Poor Landon has struggled with eczema his whole life, and I finally, after 5 years of the battle, decided to try making my own, natural homemade salve with essential oils. I've been seeing how much my essential oils have been helping my skin and I know that some contain incredible healing, anti-inflammatory and anti-bacterial properties so I finally set aside the time to make this and we're SO thrilled with the result.
This recipe is more of a
salve - which by definition is a fatty semi-solid oil-based mixture and what most homemade recipes on the Internet actually are (not
creams, which are water-based and contain emulsifiers and preservatives). So this is a bit harder/thicker and when massaged onto your hands or body it dissolves into your skin. It can liquefy if stored in a warm place, so if you live in a warm climate and that is too messy for you, you can store it in your refrigerator to keep the hardener salve texture. Typically any room that is 72 degrees or below will keep it at a really nice consistency.
Please note that this is not a
cure for eczema, but that it has helped us keep it at bay. Eczema can be caused by a variety of other triggers including:
- food allergies, commonly, dairy, nuts, eggs, soy and wheat (we cut milk out of Landon's diet when his flare-ups were REALLY bad like bleeding open sores bad and it made a huge difference).
- stress, which is not a cause but can make symptoms worse
- hormonal changes
- poor digestion
- low stomach acid
- a weak immune system
- a family history of allergies and eczema
Eczema likely surfaces because something internally is off balance, and your skin is affected because your system is trying to detoxify itself. So addressing your or your child's
overall health should be your primary concern to really
end the flare ups.
Many store-bought eczema creams are petroleum-based, which means they’re not environmentally friendly and definitely
not as good for skin as their marketing claims. (You guys probably already knew that, but if you’d like to read more, check out
this article). The problem with
steroid creams, which are almost always prescribed to eczema patients, is that they don’t get to the root of the problem. They are topically applied and trigger specific hormones in the body to
inhibit the allergic response. Becoming dependent on these creams comes with side-affects, and we really don't want to be putting a lot of steroids on our kids' little bodies and delicate skin.
So we've been using this salve for about a month now and it's been really amazing. There are only 2 ingredients in it -- (organic, unrefined) coconut oil and shea butter, along with lavender eo, tea tree eo, and frankincense eo, all known for their amazing anti-inflammatory, anti-bacterial and healing properties.
What You Need:
- a double boiler
- 1/2 cup raw, unrefined coconut oil
- 1/2 cup raw, unrefined shea butter (I used and would recommend
this one from Better Shea Butter on Amazon).
- 15 drops lavender essential oil
- 15 drops tea tree essential oil
- 10 drops frankincense essential oil
Directions:
1. Using a double boiler or similar setup (can use a small pot within a larger pot), melt down the shea butter and coconut oil until they’re combined.
2. When the coconut oil and shea butter are in a liquid state, take off from the heat and let cool for a minute before adding the lavender, frankincense and tea tree oils. Stir to combine.
3. Continue to allow your mixture to cool and it will begin to solidify. If, like me, you are impatient, you can put the solution in the refrigerator. When your solution has thickened up, but is still liquid, give it the first round of mixing. As the solution solidifies, mix every ten minutes or so, until it is at your desired solid state (similar to a softer lotion consistency). Once its at your desired consistency, transfer to a mason jar or other container or jar.
4. You can store this at room temperature or in the refrigerator, depending on how solid you would like it to remain.
5. Apply sparingly at first, as with any new skincare cream, and then apply as liberally as needed if your skin reacts well to it.
Some Other Helpful Tips on Combatting Eczema:
– Keep the skin moisturized. Use raw shea butter and/or coconut oil in addition to the homemade eczema cream, if needed.
– Limit baths (especially in the winter).
– If using commercial dairy products cut them out. If we use raw milk products or other non-dairy products like almond milk, it tends to keep Landon's eczema at bay.
– Refrain from using commercial detergents. I haven't gotten around to making my own (yet!) but for now we use detergents that are free of any dyes or scents. You can find them in any cleaning aisle! This has helped immensely with my husband's eczema as well as Landon's.
I hope this helps you guys! And of course......this item is now up in my etsy shop :) So if you don't feel like making yourself head on over there to purchase your own. And as with all my products, I offer 100% guarantee, so if you're not happy with the product for any reason, I'll refund you 100% :)
