small things

Da Balm!

20140205-DSC_7274About a month ago I wrote about Job’s eczema and my efforts to try to get to the root of his flare ups.  I can’t tell you that I have figured things out yet.  Dairy and eggs don’t seem to be triggers, so that is a good thing.  I’ve switched my laundry detergent (I’m using Charlie’s Soap now) and I keep humidifiers running.  Job’s skin will look perfect one day, and terrible the next.  It’s frustrating.  One thing that I have figured out though is that my friend Rachel’s new eczema balm, hilariously named “Da Balm,” is incredibly effective at calming and clearing Job’s flare ups.  I realized this because during the time I was applying it to Job’s face several times daily, the angry red patches on his face healed and disappeared completely.  He might still have a flare up, but his skin would heal with a few days of diligent application of Da Balm.  Then one day I went to grab it from the shelf and it was gone.  I searched and searched but couldn’t find it.  Over the next week or so I used LuSa’s Booty Balm, my standard choice for chapped faces in the winter, on Job’s face.  It seemed to help a little, but not nearly as well as Da Balm had.  Job’s face was looking bad again when I discovered my little tin of Da Balm under the bed.  Within two days of using it again, his skin looked great.  I don’t know what caused that last flare up, but I know that Da Balm calmed and soothed it.

When I purchased that little tin of Da Balm, it was still in the testing phase and I didn’t know whether or not it would end up becoming a permanent LuSa product.  I emailed Rachel wanting to know what her plan was, because my tin was nearly empty and my own attempts at making an eczema balm failed (my older son Seth claimed that my homemade stuff made his eczema worse!)  I was thrilled when Rachel wrote back that Da Balm would actually be available for purchase on the LuSa Organics website in a few days!  She suggested a little giveaway to properly introduce Da Balm to my readers and I gave an enthusiastic, “Yes!”  I’m so happy to be able to share Da Balm with all of you!

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I asked Rachel to share a little background with you, the story of how Da Balm came to be:

I designed Da Balm after dozens upon dozens of customer requests for a safe, effective balm for eczema care. Our Booty Balm was helping these customers, but there were other herbs that I knew would be incredible for eczema and other red, itchy rashes.Finally my own family began to struggle with eczema and I had the perfect opportunity to test and perfect at home! Two years (and many product testers later), Da Balm was born.

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Da Balm begins with an organic infusion of seven different herbs. Each time I work with a new herb I’m humbled by how gentle and effective plants are at helping our bodies heal. These roots, leaves, and flowers are combined with several soothing oils and essential oils to make a rich, gentle, non-irritating rash balm.

Da Balm is a comfort – not a cure. Any topical treatment alone will not heal eczema. That is an inside job and requires the deep work of figuring out what is causing your or your little one’s outbreak. But Da Balm is designed to help quiet and soothe the itch and irritation.

It’s also soothing for chicken pox, garden rashes, and insect bites. Anything itchy!

(You can learn more about healing eczema from the inside out in a series that Rachel wrote on her blog.)

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Rachel is offering three Small Things readers a regular sized tin of Da Balm.   The winners will also receive free shipping on anything else they would like to order at the same time, too.

In addition,  receive a free 1 oz travel bar of Calendula Baby Soap with every Da Balm you order. Just enter the code “SmallThings” in the comments field of your next order. The LuSa team will see the comment and add the bar of travel soap when they pack your order.  (Valid through February 18, 2014).

For your chance to win, leave a comment on this post.  Comments are now closed.  The winners are:

Katie B, who wrote, “This sounds awesome! Wonderful for a new baby!”

Christina, who wrote, “Just visited the dermatologist for my daughter’s eczema. Would love to find something less, well, medicinal than a prescription.”

and Alisa Joy, who wrote, “what a lovely and timely give away.  thank you, both!”

Thanks, Rachel and LuSa Organics!

Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. My sister has suffered from this all her life and hates it. I would to surprise her with some of this to try!!

  4. Win or lose, I am going to try this balm. It sounds like it would work wonders with my daughter’s very sensitive skin!

  6. Hello Ginny,
    I really enjoy your blog and appreciate your lovely photographs!

    I’m not sure whether you’ll be reading each and every one of these comments, but if you do, I would like to share with you my experience of using natural balms on a baby. This was years ago when we lived in the UK. My daughter had such bad “nappy” rash that it was getting alarming. Treatments of antibiotic and antifungal cream were not working — nor indeed was I comfortable about using them on her any way! A GP friend (a rare breed of whom is actually creative and openminded in her thinking) suggested beeswax cream produced locally.

    It was unbelievable how effective it was! Almost immediately, the rash cleared up and my daughter had no more problems. To this day we use the cream on any kind of skin inflamation or problem. (My friend, the GP, reasoned that it was a combination of the antiseptic and hydrophobic qualities of beeswax that made it so effective.) Sadly the fellow who produced the cream is no longer in business :o(

    Many thanks,
    Sarah

  13. I would love to try Da Balm!! My oldest had horrible eczema which was quite an experience given that we were brand new parents without a clue! My baby now has been having some pretty dry skin this winter, so I’d certainly have an opportunity to use this.

  15. Oh, Ginny and Rachel,
    I would so love love love to win some. My 8 year old son has suffered from winter eczema ever since he was two. It is so troubling. His patches are in an unusual place…all over his calves, not in any creases. I have tried so much and it hurts my heart to see him suffer. Maybe da balm will be da balm for him!
    xo Jules

  17. I would love some for my grand nephew – he has horrible allergies and eczema at times too. My niece, the boy’s Mom, just lost her fiancee to cancer and is about to give birth to their son. I know getting something like this would ease her mind about this new one coming as allergies and such run in my family! I think I have to order some anyway!

  22. I would love to try this on my two eczema prone boys! Also, I have found the main trigger for my son was our water. A water softener and filter system has worked wonders. Some mineral or chemical was really making him miserable and now we only get a rare flare up!

  23. Ginny, since you’re still seeking an answer for a trigger … my son and I suffer from eczema when we eat citrus and fruits from the nightshade family (tomatoes, potatoes, peppers, and eggplant). The citrus and tomatoes are the worst culprits for us. Even a small glass of oj causes the skin around my nose to start itching like crazy. Good luck — eczema is not fun.

  24. I would love to try this especially this time of year when my children’s normally fine skin gets red and itchy!

  25. This is so special! We have dry rough skin on the littles up here in Wisonsin:) Thanks for the chance.

  28. What a great giveaway! My son has horrible eczema right now. Also, thanks for the link on healing from the inside.

  30. I would love to try this. Many of the things that used to work on my family don’t help like they used to. Time to try something new!

  33. Yes please! I know my daughter’s eczema is not nearly as bad as a lot of little ones’, but it is still such a worry. Hers is pretty much only on her legs, and while it’s lots better since potty training, whenever she has an accident the pee on her legs really hurts her. And I haven’t been able to find any triggers… And I don’t like relying on hydrocort or stronger steroids to clear it up!

  37. Thank you so much for sharing! My 2.5 year old has occasional eczema flare ups as well (we still haven’t found his trigger) so I would love to try this out on him.

  42. Please enter me! We have a family with two eczema sufferers and are always looking for something to soothe the skin.