manuka essential oil Archives

Natural Eczema Treatment for Real Relief from Eczema & Dry Skin

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January 21, 2019 By Rebecca D. Dillon 9 Comments

If you’ve ever suffered from eczema then you understand how awful it can be. Finding relief from over-the-counter topical eczema treatments, however, can be a challenge. Often times, I’ve found, these products make my eczema worse. This natural eczema treatment is different.

Formulated using only natural ingredients known for their ability to help relieve inflammation, itching and dryness, my natural eczema relief balm offers real relief for your eczema or dry skin – with or without essential oils.

The struggle to find a natural eczema treatment that works.

You may remember my anti-aging serum recipe I shared two weeks ago. The carrier oils used in that serum are also incorporated into my natural eczema treatment. So if you’re looking for more ways to use those ingredients, this natural eczema relief balm is the perfect recipe!

While I’ve been lucky and haven’t struggled with eczema since eliminating most dairy products from my diet, not all of us are able to escape our eczema through diet alone. In fact, my dear friend Cathy, recently had her eczema flare up so badly, she ended up with open wounds from scratching. And, like most of us, she went through an array of over-the-counter eczema treatment products. None of which actually offered any relief from her symptoms. A few of them, in fact, actually made her skin burn. While others made the itching worse.

As I had plans to meet up with Cathy for Wine & Art Wednesday, I quickly threw together a natural eczema remedy for her irritated skin. My natural eczema relief balm worked fabulously on Cathy’s eczema. While the anti-aging serum (sans the essential oils) I also created the same day, did wonders for the eczema on her face.

Crafting a natural eczema relief balm recipe.

Since making my natural eczema treatment for Cathy, I’ve revised my natural eczema relief balm recipe three more times. The recipe I’m presenting you with today, is the result of those changes. This natural eczema remedy has the consistency of a rich, creamy beauty balm. It fully absorbs into skin after about a minute or so. In addition to soothing itchy and inflamed skin, it also moisturizes and protects skin while still allowing skin to breathe.

I formulated my natural eczema treatment with essential oils. However, if fragrances or essential oils irritate your eczema, you can simply omit them from my natural eczema relief balm recipe. The remainder of my eczema repair balm is made up of other primarily plant based, natural ingredients with the exception of lanolin and beeswax. These ingredients include skin conditioning shea butter and murumuru butter as well as rosehip seed, moringa seed and borage carrier oils. 100% vitamin E oil is also added for its ability to promote healing.

About the ingredients in my natural eczema treatment.

Every ingredient used for my natural eczema relief balm was chosen with care for its ability to remedy eczema. Following are details on the skin care benefits of some of these ingredients.

Borage Oil

Borage oil is one of the key ingredients in my natural eczema relief balm much like my anti-aging serum. It offers a variety of natural skin care benefits especially for those who suffer from acne, eczema, skin reddening and rosacea. This natural oil is suitable for even the most sensitive skin and is a superior moisturizer. A common treatment for dry skin and cradle cap, borage oil helps fight skin inflammation and dryness to promote skin health. (Learn more about borage oil here.)

Moringa Seed Oil

A nutrient dense carrier oil, moringa seed oil is another prize ingredient for my natural eczema treatment. Like borage oil, it has anti-inflammatory properties when used in skin care. While naturally occurring antioxidants help promote cellular turnover for healthy looking skin. Its incredible moisturizing properties help to hydrate maturing skin as well as ease the symptoms of eczema, dermatitis and psoriasis. (Discover more ways moringa seed oil is commonly used here.)

Murumuru Butter

Murumuru butter, similar to the carrier oils used in my natural eczema treatment, is also rich in essential fatty acids. It also contain pro-vitamin A. This makes this natural butter a popular product in anti-aging skin care formulations. In addition to its moisturizing properties, murumuru butter promotes moisture retention making it an especially useful addition when used for dry skin and eczema remedies. (Learn how to make a murumuru sugar scrub recipe for eczema and dry skin here.)

