If you have eczema, you probably experience flakiness, dryness, and painful skin. Cassandra understands how bothersome this can be because eczema and psoriasis run in her family, and it wasn’t until the stress of the pandemic that Cassandra started having flares. And although eczema is not a constant thing for her, she’s worked with people who live long-term with eczema and psoriasis. Throughout her experiences with eczema patients, she’s looked at ingredients lists and medical papers to find out what actually works, and here she has compiled some of the best products for eczema-prone skin, not just based on what she thinks, but based on The National Eczema Association’s standards and other people’s reviews. The little “e” on products stands for the eczema association which is a group of people, experts, doctors, and dermatologists who actually study, understand eczema, and have looked at products to make sure these products work. In this blog, we will cut through the Tik Tok hype and talk about products that truly give relief to the skin.
Pacifica Beauty 100 % Vegan Ceramide Barrier Repair Extra Gentle Face Wash, Daily Facial Cleanser - $10
Pacifica has an entire eczema product line approved by the eczema association. This line is fragrance-free, vegan, and made of ceramides. It is gentle, luxurious, and it imparts moisture to the skin.
Inkey List Oat Cleansing Balm -$10.99
The Inkey List is a dermatologist-tested line, and they’ve created a cleansing balm that is non stripping and does not leave an oily film. Sometimes, balms can be a bit greasy, and that can irritate eczema-prone skin. However, this balm is not. It cleans the skin without overly stripping. If you have eczema patches and flakes, it cleans those off without scrubbing at the skin. While this cleanser is not an exfoliant, the ceramides penetrate into those deeper layers of the skin to nourish and moisturize. It gives a non-oily, internal shield of protection. It does not coat the outside of skin or leave a film on the skin, but it hydrates those inner layers of the skin. Cassandra can’t recommend this enough.
Pacifica Vegan Ceramide Hydration Fill Undereye & Smile Line Jelly Patches -$7
Pacifica says these eye patches are for sensitive skin. Cassandra has spoken before about her dislike for eye creams, but she actually doesn’t hate eyepatches because they apply pressure to the under-eye area, unlike most eye creams. Eye patches are different, and she likes the way they work. Unfortunately, if you have eczema, eye patches can be really unfavorable. When you have eczema around the eye area, that can be very itchy and inflamed, and sometimes it can be triggered or exacerbated skincare products. This is called a contact dermatitis flare-up, and a lot of eye products tend to cause this because they’re overly fragranced or have dyes and pigments.
On top of that, a lot of these eye products don’t actually have ingredients that are good for the eyes. Instead, they just add sparkle to the under eye area. However, these ones from Pacifica are different. They are fragrance-free jelly patches that truly get the job done. They’re filled with ceramides, they’re dermatologist tested, and they’re sensitive skin safe. It’s probably one of the only eczema-safe eye products that Cassandra would recommend.
Colorescience Total Eye Hydrogel Treatment Masks -$74
Pacifica Beauty Ceramide Barrier Repair Daily Facial Moisturizing Cream -$18
Even though Pacifica does have an undereye cream, Cassandra uses her ceramide barrier repair daily facial moisturizing cream as an under-eye cream
Pacifica Beauty, 100% Vegan Ceramide Barrier Repair Under Eye Cream for Fine Line -$15.99
Cassandra thinks this one is very similar to the moisturizer so she just uses the eye patches.
Skinfix Eczema+ Hand Repair Cream - $20
Skinfix has an eczema safe line which includes the Dermatitis Plus Balm. Hand cream is very good for eczema because a lot of people don’t realize how eczema can impact the entire body. It doesn't just happen on the face, scalp, or the ears. It happens all over, especially in the creases of your skin and the hands. When it happens on our hands, it can really impede upon our day-to-day activities. This handcream is National Eczema Association Approved, and it has multiple stamps of approval from dermatologists and eczema patients.
The ingredients are phenomenal, and it has colloidal oatmeal which is a skin protectant. The main ingredient is allantoin which we normally don’t see as a main ingredient. Especially if you have hand eczema, blisters, or dishidrotic eczema, you want to avoid any drying alcohols, fragrances, and ingredients that will leave you overly greasy. This hand cream does not have ingredients like that so it actually does its job. You could actually use this hand cream on places other than your hands like the knees and axillary areas where you get those flares. If you have dry cuticles and nails, this is also very hydrating and moisturizing.
This is a female-founded brand, and this formula also has aloe, shea butter, sunflower, rice, sweet almond, etc. There’s a little bit of rosemary, but there’s no fragrance. It’s very luxurious and nourishing, and it melts into the skin. The hand cream coats the skin, but it doesn’t leave it sticky. It’s a great cuticle cream, and you could even use it on your face although you’d you’d want to patch test first.
Skinfix Eczema+ Dermatitis Face Balm - $28
This product is also fantastic.
Skinfix Barrier Foaming Oil Hydrating Cleanser -$30
This is an excellent cleanser if you’re looking for something a little foamier. It has a traditional cleanser feel, but it’s an oil cleanser. So, it doesn’t strip even though it bubbles and foams.
Sandra Lee MD Body Seal - $32
If slathering a thick cream is uncomfortable for your eczema patches, this is a lighter cream made for dry eczema-prone skin, and even if you don’t have eczema, this is such a nourishing body-loving formula. If you want something that blankets you in softness after a shower and absorbs into your skin, this is it. It also soothes psoriasis flares. This crea soothes them, and doesn’t allow the patches to continue flaking. This also has colloidal oatmeal at 1%, and it’s like a much more lightweight version of the Skinfix hand cream. It’s not greasy, but it leaves behind a film. This soaks in so nicely, and it’s better for people who don’t have major dryness or flaking. Even if you don’t have eczema, this is great for dry skin, and it’s great to use when those other products aren’t cutting it.
Josie Maran Intensive Daily Repair Body Butter -$46
Even though this a celebrity skincare line, most of the Josie Maran products are fragrance-free, This a celebrity skincare product that delivers, and truthfully, this is one of the best body products that Cassandra has ever tried. It comes in a glass package. The formula feels luxurious, and it’s also more eco-friendly. This is one of the most light weighted formulas Cassandra has ever felt, and even though it’s for the body, Cassandra would even recommend this for eczema flares on the face. The argan oil absorbs into the skin so well. The formula is gentle, lovely, and it’s the most whipped-like cloud texture that Cassandra has ever felt in a cream. She loves it for the scalp too. It doesn’t overly coat the hair, but if you put it onto those itchy areas, it soaks into the scalp so nicely.
Eczema skin cells are constantly flaking off, and the patches are dry and scaly. You can’t exfoliate those scales away because they’re coming from the bottom layers of the skin. Another words, skin beneath the surface is flaking too. For eczema, you need a formula that absorbs into the top layers of the skin, soothes it, and calms it down. This cream is very good for the hairline, especially if you live in an extremely dry climate. This product has colloidal oatmeal at .8%, and it’s got a bunch of other fantastic ingredients like aloe, shea butter, oligosaccharides, glycerin, and caprylic triglyceride. This moisturizer includes many great hydrators into one formula, and there’s no fragrance. For eczema prone skin, that is so wonderful. Cassandra doesn’t hate fragrance, but if you’re prone to allergies, irritations, and flares, formulas without fragrances might be good.
If you want something that doesn’t absorb, but just has a thick texture, petrolatum works great. After you’ve hydrate the eczema, and you just want to seel it in, petrolatum is a great option. Petrolatum is not going to hydrate the skin. Hydrators are something that has water in them and gives moisture. However, this is occlusive, and it moisturizes by keeping moisture seeled in. This is a longstanding method for moisturizing that has been used for years.