I Tried Crisco on My Skin for Eczema

I don’t think using Crisco for a skin cream is a new use for the shortening, but it was new idea for me. I like to share things that work. I didn’t want to write about my experience until I tried it for at least a month. I hate when someone writes” I just tried this product yesterday and it’s wonderful”, how do they know?

First of all I read the ingredients carefully. It contains: soybean oil, palm oil ,mono and diglycerides, TBHQ and citric acid. The only ingredient that sounded strange was TBHQ. I looked that up and found out it is butyl hydroquinone, which is an antioxidant made from petroleum. Looks like it not so great to ingest, but the jury is still out on using it on the skin. Many people swear by using petroleum jelly on their skin. OK, so nothing extremely scary in the product unless I’m worried about my arteries. I always check that the creams and lotions I use do not contain fragrance and Crisco has no fragrance or odor what so ever on my skin, but I do notice a slight odor on my clothes if they are not washed right away.

I used Crisco after my shower or bath while my skin is still damp. It seals in the moisture to help my skin stay moist and supple. I have used heavy creams and lotions on my skin for years because of my eczema I hate to think how much I’ve spent. Other more costly products may work, but why pay more for something when something as simple and cheap as Crisco can work. I have not used Crisco on my face, and do not recommend it for that use.

I did find a major problem for me with using Crisco for a skin cream. After about 6 weeks I noticed that my clothes and sheets were retaining a slightly oily smell. This is after they had been worn and washed many times. You may not notice this, I have a very sensitive nose because I do not use any perfumes or fragrances in any products including detergent. I stopped using Crisco after 6 weeks because of this residual smell in my clothes.

Addendum to above post July 3, 2013: A reader has made a very good comment about using a few drops of Lavender Oil for fragrance to counteract the oily smell. I have developed a sensitivity to Lavender oil in the last few months, another oil might work as well for those who are sensitive, (almond oil or tea tree oil maybe). Thank you Marie.

See products I recommend for Skin Allergies in my Allergy Comfort Store.