It’s a dreadfully painful skin condition and super embarrassing when your a teenager, and I always get it on my face. I’ve gone through many cure-alls including watching my diet and even resorting to steroid creams when it got really bad. But the only thing that has kept it away is this dream cream. I read in one of Dr. James Duke’s books that hibiscus was good for eczema, and at that point I only had a bag of tea that contained hibiscus, so I steeped it and placed it on the sides of my nose for 20 minutes. It worked like a dream and for the next few days, I was completely itch and rash free. The only thing was I looked like Rudolph. The tea stained my nose this lovely reddish purple color that did not come off for days. Annoyed, but excited about the results I put in an order to Mountain Rose and came up with a smooth cream, that while light pink in color, did not stain my nose but still did the trick.
Eczema Dream Cream
3 tb hibiscus flowers
2 oz cocoa butter
Simmer flowers in 16 ounces of water.
Reduce until forms a sticky paste, about 2 ounces.
Heat cocoa butter in a double boiler and add hibiscus reduction.
Pour into sterile container and cool at room temperature.
Apply daily as needed.
The cocoa butter adds a little bit of moisture to the area as well, soothing those itchy burning sensations while the hibiscus is busy healing the broken skin.
For Mountain Rose Herbs Recipe Contest — bath and body entry
Do you use ground hibiscus, or do you use the whole flowers and strain them out?
Hi Melissa! thanks for stopping by. I just sorta crumble them up in my hand. So not ground, but not whole. Does that make sense?
Yeah, that makes sense, thanks! I checked out your site to look at your winning entry for the Mountain Rose Herbs contest- Congratulations!! And thanks for the great recipes. I am going to go get some cocoa butter so I can try this one out!
Do you know if hibiscus is good for psoriasis as well?
hi rachel! thanks for stopping by. i dont know about psoriasis but these things usually stay in the family of illnesses and they are related so perhaps?…i'd check James Duke's book out for more info.
I'm not sure if I understand the reduction process. Does that simply mean, boil it down until you are left with a sticky paste?
anon: you are right. but just a simmer, not a boil. i am so terrible at writing recipes. i shoot from the hip so much, i usually omit them, but this was for a contest, so i gave it a whirl.
first you make a really strong syrupy tea: put the hibiscus in a small pan with the water and simmer it down until it only about 1/8 of the liquid is left. it forms a sticky sryupy reddish black tar-like substance. it can take up to an hour. (like a balsamic reduction, if you've ever made those.)
then strain the hibiscus from the liquid.
you can make it less concentrated, like only simmer off 1/2 the liquid. you would just need to add a bit more of the fat and it might separate some.
alternatively, you could just marinate the herbs in olive oil for about 2 weeks in a sunny place, strain, and mix the oil with the fat in a 1 to 5 ratio. (1tb oil to 5 tb fat). this might be easier.
hope i didn't further confuse you. i'm working on writing better directions.
thanks for stopping by!
Hi Latisha! Wonder if hibiscus has anti-inflammatory properties or just healing help? I have been looking for recipes to handle the cracking skin thing I get in AZ this time of year. Probably should be making some comfrey infused oil but I wondered if adding hibiscus would help too…OM
hi! i think it is skin repair. it’s an old peruvian folk remedy so i’m not sure to be honest. for that desert winter chap, I’d probably go with a simple aloe vera rubbed on. or maybe some watery lotion heavy in vitamin e or evening primrose oil. i’ve also read soaking in pineapple juice helps with chapped skin. that’s where the skin care companies get the alpha-hydroxy acids they are always going on about. and mallow root, just since it’s all over the place right now so it’d be free and i love wild harvesting remedies, blend in blender or juicer and rub it all over.
funny you should mention this, the other day i was raving about this shea butter cream i made with a calendula infused olive oil to a friend and she tried it as her hands were red and worn from the winter chap and it didnt even penetrate her skin. over an hour later, it still hadn’t rubbed in. on me, it’s gone in an instant. her hands were really really dry. i’m olive skinned so i have a bit more moisture anyway. we were thinking, she’s an herbie too, that olive oil probably would have a hard time absorbing into super dry skin. lemme know what you try.
I am exploring eczema as part of my springfield sanctuary apprenticeship, this month, Latisha. It has been awhile since you wrote this, and I am wondering.. do you still find this a good helper? Thanks for the input! xoxxo
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actually yes! a friend of mine just made a cream using hibiscus but more a regular cream recipe mixing oil and tea style and it cleared up her 5 year old’s eczema within days. we decided it might be because hibiscus is a mallow and the demulcent properties of the herb is probably what helped.
creosote bush is also super amazing for eczema. but not available everywhere of course. i am very interested in this, would love to hear about your findings it’s a common complaint from mamas for their children. i usually say avoid dairy and wheat, increase omega 3s, root veggies/herbs, and chamomile or mallow cream like this one if they dont have access to creosote. but that doesn’t always work. i’d love to hear what you learn!
hi sweetheart! i am writing the post now and will include a link to this post in it:) thank you so much for sharing:) xxxxx
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