Manuka Essential oil

Manuka essential oil, like manuka honey, comes from the leaves of the popular New Zealand plant by the same name. This essential oil is non-toxic, non-irritating and non-sensitizing, making it suitable for all skin types. This also means it won’t irritate eczema prone skin. Like the other ingredients in my natural eczema relief balm recipe, this essential oil is also anti-inflammatory. It is commonly used to offer relief for itchy skin and dandruff, rashes and common skin diseases. (Learn more about manuka essential oil, and how to make a natural manuka deodorant recipe, here.)

Now that you know a little more about the natural ingredients that went into my natural eczema treatment, let’s get started making it!

Natural Eczema Relief Balm Recipe

Ingredients:

3 oz. unrefined shea butter
1 oz. emulsifying wax
1.5 oz. murumuru butter
.75 oz. cosmetic beeswax
.5 oz. rosehip seed oil
.5 oz. borage oil
.5 oz. pharmaceutical grade lanolin
.25 oz. moringa seed oil
.05 oz. vitamin E oil
20 drops manuka essential oil
20 drops patchouli essential oil
10 drops lavender essential oil

Instructions:

You will need a digital scale to weigh out the ingredients for this natural eczema treatment.

Begin by weighing out the shea butter, emulsifying wax, murumuru butter, lanolin and beeswax. Combine the ingredients in a double boiler and heat over medium low heat until all the ingredients have melted.

Turn off the heat. Then weigh out the rosehip seed oil, borage oil and moringa seed oil. Stir into the melted butters, waxes and lanolin. Now remove the ingredients from heat.

Add the vitamin E oil and essential oils. Stir to combine. Then pour into your containers of choice.

I used a combination of 2 oz. glass amber jars and 1 oz. white polypropylene thick wall plastic jars.

Allow your natural eczema relief balm to cool completely. Once it has solidified, screw the caps onto your containers.

Usage:

To use your natural eczema treatment, simply massage onto affected area as desired. Allow the balm to sink in. (This may take a minute or two.) Then reapply as needed throughout the day.

Wet wrap therapy for moderate to severe eczema.

For really bad eczema, I also recommend using this natural eczema relief balm in conjunction with wet wrap therapy. Wet wrap therapy is another natural eczema treatment for moderate to severe eczema.

Eczema wet wrap therapy creates a physical moist barrier for your skin. When used in conjunction with an eczema relief balm or cream, it helps the moisturizer penetrate skin more deeply. This natural eczema treatment can significantly improve your skin’s condition in as few as two days. Learn more about wet wrap therapy for your eczema, along with instructions, here.

More Natural Eczema Treatments

If you like my natural eczema relief balm recipe, then you may want to consider one of these other natural eczema treatments.

What’s your favorite natural eczema treatment? Share your success stories – or struggles with eczema – in the comments.

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Filed Under: Bath & Beauty Recipes, Health & Wellness, Lifestyle Tagged With: body balm recipe, borage oil, dry skin, dry skin balm, eczema, essential oils, healing balm recipe, home remedies, home remedy, lanolin, manuka essential oil, moringa oil, murumuru butter, natural remedy, natural skin care, rosehip seed oil, salve recipe, shea butter

Homemade Salve Recipe for Eczema with Honeybush Tea Infused Pumpkin Seed Oil

I may receive compensation from links on this site. See my disclosure policy.

September 8, 2017 By Rebecca D. Dillon

This homemade salve recipe for eczema is made using all natural ingredients including honeybush tea infused pumpkin seed oil. Prized in skin care for its ability to soothe skin irritation, honeybush tea is a wonderful pantry staple for whole body health both inside and out!

As someone who suffered from eczema throughout childhood and at times into adulthood, I know how challenging it can be to find something that calms itching and soothes irritation. Because of this, I formulated this homemade salve recipe so that it works to calm irritated skin and helps to restore and lock in moisture. Both pumpkin seed oil and honeybush tea are key ingredients that help make this happen.

What is Honeybush Tea?

Honeybush tea, a red tea that is similar in nature to Rooibos tea, offers tea drinkers a sweeter, smoother tea than Rooibos. Perfect for making caffeine free sweet tea, honeybush tea is packed with immune boosting antioxidants, including major phenolic compounds believed to boost the body’s natural defenses against infections and reduce inflammation. (Source.) In addition, there are studies that show that drinking honeybush tea could be beneficial in helping to prevent certain cancers.

