Shea Butter has been a staple in our household since the birth of our first daughter. As our baby girl thrived, she also became highly sensitive to both foods and environmental allergens. By five months of age, her entire body was covered with a less common type of eczema; follicular eczema, meaning her millions of hair follicles would become inflamed & aggravated for weeks on end. Her skin texture felt like a cat’s tongue or like sand-paper. Scratching led to multiple impetigo outbreaks which led to scarring skin.

Many recurrent trips to the pediatrician as well as a pediatric dermatologist proved to be frustrating & inconsistent. Part of the problem is that eczema is such a tricky condition. There’s no cure and there’s no known cause for the disease, which makes treatment even harder. From a medical standpoint, there are only so many prescription creams on the market, and they’re only for short term use. Many have side effects and are immune-suppressors.

We were feeling somewhat desperate to find relief for our infant’s condition, and although we are holistically-oriented (as is our pediatrician), we found ourselves trying the prescribed ointments. Our baby reacted to the very first ointment we tried, which made her eczema worse. (I suspect is was the combination of alcohol and lanolin) So I reverted back to my old arsenal of botanicals and butters and began my personal “research and development”.

I tried every imaginable product at every health food store I could find. Some products did offer her relief, but the effects were only temporary or didn’t work again a second time. Many contained mineral oil or irritants like lanolin or other ingredients that weren’t appropriate for babies’ delicate skin.

I finally relied on a daily regimen of full body Shea Butter applications after each bath and shower. This was the most effective of any other botanicals we’d attempted, and her eczema cleared up within days. The patches of skin that were starting to scar (purplish colored skin) completely healed. It was such an emotional time for us. She’d suffered with follicular eczema for months, and now we’d finally found a consistent solution.

Our oldest daughter is allergic to just about everything under the sun, so we can’t realistically eliminate all of her allergens, such as her best friend (our cat), the chlorine in the pool (she’s on swim team), the grass outside, many fruits and wheat to name a few. However, even with exposure to many of her allergens, we’ve been able to prevent eczema flare-ups with the daily use of the Shea Butter. When her skin does start to flare-up, using more ample amounts of Shea completely prevents a full outbreak of eczema.

She’s almost six years old now, and like most six year olds, prefers to do everything on her own. She’s learned how to emulsify and apply the Shea Butter all by herself and takes pride in caring for her skin, even at this young age. Our youngest daughter is also a budding Shea Butter connoisseur, as enjoys receiving her daily Shea Butter massages. In fact, everyone in our household uses Shea Butter for general moisturizing purposes to insect bites and skin irritations.

This is how Shea Butter was introduced into Brown Bag Botanicals. I started recommending it to friends, colleagues and clients who had their own challenges and issues with skin sensitivities with themselves and with their children, and Shea Butter has always offered deliverable results. It is the most versatile and therapeutic botanical that I’ve experienced to date, and is safe for infants to adults. I still use it for therapeutic massage and body treatments in conjunction with other healthful botanicals. For additional information about Shea Butter,
 please contact us at info@brownbagbotanicals.com