Mum finds miracle cure to eczema nightmare thanks to farmyard ingredient

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A mother riddled with eczema has been able to wear a skirt for the first time in 15 years thanks to her discovery of a “miracle cure” with a farmyard secret.

Brittany Parr, 26, who works at McDonald’s, developed eczema when she was around 11 years old, and became self-conscious about it when she was a teenager, avoiding wearing skirts and dresses as she did not want anyone to see her legs.

The mother-of-two, who lives in Norwich with her husband and daughters Amelia, 4, and Aurora, five months, had her worst eczema flare-ups after giving birth, which saw her skin become itchy, raw and red.

But just as her condition became “too much to bear”, in September 2023, she came across Skin Shop and their Hydrosil turmeric butter and milk salve, which contains donkey milk.

She said the treatment completely transformed her skin – the soreness and redness completely died down within a month of use.

Since then, she has worn a skirt outside in public, which is something she “never thought” she’d be able to do and made her “so happy”.

Brittany told PA Real Life: “When I put the skirt on, it felt like a big moment and don’t get me wrong, I was cold because it was in the winter, but it made me so happy.

“I never thought I’d be able to wear a skirt – it was amazing.”

She added: “It was minimal, I could deal with it at that stage. I had it on my legs and I started to get self-conscious about it when I was a teenager.

“I never wore skirts or dresses, only trousers because I was so embarrassed of my eczema – it was always quite red.

“I don’t have eczema in my family that I know of but going through puberty seemed to be the thing that triggered it, so I obviously have a genetic link to it as most kids don’t get eczema in puberty.”

Over the years, Brittany tried anything she could get her hands on to try to improve her skin.

She said: “I’ve been in and out of the doctors and prescribed various creams and medications for my eczema for most of my teens and 20s.

“I only go to the doctor when I get a really bad flare-up as I am always hoping there will be some new treatment offered that will actually work.

“I’ve been prescribed different steroids several times and they work at first and then they stop working and then the eczema comes back worse than before.

“They also began to harm my skin and discolour it, so I decided to stop using them eventually.”

But, Brittany’s eczema got even worse after both her pregnancies – within weeks of giving birth, her skin flared up in “red vicious rashes” all over her legs and elbows.

She said: “After having my first daughter I had eczema really badly for three months, and with my second daughter, it was so much worse.

“It’s really horrible having eczema flares when you have young babies – it’s stressful enough with the lack of sleep and being constantly on your feet but with your skin itching and raw all the time it’s awful. I felt constantly stressed as my skin was so painful.

“Your body is already in the wars after pregnancy but adding raw itchy skin to the other damage to your body is almost too much to bear.”

As well as making it hard to sleep, Brittany’s eczema has also affected her confidence.

She said: “It’s also just really high maintenance to keep up with moisturising two or three times a day, especially with two children but I try to keep up with it to make my skin better.

“My priority was looking after them.

“I felt so self-conscious and constantly covered up.

“Because of my eczema, I avoided wearing skirts because of how bad my legs looked – I couldn’t remember the last time I wore a skirt.”

Whenever Brittany got any free time, she researched new products after running out of patience with medicated products.

Skin Shop and their Hydrosil turmeric butter and milk salve, which contains donkey milk was the treatment that stuck.

She said: “I read several reviews of the salve and a lot of people seemed to be in a similar position as me in that they had tried the steroid route, and it hadn’t really worked out for them.

“There were a lot of mums with hand eczema and young kids who had said it was a life saver.

“So, I was convinced enough to try the new salve. It was reasonably priced too which makes a big difference for me as money is not easy with two young kids, so I have to be careful how much I spend on my skin.”

After a month of using the salve, Brittany’s eczema was no longer sore, and the redness and dryness almost disappeared.

She said: “My confidence has improved so much.

“When I wore a skirt, I was just so proud of myself and can’t believe the day finally came.

“I felt a bit uncomfortable at first, especially because your confidence goes down after having a baby anyway – I’ve worn a skirt twice, the first time was a few weeks ago.

“I’ve mainly worn midi-skirts but hopefully my skin will improve even more by the summer so I can wear a proper summer dress.”