Honeybush tea is also naturally rich in minerals including iron, potassium, calcium, copper, zinc, magnesium and manganese. When used in topical skin care applications, it helps to soothe and alleviate skin irritations such as eczema and rashes. (You can buy honeybush tea in over eight different varieties and flavors at Adagio Teas.)

For this homemade salve recipe, I infused honeybush tea in pumpkin seed oil. A highly nutritional carrier oil, pumpkin seed oil is sometimes referred to as “green gold” and is cold pressed from raw pumpkin seeds to preserve its benefits. Rich in essential fatty acids, antioxidants, vitamins, and sterols, this natural carrier oil contains Omega-3 and Omega-6 fatty acids, vitamins A and C, and zinc. It’s a naturally moisturizing yet non-greasy oil when utilized in skin care applications and has been historically used all over the world for healing purposes.

Honeybush Tea & Pumpkin Seed Homemade Salve Recipe

Ingredients:

1 oz. refined kokum butter
1 oz. refined shea butter
1.15 oz. white cosmetic beeswax
.5 oz. honeybush tea infused cold pressed pumpkin seed oil
.25 oz. pharmaceutical grade lanolin
12 drops manuka essential oil
12 drops carrot seed essential oil
18 drops lavender essential oil
5 drops vitamin E oil

Instructions:

Prior to making my homemade salve recipe for eczema, you’ll need to infuse honeybush tea in pumpkin seed oil. Mountain Rose Herbs has a great tutorial on how to make herbal infused oils along with a wonderful list of other herbs you can infuse along with their properties when used in skin care applications. Once your honeybush tea infused pumpkin seed oil is ready, you’re all set to create this wonderful homemade salve recipe.

Begin by using a digital scale to weigh out the kokum butter, shea butter and beeswax into a small glass Pyrex measuring cup or a scientific glass scientific beaker. Then gently melt these ingredients either in a microwave at 40% power or in a double boiler. Once melted, remove from heat.

Now weigh out the lanolin and stir it into the melted butters and wax until it has fully melted.

Follow with the honeybush tea infused pumpkin seed oil, weighing out the correct amount before adding it to the homemade salve mixture. Then mix well to fully incorporate all the ingredients.

Finally, using a dropper or graduated plastic transfer pipettes, add the essential oils and vitamin E. Stir to combine then pour into two 2 oz. straight sided amber glass jars with black phenolic lined caps. (I used glass amber jars from SKS Bottle & Packaging.) You should be able to fill each jar with 2 oz. each (by weight) of my honeybush tea & pumpkin seed salve.

Allow your jars of homemade salve to cool and solidify, then screw on the caps and label as desired for personal use or gifting. To use your homemade salve, simply remove desired amount and massage onto skin as needed to soothe eczema, rashes and dry or chapped skin or lips.

The beeswax and the lanolin work together in this homemade salve recipe to lock in moisture as well as to protect skin. While the honeybush tea, pumpkin seed oil, butters and essential oils add their own unique skin care benefits making this a great staple cold weather product.

If you’d like to recreate my honeybush tea & pumpkin seed homemade salve recipe to sell, you’ll need to follow good manufacturing practices (GMP) when making your product. You’ll find that the book, Good Manufacturing Practices for Soap and Cosmetic Handcrafters by Marie Gale, is a valuable resource if you’re just getting started making your own homemade soap and cosmetics.

In addition to GMP, you’ll also need to follow FDA guidelines for labeling your products. If you’re unsure about the rules and regulations regarding labeling cosmetics, the book, Soap and Cosmetic Labeling: How to Follow the Rules and Regs Explained in Plain English by Marie Gale, spells out everything you need to know to avoid getting a visit from the FDA.

For more great skin care recipes and homemade salve recipes like this one, be sure to follow my boards on Pinterest. You can also find more of my own homemade salve recipes on Soap Deli News blog here.

