Recognize this? Eczema. I have been plagued with it as long as I can remember. My dad has it, so I know it's one of the gifts he passed down to me, but I also know it is exacerbated by stress, allergies, and heat. Two of which, living in the desert, are hard to avoid. The other, well I'm a bit type-A so that could be a whole other blog!
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
