My oldest son has had eczema for most of his life, it started when he was around three months old.
He was prescribed a wash and cream from the GP, but to be honest it didn't work at all. My son grew out of his eczema on his own.
A year later it came back, but only on his inner and outer elbows instead of his whole body, like it'd been previously. It still bothered him a lot though. Sometimes he would scratch his skin so badly it would bleed.
Around that time I started getting into natural skincare and experimenting with different ingredients to get rid of my daughter's eczema (click here to read that post). I ended up making a body butter for her, but it never worked for my son (which is why I offer samples, to see if my products will work on you).
My son's elbows needed a product that would sit on top of his skin for a while before being absorbed, so I started working on different balms.
I knew his skin was sensitive so I avoided using essential oils, and other ingredients I knew his skin wouldn't like. But for some reason, the balms didn't work very well - only managing to calm the itchiness rather than cure him.
I'd started creating some bath soaks for my dad, who also suffers from dry skin. He really liked them. So, I decided to try making bath soaks for my son, because I realised his skin didn't like liquid soaps very much, and I'd never tried bar soap though I've heard it's good for dry skin.
As well as bathing my son in my bath soak, I would also rub some of it mixed with water onto his skin and leave it for a few minutes before washing it off. After that I'd moisturise his arms with the repairing treatment balm I'd made for my younger son (click here to read that post). Within a couple of weeks of using my body soak on my oldest son, his dry patches started fading and the itching reduced. I was so glad to have made such a huge improvement to his skin.
Along the way I also realised that for a cleansing product to really make a difference, it needed to work in harmony with the product used to moisturise the skin. If not, the two products could just be reversing the effect of the other.
The main ingredient I'd used in the bath soak was oatmeal and coconut milk.
Oatmeal is good for dry skin, because it contains antioxidants and anti-inflammatory properties which help to soothe dry, itchy skin. The beta-glucan contained in oatmeal creates a film on the skin keeping it protected and moisturised.
Coconut milk is also really great for dry skin because it is very moisturising and makes the skin soft and supple. Coconut milk also contains anti-inflammatory properties to soothe skin.
My bath soak will be available to purchase in the summer of 2018.
In my next post, find out my top 10 ingredients to help treat dry skin.