Review and compare: MooGoo Eczema and Psoriasis Cream

My trip to Oz resulted in the discovery of this cream that was recommended by the pharmacist. Before I begin, some background...

Those of you who have been following this blog (thank you!) know that I'm always on the lookout for new products since E1 suffers from bad eczema, triggered by sensitive airways, ie every time he gets some allergic respiratory symptoms, he also gets eczema. But, unfortunately,  I too had a brush with the weirdest and one of the most severe cases of eczema ever experienced for myself. Before our trip, my finger pads and some bits of the fingers broke out in horrible dry patches, worst on the left hand. I deduced it was stress-related since I had been rushing 2 assignments prior to leaving and was chewing my brains out over 2 more that were due at the end of the trip. Later on, the dry patches started peeling off, turning leathery, sometimes bark-like, and reducing my sensation by half. I also developed a small fissure on my right index finger (meaning the skin split, yes ouch).

Anyway, this was my hand at the beginning. The skin was dry, peeling off, and it hurt. In a hypersensitive way, kind of like when you scald yourself.

This was painful, literally

So in addition to looking for my next HG cream for E1 (we ran out of Physiogel and didn't bother restocking), I needed something for my poor fingers.

I had initially bought a tub of John Plunkett's Eczema Cream. It was a weird little concoction with fish oil and therefore smelled godawful, but I had to return it after I realised it was expired. The chemist recommended MooGoo, but unfortunately, they were out of stock.

Now, I took that as a good sign of it's popularity and efficacy, and I wasn't put off looking for more stockists since we coincidentally were tasked to bring back some MooGoo Moisturising Cream for a friend (she wanted 4 bottles and everywhere we went, we only managed to get 1 or 2 bottles).

Anyhoo, I eventually found the cream (scroll down for specific locations) and tried it on myself, religiously applying it 2-3 times a day.

I thought it was a good cream, but the smell was slightly off-putting. So I went out and bought another tube, but this time in the old formula. So, these are the hauls:

Left - Old formula; Right - New formula

Ingredient-wise, they are quite different. Where the old formula has sage oil and chamomile, the new formula has elderberry, marshmallow, calendula and coconut oil. Both feature aloe vera, almond oil, olive oil and Vitamin E as the excipient ingredients.

Both have yummy ingredients

As mentioned, it was the smell that distinguished them for me. Where the old formula smells herbal, which I suspect is the sage, the new formula smells like a mishmash of ingredients and while not unpleasant, is not what could be described as pleasant. It reminds me of stale bread. If you can stand the first 5 min of it, it does dissipate after a while.

The new version (right) looks like coffee cream..mmm....not

The feel of each formula is different as well. Both, however, have medium consistency and is easy to spread. The new formula is greasier and takes longer to absorb, but it did feel more moisturising after the 5 min mark.

And that's probably what helped make a difference in my fingers. This is what it's like now, 2 weeks after the initial onset:

Almost normal

but still peeling

Note: I was using the new formula when I was still in Aus. Of course, this is actually not a fair comparison because I did not control for factors such as temperature, humidity and activity level (I was washing alot more dishes there, yes while on holiday - don't ask me why). But I did think that it helped to control the symptoms and prevented further peeling.

What sold me was when I touched E1's skin and it was remarkably softer and smoother, almost like E2's, who has been blessed with silky smooth toufu skin - obviously my genes. Even GY commented that E1's skin has been much better, even though it was only apparent when we returned to Sg.

Verdict: Ravenous Raving
This is the cream that I will stock up on and ask every friend who is coming back from Oz to get for E1. Since the moisturising effects of the new version appear more lasting than the old one, I will save the new version for him and keep the old one for my own use. He has developed a sweaty-boy-smell anyway and I don't think the odour of this cream is noticeable on him. For extremely dry areas, though, I would still use the new formula.

I got these creams from major chemists like Go Vita and Amcal, ranging 18-19 AUD for a 120g tube. If you live there, you could also easily get it online direct from the company for a good price.

For locals, MooGoo ships internationally with a shipping fee of 10 AUD. Stockists can also be found here. Take note that this is marketed here as Irritable Skin Balm. But if you are after this particular product, be sure to phone ahead as not all outlets may sell the full range. The price is also approximately 1.5 times that of Aus, after adjusting for exchange rate.