Body wash for dry skin

Olay Ultra Moisture Body Wash has the best record for dry skin: 32 of 33 shoppers said it left their skin soft or moisturized, and Dove Deep Moisture Body Wash is right behind at 28 of 29. Method Simply Nourish Body Wash has the weakest record here at 27 of 34, and 18% of its reviews mention irritated skin. Just three body washes cleared our bar for this page, so treat it as a short list.

  • 120 store reviews counted
  • Target shoppers
  • Jul 2018 to Sep 2026

Updated . How we count

Did it leave dry skin soft? What shoppers said
  1. Olay Ultra Moisture Body Wash 33 said either way
  2. Dove Deep Moisture Body Wash 29 said either way
  3. Method Simply Nourish Body Wash 34 said either way

Share of reviewers who stated an outcome for dryness. Ranked by the lower bound of a 90% confidence interval, so a product needs both a good share and enough reports to rank high.

Olay Ultra Moisture Body Wash Best record Olay Ultra Moisture Body Wash 32 of 33 say it left their dry skin soft See price & reviews on Amazon
What stands out

Scent gets praised on all three, from 45% of Olay reviews to 75% of Method reviews. Irritated skin is what sets them apart: it comes up in 18% of Method reviews, against 8% for Olay and 8% for Dove.

The ranking, product by product

Praise and complaints are the points reviewers repeat most, shown as a share of each product's counted store reviews.

1 Olay Ultra Moisture Body Wash

Olay

Ultra Moisture Body Wash

32/33 say it left their dry skin soft

Almost every shopper who said what happened was happy: 32 of 33. Smell is the main praise at 45%, and 15% call it gentle. Complaints are few, with 8% calling the scent bad or too strong and 8% saying it irritated their skin.

What buyers praise

  • Smells good 45%
  • Gentle 15%
  • Lathers well 10%

What buyers complain about

  • Bad or too strong scent 8%
  • Irritated skin 8%
Where buyers said it
  • Target 32 of 33
  • Brand site 5 of 5 shown, not counted
2 Dove Deep Moisture Body Wash

Dove

Deep Moisture Body Wash

28/29 say it left their dry skin soft

Close to Olay's record, with 28 of 29 shoppers saying it left their dry skin soft or moisturized. Smell is the main praise at 48%, and 12% call it gentle. Irritated skin comes up in 8% of its reviews. Reviews copied from the brand's own site are at 8 of 8, which we show but don't count.

What buyers praise

  • Smells good 48%
  • Gentle 13%

What buyers complain about

  • Irritated skin 8%
Where buyers said it
  • Target 28 of 29
  • Brand site 8 of 8 shown, not counted
3 Method Simply Nourish Body Wash

Method

Simply Nourish Body Wash

27/34 say it left their dry skin soft

Scent wins people over, with 75% praising the smell and 18% the lather. The weak spot is how it feels on dry skin: 7 of 34 shoppers said it left their skin dry, tight or itchy, and 18% of its reviews mention irritation. More shoppers weighed in on it than on the other two, and reviews copied from the brand's own site are at 9 of 9, which we show but don't count.

What buyers praise

  • Smells good 75%
  • Lathers well 18%
  • Gentle 13%
  • Good value 8%
  • Scent lasts 5%

What buyers complain about

  • Irritated skin 18%
Where buyers said it
  • Target 27 of 34
  • Brand site 9 of 9 shown, not counted

Where these numbers come from

The 3 products ranked here carry 105,947 reviews at Target. We read the newest reviews of each product (up to a thousand per listing), kept the ones that talk about dryness, and counted up to 40 per product, posted between Jul 2018 and Sep 2026.

A review counts only when the reviewer used the product themselves. We drop reviews written in exchange for a free product or a sweepstakes entry (0 on this page), and products that are no longer sold.

Target also shows reviews first posted on brands' own websites. We show them on product cards but never count them, because brand-site reviews run more positive than store reviews of the same products.

Because we searched for the problem, people who had it are overrepresented. Compare products with each other rather than reading a share as your own odds.

Skin type, skin tone and age splits use what reviewers chose on Sephora's review form (and age on Ulta's when given). We only show a split when enough reviewers fall on each side.

Amazon buttons appear only on products that most reviewers here say fix the problem (at least 60%, with enough reviews to trust it). Everything else gets no buy link.

An AI model labels each review against a fixed list of points, and we spot-check the labels before publishing. We publish counts, never the reviews themselves.

Read the full method

Product pages we read

  1. Olay Ultra Moisture Body Wash Target (40 reviews counted)
  2. Dove Deep Moisture Body Wash Target (40 reviews counted)
  3. Method Simply Nourish Body Wash Target (40 reviews counted)

Questions buyers ask

Which body wash works for dry skin?

Olay Ultra Moisture Body Wash has the best record (32 of 33), followed by Dove Deep Moisture Body Wash (28 of 29) and Method Simply Nourish Body Wash (27 of 34). Just three body washes cleared our bar, so that is the whole list.

Is Olay or Dove better for dry skin?

Reviewers rated them almost the same: 32 of 33 for Olay Ultra Moisture Body Wash and 28 of 29 for Dove Deep Moisture Body Wash. Both get praise for scent, at 45% and 48% of their reviews, so the choice may come down to which scent you like.

Does Method Simply Nourish Body Wash dry out skin?

Usually not: 27 of 34 said it left their dry skin soft or moisturized. It has the weakest record here, though, and 8% of its reviews call it drying while 18% mention irritated skin.

What if a body wash leaves my skin tight or itchy?

That is what we counted as a miss. Stop using it and try a different wash. A rash or itch that doesn't go away is worth showing to a doctor.

Related problems

Body wash Body wash for body acne Top pick: PanOxyl Acne Foaming Wash 10% Benzoyl Peroxide 141 buyer reports Body lotion Body lotion for very dry skin Top pick: Josie Maran Whipped Argan Oil Body Butter 245 buyer reports Body oil Body oil that isn't greasy Top pick: Palmer's Coconut Oil Body Oil 125 buyer reports Body scrub Body scrub that leaves skin soft Top pick: Tree Hut Moroccan Rose Shea Sugar Scrub 291 buyer reports

HiveTried earns a commission when you buy through the "See price & reviews on Amazon" buttons. It never changes the ranking: the order comes from buyer reports only, and a product gets an Amazon button only when buyers here say it works.