Eczema file: naturally soothe your skin

To learn more about the physiology of eczema

The epidermis (the outermost layer of skin on our body) is itself composed of five layers, the outermost of which is called the horny layer, or stratum corneum. The stratum corneum is composed of cells tightly bound together by a lipid "cement" secreted by the layer of the epidermis below it (the granular layer, or stratum granulosum). The structure created by these cells and the substances that bind them is called the "skin barrier"; it is this very thin layer that plays a huge role in skin health. It allows the skin to retain moisture by keeping water inside the epidermis, and provides protection by preventing harmful microorganisms, allergens, and irritants from penetrating the epidermis.

The cells of the granular layer are also very important to the skin's structure; first, they contain tonofilaments: filaments made of keratin found inside the cells that contribute to cell cohesion, a bit like scaffolding. Furthermore, these cells produce lipid substances, such as ceramides, which bind the cells of the stratum corneum together. Finally, they produce profilaggrin, a protein with a very important role in the impermeability of the epidermis. Profilaggrin is broken down into filaggrin (for FILament AGGRegating proteIN) which in turn binds the cells of the granular layer by attaching to the tonofilaments. The granular layer cells flatten and migrate toward the outside of the epidermis to form the stratum corneum. Fascinating!

What is the link to eczema? People suffering from eczema may have a genetic mutation that prevents the formation of profilaggrin, which makes the stratum corneum more porous than it should be. If the barrier is porous or permeable, water escapes the epidermis, making the skin very dry, and environmental irritants have free rein to penetrate our skin.

Ingredients of choice to relieve eczema

As we mentioned, every person is unique and may react to a product or ingredient recognized as harmless, or, conversely, be insensitive to a known irritant. This is why we recommend testing each recipe on a small area of your skin and waiting 48 hours before using the product on a larger area. It would be a shame to make a liter of cream and smear your whole body with it before realizing it doesn't suit you!

Aloe vera gel

Emollient, soothing, moisturizing, and humectant (we talk about humectants a little further on!), aloe vera gel can be applied directly to the skin for a quick solution to dryness and itching.

Some people use our recipe for flaxseed gel for hair as a moisturizer for atopic skin and have shared their good results with us!

Vegetable oils

We choose nourishing, regenerating, soothing, and healing oils, such as sunflower oil, jojoba oil, hemp oil, camelina oil, rosehip oil, borage oil, and evening primrose oil. They can be applied directly to the skin or be part of a cream, ointment, balm, or body butter recipe.

You can also use oil macerations: oils in which medicinal plants have macerated to absorb their benefits. To relieve itching and inflammation, calendula oil macerate (Calendula officinalis) is the first choice, but other plants are interesting, such as German chamomile (Matricaria recutita), plantain (Plantago major or Plantago lanceolata), St. John's wort (Hypericum perforatum), and yarrow (Achillea millefollium).

Vegetable squalane

Extracted from olive oil, squalane is a premier emollient for restoring the skin barrier. It can be applied directly to eczema patches or used in a recipe just as you would use a vegetable oil.

Oats, in all its forms

Colloidal oatmeal (an extremely fine powder of oat flakes) is a well-known remedy for relieving eczema, either in a bath or as a poultice.
The oil macerate of oats, made from an oil mentioned above and oat flakes, combines the properties of the oil used and the oats and can replace pure vegetable oil in your recipes, just like oat oil and oat butter.

Natural humectants

Humectants are substances that attract and bind water in tissues, which helps relieve dry and/or dehydrated skin. Aloe vera is a well-known humectant, as is flaxseed gel, appreciated as much for the skin as for the hair! Glycerin and honey also belong to this category. Aloe and flaxseed gel can be applied directly to the skin before a body serum, butter, or cream. Glycerin and honey can dry out the skin when used pure; we recommend adding them to a recipe, like our velvety butter or our honey ointment. You can also add a few drops of glycerin or honey to your cream before applying it.

Ceramides

Ceramides, naturally produced by our skin, form about 50% of our skin barrier. In people suffering from atopic eczema, there is a decrease in the production of ceramides, which is why it is recommended to use products that contain them. There are ceramide extracts on the market to add to our recipes, but some ingredients contain them naturally, such as jojoba oil, shea butter, oat oil and oat butter, and sunflower oil, among others.

Essential oils

Essential oils and eczema are really a matter of trial and error. Some are irritating for some people, while others will bring great relief.

Remember that you should never apply pure essential oils to the skin; they must be diluted in an oily base (body butter, ointment, moisturizing cream...) in a proportion of about 1% for sensitive skin in body products. Remember that at the level of eczema patches, the skin is much more porous than it should be, so you can further decrease the concentration of essential oils to between 0.25% and 0.5%. You can always add more essential oils to a preparation, but you cannot take them out! So start with a smaller proportion, even if you have to add more later. Base yourself on the Tisserand Institute dilution chart to know how many drops of essential oils to add to your recipes.

Here are our top choices:

Yarrow (Achillea millefolium)
Ho wood (Cinnamomum camphora linaloliferum)
German chamomile (Matricaria recutita)
Roman chamomile (Chamaemelum nobile)
Rose geranium (Pelargonium graveolens)
Helichrysum (Helichrysum italicum)
True lavender (Lavandula officinalis)
St. John's wort (Hypericum perforatum)
Palmarosa (Cymbopogon martinii)