Nivea Cocoa Butter Body Cream

Between waking the kids up in the morning and putting them to bed at night, your skin is often the last thing on your mind. That's why a quick-to-apply body cream that penetrates the skin and provides a barrier against environmental elements can really help a busy mom or dad out when the cold weather comes. Enriched with cocoa butter and vitamin E, Nivea Cocoa Butter Body Cream impressed both us and parent testers alike by providing deep, all-day hydration while feeling lightweight on skin. With its rich cocoa scent and buttery consistency, this cream spreads smoothly over skin and absorbs quickly, so you have time to practice a little self-care no matter how rushed your mornings are.

In our lab, we put numerous body creams to the test, looking at everything from how easily it spread to the feel of each cream on our skin. We also had our parent testers give the creams a go to see how they held up in the real world. Any cream that scored over 80 percent in our lab and had the approval of at least 80 percent of our testers made our list of Today’s Parent Approved body creams. When we asked parent testers to rate Nivea Cocoa Butter Body Cream's quality and ease of use, they all described it as good or very good. While testers disagreed on the value of the cream based on its price (answers ranged from very good to somewhat poor), they all agreed the 439-gram container was the perfect size for their family. And all but one scent-sensitive tester said they would purchase it. Overall, the Nivea Cocoa Butter Body Cream left the majority of parent testers satisfied.

Nivea Cocoa Butter Body Cream comes in a plastic tub, so it's easy to scoop up the desired amount of cream onto your fingertips. A benefit of tub containers is that you can easily use a little dab, or even put extra cream back in the tub if you've taken too much (which is easy to do—a little of this cream goes a long way). The downside is that each time your fingers dip into the tub or put product back in, bacteria can be introduced, so it's really important to make sure you wash your hands first.

During our lab tests, we applied a dime-sized amount of the cream onto our skin and took note of how it felt one minute, two minutes, and six hours after application. We found the Nivea Cocoa Butter absorbed into our skin almost completely within the first two minutes (much faster than other creams we tested), creating a soothing, cooling sensation as it sunk in. Six hours later, our skin still felt soft and hydrated, with no greasy residue or stickiness. We were especially impressed when our parent testers reported noticeably softer skin after they had been using the cream regularly for two to three weeks, which proves a cream doesn’t have to be super thick to do the trick. Based on the ingredient list, all but one parent tester said they felt good about their kids also using this cream (the holdout tester neither agreed nor disagreed, she was simply unsure).

When it came to the scent of the Nivea Cocoa Butter Body Cream, our parent testers were split (often the case when it comes to scent). While some were fans of the cocoa-rich fragrance, one tester found the scent came on too strong. While the cream is quite fragrant when first applied, we found the smell does fade as the day wears on (the fragrance would not be strong enough to replace a body mist or perfume). Depending on the level of scent sensitivity in your family, you may want to keep this in mind—or sample a small amount of the cream before applying it to a larger area.

Final word

Our parent testers were impressed by Nivea Cocoa Butter Body Cream’s ability to provide both a lightweight formula and deep moisturization in one easy-to-use package. The majority of parent testers told us they have no problem recommending Nivea Cocoa Butter Body Cream to other families, and stood behind giving this cream the Today’s Parent Approved seal. Super spreadable and quick to absorb, we think Nivea Cocoa Butter Body Cream is a great option for families in need of a daily moisturizer that goes on quick and stays on the whole day through. Because really, who has the time to moisturize multiple times a day? Once a day is victory enough.