Also be sure to follow me on all of your favorite social media platforms including G+, Tumblr, Facebook, Twitter, Blog Lovin’, and Instagram. Or sign up to receive new posts to your email via FeedBurner so you never miss a post.

Filed Under: Bath & Beauty Recipes Tagged With: crafts, diy, fall, herbal tea, honeybush tea, lanolin, manuka essential oil, natural, pumpkin, salve recipe, skin care, winter

Homemade Moisturizing Facial Toner Recipe

I may receive compensation from links on this site. See my disclosure policy.

July 20, 2017 By Rebecca D. Dillon

Don’t let your skin dictate your look. Instead, conquer your skin’s unpredictability with this homemade moisturizing facial toner recipe! This homemade facial toner recipe is made with natural ingredients that help to remove excess oil and dead skin cells, while also balancing your skin’s PH levels to help prevent dryness and breakouts.

Homemade Moisturizing Facial Toner

Skin care can be complicated especially when you have no idea what your skin is doing. Combination skin, especially, can be confusing. And, as you age, maturing skin does all kinds of craziness too.

Because I have maturing, combination skin prone to hormonal breakouts, I needed a good toner that would tackle dryness, balance my oily t-zone and help prevent acne. All without drying out my skin in the process. So I came up with this homemade moisturizing facial toner recipe to do just that!

My homemade moisturizing facial toner recipe contains several key ingredients to get the job done and get it done right! It’s made with rooibos tea, unfiltered apple cider vinegar, calendula hydrosol, jojoba oil, a blend of natural essential oils and witch hazel extract. (I specifically used the witch hazel extract from Mountain Rose Herbs as it’s double distilled and only contains 14% alcohol for a more soothing product without the sting of store bought witch hazel.)

Why Rooibos Tea?

It’s been shown in studies that rooibos tea is able to sooth and help diminish a variety of skin conditions including eczema and acne when applied topically. In addition, as it is rich in superoxide dismutase – an enzyme necessary for the production of healthy skin cells – rooibos tea has also been found effective in fighting the appearance of aging.

Rooibos tea is also hypoallergenic, meaning it won’t irritate sensitive skin. And because it has natural antibacterial properties, applying rooibos tea to skin can both help to fight acne as well as aid in alleviating bacterial skin infections.

Ready to try this amazing homemade moisturizing facial toner? You can find my natural manuka & rooibos tea facial toner recipe below!

Homemade Moisturizing Facial Toner Recipe

(with Rooibos Tea & Manuka Essential Oil)

Ingredients:

2 oz. brewed rooibos tea
1 oz. witch hazel extract
1 oz. Bragg’s unfiltered apple cider vinegar
1 oz. calendula hydrosol
12 mL polysorbate 80
2 mL jojoba oil
1 mL manuka essential oil
1 mL lavender essential oil
1 mL lemongrass essential oil
8 drops tea tree essential oil

Instructions:

You’ll begin by brewing the rooibos tea for this recipe. To do so, place one teaspoon of rooibos tea into a disposable tea filter then pour 4 oz. of boiling filtered (or distilled) water over the tea bag. Allow to steep for five minutes, remove the tea bag, then cool the tea to room temperature.

Once the rooibos tea has cooled, measure out the rooibos tea, witch hazel extract, apple cider vinegar and calendula hydrosol and pour into a medium glass bowl.

Then, using a fresh graduated transfer pipette for each remaining ingredient, measure out and add the jojoba oil, polysorbate 80, and the essential oils. The polysorbate will cause a gel like mass in the bowl.

Simply mix well with a whisk to dissolve the gel. Keep whisking until your homemade moisturizing facial toner is once again liquid.

Now divide your homemade moisturizing facial toner between two 2 oz. amber PET Boston round bottles with a smooth black fine mist sprayer. Then label as desired for personal use. (You can find the same bottles with sprayers that I used at SKS Bottle & Packaging.)

If desired or for long term storage, I recommend also adding a preservative such as Phenoxyethanol to your homemade moisturizing facial toner once you’ve mixed all of the ingredients together and prior to pouring into your containers.

