My husband and I moved back to my hometown about 10 years ago. Moving back to a very dry climate for the first time in almost 10 years caused me to have one of the worst eczema flare-ups I had ever had. Small towns come with good old-fashioned small town doctors and I returned to my parent’s family doctor. I have struggled with eczema for years, at my family doctor, he came into the exam room and he was chuckling as he told me that he looked at my history and the first time I had come to see him about my eczema I was 3 months old. My neck chest, face, bends of my arms and legs were all covered in an itchy peeling bright red rash. The doctor prescribed a steroid cream and hydrocortisone for my face sent me on my way. On my drive home, I thought, I have been struggling with this my whole life and I don’t want to continue to slather steroid cream on my body for the rest of my life! So I went out and bought some colloidal oatmeal lotion and used it daily on my whole body. I took a closer look at the products I was using around the house, laundry detergent, hand soap, cleaning supplies. I changed my makeup and my whole skincare routine.
Eczema is said to be genetic, it causes inflammation of the skin in large or small patches, it blisters, itches, hurts and cracks. If your parents have it you are more likely to have it, if you have hay fever you are more likely to have it, I was two for two on the likely to have it category. You can never get rid of eczema, you can manage it, treat it and it will disappear for a while and then pop back up whenever it wants to. Over the last 10 years I have found what products really work for me and what doesn’t. In general if it comes in contact with my skin and the ingredient list is long and I can’t pronounce most of the things on it, toss it out and find something better. So I have compiled a list of my favorite products, this isn’t all encompassing and I am always looking to improve, but these are my favorites right now. Maybe you don’t struggle with eczema but you just want more natural products in your house, girl run out and grab this stuff!
1. Aveeno Eczema Therapy Moisturizing Cream
This is one of the first products I bought and it really helped me turn the corner, I used it on my face around my nose and it totally cleared up the eczema on my face, I don’t know that I would necessarily recommend it to the Average Joanne as a face cream. But I do still use it religiously as a hand and body lotion, I have a bottle of this lotion in my bathroom, in my car, at my desk at work and stashed who know how many other places around the house. It is really thick and takes a while to absorb and smells like what it is, oatmeal. That turns some people off, but if you have really dry skin, itchy skin or struggle with Eczema it is the best. Without this I would still be using prescriptions and slathering steroids all over my body. You can get it in just about any grocery store or pharmacy or order it online here.
2. MILK Cleanser from Makscara Beauty
I know, I know I have talked about this before, but I truly believe that we should all stop washing with harsh foaming cleansers that dry out our skin. When you have eczema, anything that dries out your skin is especially bad. For a long time I used a Dove bar as my face wash, and it worked pretty well because it is a moisturizing soap, so it doesn’t dry out your skin as much as most soap. However, at some point I realized why am I stripping my natural oils and then struggling to add enough back in to have hydrated skin. MILK Cleanser is made from, you guessed it milk, it also contains honey, beeswax (read my post about the skin benefits of honey) and vitamin E among other ingredients. It feels more like lotion as you gently rub your face, but it works like magic and has helped clear up breakouts. For those of you that are used to having that tight clean feeling skin, this might be a difficult transition and your face may freak out, because it is so used to overproducing oils to try and replace what you are stripping away. That extra oily time is worth it I promise! Your skin will get back to producing the appropriate amount of oil and you won’t miss foaming cleansers at all. Pick up MILK cleanser or the whole Tres Leches skincare system on my site.
3. Charlie’s Soap – Laundry Powder
I also use the Laundry Booster for hard water, the Non-Chlorine Oxygen Bleach and the Pre-Spray from this brand. Now just let me say, my husband is a cowboy, just think about that for a hot second, think about the things that come home on a cowboy’s clothes. It is nasty, that is what comes homes on a cowboy’s clothes. I also have a toddler. Trust me, 1 tablespoon of this laundry powder kicks but! It doesn’t leave any buildup on my clothes and with eczema that is a nightmare, I used popular orange bottled brand a few times and everywhere that my clothes were in close contact with my skin I got a rash. For those of you that love that orange bottle, yep I know who you are I can smell you coming, the non-smell of Charlie’s soap may throw you off but I assure you will save money and be happy that you are being nice to your body and the environment. I get it from my local co-op, but you can also find it online.
4. Wool dryer balls
Ok let’s keep rolling with the laundry theme. I just want to say, I HATE dryer sheets. I know hate is a strong word, but it this case it is absolutely appropriate. Dryer sheets are a menace to society or maybe just my sanity. They wind up on the couch, under the bed on the floor in the laundry room, stuck in my sheets, it’s like they will never go away! Dryer sheets are also a nightmare for people with eczema, they contain fragrances, heavy fragrances and according to the National Eczema Association, fragrances cause up to 40% of allergic reactions to cosmetic products. So for me dryer sheets mean itchy skin. Wool dryer balls to the rescue! They fight static cling without the nasty fragrance! You don’t have to keep buying disposable dryer sheets, because wool dryer balls will last forever! For those of you who are used to super fragrant laundry in order to know it is clean, you can add a few drops of essential oils right on the dryer ball and you can even change up the sent with the load or the season. Pick them up at target or you can get the same ones I have from Amazon.
5. Thieves Household Cleaner from Young Living
Cleaners with harsh chemicals are hard on my hands and these days that is the only place I regularly have eczema. Cleaning the kitchen sink or just wiping down the counters after breakfast I don’t want to subject my hands to harsh chemicals that will dry out my skin and cause cracked dry skin and blisters from eczema. Thieves is great! It smells great, it comes concentrated so you can decide how much a job will call for. It is made with essential oils and I feel safe using it where my daughter eats or letting her help me clean the counters. The Thieves line also has a dish soap and I can’t wait to try it, washing dishes is so hard on my hands and finding dish soap without harsh foaming cleansers is difficult. If you are brand loyal to a different essential oils brand, I am sure they will have something similar. I love the smell of Young Living’s Thieves cleaner so go grab some.
6. Goat Milk Soap from Bend Soap Company
I was recently told about this company and I quickly fell in love with all their products (well I have only tried a few so maybe not all of them and I’m sorry but natural deodorant just doesn’t cut it for me!). If you head over and check out their ‘Our Story’ page, you will find out that they started the company because their son suffered from eczema. They also REALY explain eczema, so if you want more info on what causes it and how it affects everyday life it is a great read. Their soap is awesome, they even have a page for the best all natural products for eczema. I use their bar soap now in my bathroom and their Milk Bath for bath time, my daughters and mine. The ingredients are few and I can pronounce every word! Everything is made from milk from goats that they raise. If you like scented soap, all of the scents come from essential oils. Check out their website and get a bar of soap or 3 or 4.
There are all kinds of lotions and ointments and prescriptions out there for the treatment of eczema, but if you don’t take a closer look at all the products that come into contact with your skin directly or indirectly you will be constantly fighting a losing battle. For years I just tried to treat the symptoms without really thinking about why my symptoms were so bad. When I started thinking about prevention rather than treatment my life improved. I still have a long way to go and one of the things that I need to work on is diet, there are certain foods that can cause inflammation and eczema flair ups. I am always a work in progress, just trying my best for my health and the health of my family.