Tubby Todd products are generally considered safe and low-toxicity, especially by the standards of baby skincare. The brand’s most popular products score a 1 or 2 out of 10 on the EWG Skin Deep hazard scale, where 1 is the lowest possible risk. The ingredient lists lean heavily on plant-based extracts and avoid some of the most commonly flagged chemicals in children’s products, though the full picture has a few nuances worth understanding.
What’s Actually in Tubby Todd Products
The brand’s flagship product, the All Over Ointment, is registered with the FDA as an over-the-counter skin protectant. Its active ingredient is 1% colloidal oatmeal, a well-established treatment for dry, irritated, or eczema-prone skin. The rest of the formula is built around beeswax, glycerin, jojoba esters, and a collection of botanical extracts: green tea leaf, cucumber, honeysuckle, mango, and avocado. Several of those extracts are certified organic.
The ointment uses honeysuckle flower extract as a natural preservative alternative, which is how the brand avoids synthetic preservatives in that particular product. The base is rounded out with ingredients like caprylic/capric triglyceride (a coconut-derived moisturizer), cetyl and stearyl alcohol (fatty alcohols that help with texture, not the drying kind of alcohol), and a yeast ferment filtrate that supports skin barrier function.
The Preservative Question
This is where it gets slightly more complicated. While the All Over Ointment avoids synthetic preservatives, not every Tubby Todd product does. The Everyday Lotion line, the mineral sunscreen, and the detangler all contain phenoxyethanol. This is a widely used preservative in skincare, and it’s generally recognized as safe at the concentrations used in cosmetics (typically under 1%). It’s far less controversial than parabens or formaldehyde-releasing preservatives, and regulatory bodies in both the U.S. and EU permit it in products for all ages.
That said, some parents specifically seek out phenoxyethanol-free products, particularly for newborns. If that’s your priority, the All Over Ointment and several other Tubby Todd products fit the bill, but you’ll want to check individual ingredient lists rather than assuming the whole line is preservative-free.
EWG Safety Scores
The Environmental Working Group’s Skin Deep database rates cosmetics on a 1-to-10 hazard scale based on their ingredient profiles. Tubby Todd products consistently land at the safest end of that scale:
- All Over Ointment: Score of 1
- Everyday Lotion (Fragrance-Free): Score of 2
- Baby Mineral Sunstick SPF 30: Score of 1
- Sweet Cheeks Diaper Paste: Score of 1
- Mama Nipple Balm: Score of 1
For context, a score of 1 or 2 falls in EWG’s “low hazard” category. Many mainstream baby lotions and ointments score in the 3-to-5 range, so Tubby Todd performs well relative to the broader market. The fragrance-free lotion’s slightly higher score of 2 likely reflects the inclusion of phenoxyethanol, though a 2 is still considered very low risk.
What the Brand Leaves Out
Tubby Todd formulas do not contain parabens, phthalates, sulfates, mineral oil, or synthetic fragrances. These are the ingredients that tend to concern parents most. The brand also avoids petrolatum (petroleum jelly), which, while not inherently dangerous, can be contaminated with polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons depending on how it’s refined.
The scented versions of the Everyday Lotion use fragrance, but the brand offers fragrance-free options across most product categories. If you’re buying for a baby with sensitive or reactive skin, the fragrance-free versions and the All Over Ointment are the safest bets.
How It Compares to “Non-Toxic” Claims
There’s no regulated definition of “non-toxic” in the skincare industry. Any brand can use the term on packaging without meeting a specific standard. What you can evaluate are the actual ingredients, third-party safety ratings, and whether a product avoids known irritants or endocrine disruptors. By those practical measures, Tubby Todd sits in the cleaner tier of baby skincare. It’s not a perfectly minimalist formula (no commercial lotion is), but the ingredients are well-established, the preservative choices are among the mildest available, and the EWG scores back up the brand’s safety positioning.
If your child has known allergies to any botanicals like mango or avocado, patch-test first. Plant-based doesn’t automatically mean allergen-free, and the All Over Ointment contains several fruit extracts that can trigger reactions in sensitive individuals.