Yeah, if you are allergic to wool, you will still be allergic to merino. I have to go against the grain and say that I find merino wool, including Smartwool, to be a little itchy, but Smartwool is definitely less itchy than most. I also don't always find it to be a miracle fabric ... I can't stand wool in warm weather; my husband is crazy about wool hiking socks and lightweight wicking wool tops, but I have to go with lighter weight synthetics because I feel like I am going to die in even the lightest weight wool in the summer. And in the winter, I don't find it to be anywhere near as warm as synthetic fleece. Right now I am wearing two layers of SmartWool -- a lightweight and a midweight -- with another merino sweater over the top, and I'm about to go put a fleece on top because I am cold. And I am in the house! In California! With the heat on!

Possibly I am just a delicate flower, but I do prefer synthetics to wool pretty much every time. And I'd rather have something I can wash and dry 100 times without it pilling up or shrinking ... other than Smartwool, which can be dried, I find wool a pain in the butt to launder even though you don't have to do it very often. (Well, theoretically. I tend to spill a lot.) And we have moths.