To use, spritz onto face after cleansing and gently massage into skin. Follow with a facial serum or your favorite moisturizer or day cream. (You can learn how to make your own hyaluronic acid serum here. Or you may also be interested in my anti-wrinkle green tea eye cream recipe, my coffee & black tea under eye cream recipe and my anti-aging night cream recipe.)

If you like my manuka & rooibos tea homemade moisturizing facial toner recipe, then you may also like my foaming ginger & turmeric face polish recipe. My foaming ginger & turmeric face polish recipe is wonderful for maturing skin and is crafted with a blend of natural carrier & essential oils prized for their antioxidant and anti-aging properties. You can find the recipe here.

Alternately, you may also like my foaming oat body scrub recipe. My foaming oat body scrub recipe is suitable for all skin types, including normal and oily skin. It’s homemade with skin soothing oat butter, tamanu oil and frankincense essential oil and makes a great substitute for your body wash. You can find that recipe here.

For more of my homemade skin care recipes, be sure to follow my Pinterest boards here. You can also follow me on G+, Tumblr, Facebook, Twitter, Blog Lovin’, and Instagram. Or sign up to receive new posts directly to your email via FeedBurner.

And, if you make your own bath & body products, be sure to add the hashtag #soapdelishowoff to your instagram posts for a chance to have your homemade products featured! I will be featuring your creations on Soap Deli News blog on my (semi-regular) weekend wrap up posts!

Filed Under: Bath & Beauty Recipes Tagged With: anti-acne, anti-aging, anti-wrinkle, beauty, beauty recipe, crafts, diy, face care, facial care, manuka essential oil, natural, rooibos tea, skin care, toner recipe

Manuka Oil Deodorant Recipe with Detoxifying Sea Clay

I may receive compensation from links on this site. See my disclosure policy.

July 12, 2017 By Rebecca D. Dillon

This manuka oil deodorant recipe is a great choice for anyone wanting to switch to a natural, non-irritating deodorant. Made with antifungal and antibacterial manuka essential oil as well as detoxifying, mineral rich sea clay, this natural manuka oil deodorant recipe fights body odor without synthetic or toxic ingredients and offers a fresh, uni-sex scent perfect for summer.

What is sea clay?

Sea clay is a dark greenish-gray clay derived from the ancient sea floor of the Dead Sea in Israel. (You are probably already familiar with Dead Sea salt which comes from the same location.) As such, this unique clay offers an array of skin care benefits in part to its rich magnesium, potassium, sulfate and calcium content. Commonly used as an ingredients face masks as well as a natural soap colorant, sea clay also possesses detoxifying properties that can help to absorb odors and wetness when used in deodorant.

Alternatively, sea clay is also used by some alternative health practitioners to treat fibromyalgia, likely due to the high magnesium content. While the science doesn’t support using clay to treat this illness, I have found that including magnesium in my homemade deodorants has helped lessen the symptoms and severity of my own fibromyalgia with continued use.

It is important to note, however, that the Dead Sea is receding at an alarming rate in part both to regular mining and global warming. (You can read more about the recession of the Dead Sea on Wikipedia here and BBC News here.) As such, if you prefer not to contribute to the recession of the Dead Sea by purchasing Dead Sea salt or Dead Sea clay, you can simply substitute the sea clay in my manuka oil deodorant recipe with bentonite clay which has similar properties. (I had some leftover sea clay that was purchased prior to the discovery of these articles.)

Why manuka essential oil?

The manuka plant is native to New Zealand. This is where both manuka honey and manuka essential oil are sourced. Manuka honey is used for its beneficial properties in both skin care and as a health food for its wellness and antibiotic properties. (Learn more about manuka honey here.)

While manuka honey comes from New Zealand’s bees, manuka essential oil is produced by steam distillation of manuka leaves. (Learn more about manuka essential oil here.) This non-toxic, non-irritating and non-sensitizing essential oil is generally safe for all ages to use and is commonly included in skin care applications for its beneficial antibacterial, antifungal and anti-inflammatory properties. As such, manuka essential oil is common in products that help to relieve itching skin and dandruff, rashes, common skin diseases and minor abrasions, as well as to ease pain in the muscles and joints.

