Eczema Cream Recipe

Ever since I came up with a great body cream recipe last month, I've been working on coming up with a recipe for some eczema cream.  I hear so many people mention this common skin problem, that I thought surely I could think of something natural and soothing.

I've become quite fascinated by all of the amazing and exotic butters and oils that are available online.  I also added to my challenge of finding the perfect ingredients, by making them friendly to those who also tend to suffer from peanut allergies.  I didn't know this until just recently, but those who suffer from nut allergies, also tend to not do well with skin care ingredients like Shea Butter!  Also, a lesser known ingredient that is an important one of my previously mentioned cream, Kokum Butter.  So that meant that I couldn't use either of those two butters as part of the eczema cream I wanted to make.

I found a really interesting butter from New Directions Aromatics called Ucuuba Butter.  It is said to have anti-inflammatory and antiseptic properties and be ideal for treating acne, eczema, and dry or irritated skin.  It's also considered to have anti-aging properties, which puts this butter at the top of my list to add to a moisturizing facial cream I intend to work on very soon!  It is brown in color, and has a very earthy smell to it as its made from the Ucuuba tree in Central and South America.

Next on my list to add was a liquid oil.  I found the perfect one at From Nature With Love!  It's called Karanja Oil.  It's a cousin to Neem Oil but less aromatic.  Or, so online info says.  To be honest, I thought it smelled.....grassy?  Perhaps?  This oil is made from the seeds of the Pongam Tree in India.  Karanja Oil has therapeutic qualities that have been used to treat many skin ailments.  Including dandruff, psoriasis, eczema, ulcers, AND it promotes wound healing.  

I then mixed in a small amount of coconut oil, sesame or safflower oil (it's a good source of vitamin E), a bit of water, some essential oils, emulsifying wax, and Grapefruit Seed Extract (as a preservative) and here's a pic of my final product.

The jury is still out as to whether or not it actually works, and more importantly to me, how acceptable the smell is.  It's distinctive.  To say the least.  While I don't necessarily think it smells BAD, it is just a very earthy smell.

Even with the essential oils that I put in, they just didn't completely cover the unusual smells of the butters.  Which, butters tend to have a stronger smell all on their own anyway.  Of course more natural butters and oils from trees will smell woodsy.  But, one of the main essential oils I used was Cedarwood because according to this list - it is beneficial at treating dermatitis, which is basically what eczema is.  Inflammation of the skin.  I also used Geranium Rose (analgesic, antiseptic, anti-inflammatory, and astringent to name a few), as well as Helichrysum (for dermatitis, eczema, irritated skin).  

I prefer to get most of my essential oils from either Mountain Rose Herbs, or through our Frontier Co-op for Aura Cacia.  In this particular recipe, I did not use pure Helichrysum.  I simply couldn't justify paying the high price just to try it in this recipe.  So I did opt for the diluted in jojoba oil Helichrysum from Aura Cacia.  They also sell a pure one that is not already diluted in a carrier oil, but I ordered the one from their line called Precious Essentials available for just such an occasion!  When you need a bit of a really expensive essential oil to be more affordable!  *IF* I continue to make this for my friends and it is beneficial, then I would opt for the pure oil in the future and use less of it.  But as a trial, I didn't want to sink the big bucks on the pure Helichrysum.

The emulsifying wax was the final touch to pull all the oils and water together to keep them from separating and make it actually a creamy consistency.

I used a double boiler to melt the butter and oils and emulsifying wax.  Pulled off the heat and slowly poured in the room temp to slightly warmed water.  Pulsed a few times with my immersion blender.  Let it cool for a few minutes and then added in the Grapefruit Seed Extract and essential oils.  Pulsed a few more times and then poured it into my containers.

As I get some feedback from friends I can tweak this a bit if it needs it.  But this is my starting point.