My daughter's skin

I had been wondering if my daughter would have the same skin problems I have, and it seems the answer is yes. The skin on her face has started becoming dry, red and easily irritated.

My next question, of course, was whether what works for me would work for her, being a child. I tried my homemade shea butter/olive oil moisturizer, and she broke out in little pimples. So I tried pure aloe vera gel, and it helped, but didn't seem to moisturize enough.

So a visit to Super Supplements was in order. I have been applying witch hazel to the pimples to clear them up, but I wanted something to moisturize without causing a reaction. A clerk recommended Earth's Best Organics (which makes baby food and products) Calendula Extra Rich Therapy Cream. Calendula is an extract of the marigold plant.

According to the Safe Cosmetics Database, it has a 3 rating (out of 10, with 10 being the most toxic). Most of the ingredients are very safe, and the rating seems to have been brought down by the addition of benzyl alochol, which has a rating of 6. Alcohol, I believe, is used in a lot of skin and hair care products because it prevents the ingredients from separating. (Since I don't use it in my homemade stuff, I usually have to shake or mix them again before use). I have seen several natural products use cetyl alcohol for this purpose, which has a 1 rating on the database.

Since the product seems to be working, perhaps a letter to the company, asking them to find an alternative to the benzyl alcohol, would be a good thing to do.