasis

• Helps rehydrate baby’s skin

• Non-greasy

• Ideal for daily use

 

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PAED PREFERRED REVIEW:

QV products are made by Ego Pharmaceuticals, a company with a long history of science-based skincare formulations. An Australian chemist was approached by the Queen Victoria Hospital in the UK in 1975 to develop a specialist skincare product. That original product was QV Bath Oil, named in honour of this hospital. The QV label remains today.

 

Ego has a wide range of skincare products. This review will focus on the Baby Range. There are 4 products:

 

• QV Baby Gentle Wash

• QV Baby Bath Oil

• QV Baby Moisturising Cream

• QV Baby Barrier Cream

• QV Baby 2 in 1 Shampoo and Conditioner

 

The products are very easily accessible in most pharmacists. The QV range of products is well-stocked generally. Price is comparable to competitors.

 

I have been recommending QV products to patients for many years, and more often than not have found them to be well-tolerated and effective. Like all skincare products, need varies greatly for each child day to day, and indeed between different children generally.

 

I’m a strong advocate for not using product on newborns’ skin unless necessary. If the skin is clear and moist, leave it alone!  If the nappy region isn’t inflamed, leave it alone! My youngest is currently nearly 4 months old – I have used no product in the nappy region whatsoever. Now that is most likely just pot luck, but it demonstrates the ability to not intervene with skin products unless necessary. I think new parents are sometimes travelling along the new parent treadmill blindly using products that they could avoid, because “that’s what everyone else does”.

 

If, however, your baby has dry skin, or nappy rash, then the use of product is very appropriate, and the QV Baby Range will hold you in good stead. All of this range is very easy to use and apply, and is non-irritant. I have only ever had one patient react to a QV product – that child had multiple allergies and terrible eczema, and reacted to nearly every product on the market.

 

QV Baby Gentle Wash is indicated for use on the body and hair. It is soap free, thus maintaining baby’s higher pH compared with older children and glycerine based. When skin pH is not balanced, irritation can then occur. This is a product that can be safely used with each bath (remember, babies don’t need to be bathed every day!), and is essentially the go-to everyday cleansing solution for newborns in the range.

 

QV Baby Bath Oil is a paraffin based product that is also used as a general cleanser, preferably on the body rather than the face or hair to avoid eye contact. I would tend to use it for babies whose skin is slightly drier and whose dryness tends to affect larger areas. It works well, and I’m happy to recommend it.

 

QV Baby Moisturising Cream is Ego’s basic moisturiser. It has 3 basic components. Firstly, an emollient (essentially a skin softener), an occludent (prevents water loss) and a humectant (absorbs water from the atmospehere and from lower skin layers). The combination of all three provides a complete moisturising skin solution. As in the name, this is a cream (creams can sometimes be hard work to apply), but I’ve always found this to be easy to apply, and as such more easy to comply with regular usage, and therefore effectiveness.

 

WV Baby Barrier Cream – like most barrier creams, this is zinc oxide based, in a thick cream that protects against external irritants such as moisture, chemicals and detergents. It also has a paraffin moisturising base that assists with rehydration, and can be used in the nappy or other regions of the body as needed. Remember, if you’re using both the moisturizing cream and the barrier cream in the one body area, apply the moisturiser first otherwise it won’t permeate through the barrier cream.

 

QV Baby 2 in 1 Shampoo and Conditioner – this is a new addition to the range and is probably only warranted for babies with thicker hair in whom the Gentle Wash is inadequate to cleanse that certain hair thickness.

 

Overall, you can’t go wrong with this range of skincare for your newborn baby. Use them liberally if you need to, and cut back when you don’t. Can also be used on older siblings if needed.