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 face has been dry, red & itchy all winter – I have a feeling Da Balm would help my skin feel better until the air gets warmer & moister. Thanks!

  2. Can’t wait to try this out…my daughter, Josephine, who has eczema on her hands. She is an avid hand washer, especially in the winter, but it’s so dry in the winter here so that makes it harder. Would love to give this a try.

  4. I would love a chance to try Da Balm. And I may order it anyway, because my daughter had rashes on her legs on and off this winter. This would be perfect. Thank you so much for your generous offer.

  5. I agree with Rachel – how amazing it is that these gentle plants help our bodies heal! I would love to try some of this balm!

  9. Oh, yes! I must try Da Balm. I have a little one who suffers from severe eczema, and I have found nothing that really works on the horrible flare ups. What a generous giveaway, and thank-you for letting know about this product.

  11. Oh boy, do we have itchies around here! What a great opportunity to try a natural product. Thanks!

  20. Hi Ginny – I mention this just in case it’s any help, since it took me so long to track down the trigger for my eczema: feather pillows and cushions in our house. I tried strict elimination diets and almost all our washing & body care is natural/unscented/minimal so I simply could not understand what was suddenly causing my fingers to itch, swell and bleed, as well as puffy eyes every morning. Once I twigged to the feathers and eliminated them, my recovery was almost like magic. Patting my cat can slightly trigger it again but nothing like the feathers did. I hope you work things out for Job.

  22. My 6 month old isn’t sleeping due to itching and nothing of the dozens of things we’ve tried seems to help, except for topical steroids- boooo! Would love to try this!!

  23. I would love some–my annual winter eczema outbreak on my hands is going full-swing, and nothing I do seems to get it under control. I can soothe the itching temporarily, but the actual problem is not budging this year.

  24. I have one child who was plagued with it from birth and I tried everything both topically and internally. Someone suggested carlson’s cod liver oil to me and I began taking twice the recommended dose. It cleared up permanently in less than a week. She was a nursing toddler at the time so I didn’t give it to her, just took it myself. Might be worth a try.

  27. Sounds wonderful. My daughter is 23 and has suffered since she was two. She has it so badly now, she has just given up. Would love for her to try this product.

  32. Both my husband and I have eczema, so I’m afraid my two little girls got it double time! Maybe this balm would help them out.

  33. I’ve just started using my first Lusa product (the chest rub), and have been happy with it. I’d love to be able to try Da Balm as well!

  34. This sounds simply amazing. I can’t wait to try it. If I don’t win I will have to place an order anyway!

  35. I am so glad one that you found your little tin of Da Balm enabling you to use it immediately, and two that you found something that really works and is organic! Win-win all the way. Thank you for mentioning it in your blog so others know about it and can try it. AND a big thank you to Rachel for going the extra miles to find what really works.

  39. Oh excema! I have several kids who get it and it’s cousin (I think) Keratitis Pilaris….(spelling?). But the excema is a bear. We relied on cetaphil cream when he was a little baby and at it’s worst. But. A balm that works, very intriguing. Hang in there Ginny. They often fire out of it….or at least grow out of the worst of it. But it is a sure sign of sensitivities all around. Inside and out!

  40. Looks great! My husband and daughters all have very sensitive skin, so we’re always looking for things that won’t irritate them.

  42. The reason it’s working so well is because it has evening primrose oil. Any oil with GLA completely clears up my son’s eczema and when given internally works even better. Borage, evening primrose and even Hemp oil. With eczema there appears to be some inability for the body to convert Linoleic acid to Gamma Linoleic acid. Her balm seems awesome and has legit ingredients to actually help! Glad you found something that works.

  44. I would love to try this balm out as I’ve suffered from Eczema my whole life and now my youngest seems to have many flare-ups too. Thanks for the giveaway! I’ll buy this product anyway because it looks of such great quality but it would be nice to win a tin too.

  48. Just became a grandma for the first time on Christmas Day. Our granddaughter is just beautiful and she was just 4 ounces smaller than your baby boy Job was at birth. She also has some dry spots and I am sure that her momma would love to try Da Balm. Thanks Ginny. I just love your blog.

  49. have never heard of this website- looking forward to taking a look around. two kids with horrible problems – although I will say the move from DRY WINDY IL winters has sure been a blessing.