I omitted the use of baking soda in my manuka oil deodorant recipe as it’s a common skin irritant for many, myself included. However, as with many of my past natural homemade deodorant recipes, I once again included magnesium hydroxide. Studies have shown that most adults have low levels of magnesium and as such including it in deodorant is an easy way to increase those levels. Sound good? Great! Let’s get started!

Manuka Oil Deodorant Recipe

Ingredients:

7 oz. arrowroot powder
3 oz. magnesium hydroxide
1 oz. Dead Sea clay (or bentonite clay)
2.5 oz. kokum butter
.5 oz. refined shea butter
2 oz. shea nut oil
2.5 oz. macerated carrot oil
1/4 teaspoon carnauba wax
.05 oz. manuka essential oil
.1 oz 5-fold lemon essential oil

Instructions:

You’ll need a digital scale to weigh all of the ingredients for my manuka oil deodorant recipe, except for the carnauba wax. You will need a measuring spoon to measure out the wax.

To make my manuka oil deodorant recipe with sea clay, begin by weighing out the shea butter and kokum butter into a large glass Pyrex measuring cup or glass bowl. Next, measure out the carnauba wax and add it to your container. Melt these ingredients in the microwave at 40% power until melted. (Alternately you can also use a double boiler.)

Once melted, weigh out the shea nut oil and the macerated carrot oil. (If you live in a particularly warm environment, I recommend reducing the amount of carrot oil to 2 oz. – 2.25 oz. The mixture should be just pourable.) Stir these oils into the melted butters and wax. If needed, you can gently heat the deodorant mixture again then mix well to combine.

While the manuka oil deodorant mixture is still hot, weigh out and stir in both the arrowroot powder, sea clay and magnesium hydroxide. Mix well with a non-metal utensil to combine.

Then follow with the essential oils, again mixing thoroughly to ensure they are fully incorporated into your manuka oil deodorant.

Now carefully pour your manuka oil deodorant into eight travel size 1.5 oz. brown paperboard push up tubes. (You can also halve this recipe if desired. Half the amount of manuka essential oil is .025 oz./1 gram and half the 5-fold lemon essential oil is .05 oz./1.4 grams.)

Alternately, for a regular sized deodorant, you also use around four silver deodorant tubes with domed caps or white deodorant tubes with flat caps.

If your deodorant starts to solidify during the process of pouring it into your containers, you can gently reheat the mixture.

Once your manuka oil deodorant has cooled and fully solidified – this can take 1-2 days depending on your container size and room temperature – cap the deodorant containers and label as desired.

If you are using the 1.5 oz. brown paperboard push up tubes, you can download the PDF for my free printable sea clay & manuka oil deodorant here. Then simply print the labels onto full size sticker paper, cut out the individual labels and apply as desired to your deodorant containers. (These labels are free for personal use and gifting only.)

The clipart for my manuka oil deodorant labels was purchased from Kenna Sato Designs. I specifically used the Crystals, Diamonds and Minerals clipart found here if you’d like to create your own similar custom labels.

Not quite ready to make your own manuka oil deodorant? You can buy a natural orange & vanilla manuka oil deodorant from Skin Craft Organics.

For more of my natural homemade deodorant recipes, including my palmarosa + lime natural deodorant recipe with aloe vera oil pictured above, visit Soap Deli News blog here.

Want to make my manuka oil deodorant recipe to sell? Then you’ll need to label your deodorant containers appropriately to meet state and federal laws. If you’re unsure about the rules and regulations regarding labeling, I highly recommend the book, Soap and Cosmetic Labeling: How to Follow the Rules and Regs Explained in Plain English, by Marie Gale.

For more great skin care recipes from Soap Deli News blog be sure to follow me on Pinterest, G+, Tumblr, Facebook, Twitter, Blog Lovin’, and Instagram. Or sign up to receive new posts to your email via FeedBurner so you never miss a post.

Filed Under: Bath & Beauty Recipes, Printables Tagged With: bath and body, crafts, deodorant recipe, deodorant stick, diy, health, manuka essential oil, natural, printable labels, printables, sea clay, skin care, vegan, wellness