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I Tested The 5 Eczema Creams Women Use After Menopause, And Only 1 Actually Stopped The 2 A.M. Itch

By Frank Keller,
Retired Cosmetic Chemist

What Is Eczema After Menopause, Really?

For 30 years I made drugstore lotions for a living. The pump bottles. The "eczema relief" creams. And for 11 of those years, I went home to a wife they never helped.

Nancy never had eczema in her life until the year her periods stopped.

Here's the truth: It's not just age. It's not your soap. It's the Night Sweat Drain.

Picture a good leather boot. Keep it oiled and it stays soft. Now let the oil dry out, soak it in warm water at 2 A.M., stand it in front of a heater until it's dry, and do it again at 4 A.M. It doesn't get softer. It cracks at every bend.

That's your skin after the change. Here's what happens, step by step:

1. The Lost Seal. After menopause your skin makes less of its own oil. One study found skin oil output drops by about 32% every decade. Researchers at the University of Manchester found that post-menopausal skin holds fewer, shorter ceramides, the fats that glue skin cells together. Less oil. Weaker glue. No seal.

2. The Hot Flash. At night the covers go on and a hot flash floods your skin with heat. Itch researchers at the Temple Itch Center wrote that the rise in skin temperature "may be associated with increased itch intensity."

3. The Drain. Then the sweat comes, and it doesn't stay. As it evaporates, it pulls water out of skin that has no oil left to hold it in.

4. The Salt. Sweat is mostly water and salt. Medical News Today describes one theory doctors have: when the water evaporates, the salt left on the skin can switch on the nerves that carry itch. On cracked skin, it sits right in the cracks.

5. The 2 A.M. Scratch. Ten minutes later you're scratching in your sleep. The scratching opens more cracks. The next hot flash drains them again.

Soak. Dry. Soak. Dry. All night. Every night.

But here's what the drugstore won't tell you: 3 of the 4 best-known eczema creams in this test are made with water. Oregon Health & Science University says it plainly: "Pump lotions evaporate off the skin, because the first ingredient is water, so use a thick cream or ointment, instead." Water is the one thing the drain takes away. And the steroid tubes put out last night's fire. Tonight, the drain runs again.

I spent 30 years putting water in a bottle and calling it eczema relief. I'm tired of watching women scratch all night next to a drawer full of my old work.

Frank Keller

The 5 Things A Cream MUST Do To Stop The Night Sweat Drain

1. No Water In The Jar (Nothing For The Night Sweats To Carry Away)

Water is the one thing the drain takes. A cream that starts with water feels nice for an hour, then the first hot flash carries it off with the sweat. Turn the jar around. If "water" or "aqua" is on the label, it's watering the boot.

2. A Real Fat Seal (Not Water, Not Petroleum Jelly)

Your skin stopped making enough of its own oil after the change. The fix is to put fat back on it, every night. Petroleum jelly is a good cover, but it isn't the fat your skin stopped making.

3. Stays Put Through The Hot Flashes

The seal has to still be there at 2 A.M. A cream that soaks in and vanishes in an hour is gone before the first hot flash. Wax and fat stay where you put them.

4. No Steroid (Because The Drain Runs Every Night)

A steroid puts out last night's fire. It isn't made for every night. The drugstore tube says to stop and ask a doctor if it lasts more than 7 days. The drain runs for years.

5. Easy Enough To Use Every Single Night (No Grease In Your Hair Or On Your Pillowcase)

The night you skip it is the night the drain wins. If it gets in your hair, on your pillowcase and on your nightgown, you'll stop using it. Every woman does. A pea-size amount should cover both hands.

My Top 5 Eczema Creams For Women After Menopause (Ranked By Real Results)

I ran 19 popular brands through the same 5 tests: every bottle in Nancy’s drawer and every one on our pharmacy shelf. Then I read what women who used them wrote, word for word. Here are the only 5 worth considering:

#1 Cura Goods Tallow & Honey Balm

★★★★★ (4.8/5) · Passes 5 of 5 tests
"I slept through the night. I can't remember the last time." - Nancy, 64
After 30 years of making the other kind, I know exactly why this jar works.
What Makes It Different:
The zero-water base: nothing in the jar for the night sweats to carry away
The Seal Restorer, grass-fed beef tallow: rich in the same kinds of fatty acids your skin uses (stearic, oleic, palmitic). It lays down the layer your skin stopped making
The Water Lock, raw honey: holds water right under the seal, where the drain used to steal it
The Sweat Shield, beeswax: keeps the layer where you put it, through the hot flashes
The Glide, olive oil: a pea-size amount covers both hands
No steroid, no lanolin, no perfume, no preservatives, no alcohol
Seal the skin. Lock the water in. Shield it from the sweat.

Pros:
✓ The only cream in this test that stops all three parts of the Night Sweat Drain
✓ Puts back the fat your skin stopped making after the change
✓ Safe to use every night, next to whatever your doctor prescribes
✓ One small 2 oz jar goes a long way
✓ 60-day money-back guarantee, and you keep the jar
✓ Buy 2, get 1 free right now
Cons:
✗ Has a small blend of essential oils (sandalwood, neroli, Scots pine, rose), so dab it on your inner arm first if scent bothers your skin
✗ Only sold online, not at the drugstore
My Experience: OK, I need to tell you what happened, because I still can't believe it.

For 11 years Nancy spent over $2,000 on that drawer. Cortizone-10, CeraVe, Aveeno, Aquaphor, and a $300 prescription tube that quit working. Every one felt nice going on. By the second hot flash she was scratching again.

At 2:47 one morning in January, I found her on the edge of the bed, scratching her forearms with the back of a hairbrush. Little dark specks on the pillowcase.

After ONE night with the balm, she slept until 6:30. No hairbrush. No scratching. She woke up, rubbed her hands together and said, "Frank, they're soft."

Within two weeks, the cracks on her knuckles were closing. By week six, she was in short sleeves at her book club.

But here's what shocked me: The Cortizone tube is still in her drawer. She just hasn't needed it since February.

In May, at our granddaughter Lily's wedding, the woman who'd planned to wear gloves wore none. She held both of Lily's hands and cried. Nobody looked at her skin.

Her sister borrowed the jar for a week and texted me at 7 A.M.: "FRANK WHAT IS IN THIS JAR?? I SLEPT ALL NIGHT!!"

Real Results (Nancy's):
Night 1: Her hands felt soft in the morning instead of tight
Week 1: More nights without the hairbrush than with it
Week 2: The cracks on her knuckles started to close
Week 6: Short sleeves at her book club

Conclusion: This is the only cream in the test that stops the Night Sweat Drain: no water for the sweat to carry away, a real fat seal that stays put through the hot flashes, and nothing you have to stop after 7 days. If the itch started with the change and nothing lasts, start here.

Check Out Cura Goods

#2 Aquaphor Healing Ointment

★★★☆☆ (2.6/5) · Passes 3 of 5 tests
Ingredients: Petrolatum 41%, mineral oil, ceresin, lanolin alcohol, panthenol, glycerin, bisabolol
Pros:
✓ No water (the only other one in this test)
✓ Stays put on the skin
✓ No steroid
✓ A thick ointment, the kind dermatologists tell you to use for very dry skin
Cons:
✗ The seal is petroleum jelly, not the fat your skin lost
✗ Contains lanolin alcohol
✗ Greasy: it gets in your hair, on your pillowcase and on your nightgown
✗ So most women stop using it every night, and the drain doesn't take nights off
My Experience: I'll be honest. This is the one I respect most. It's the right idea: no water, a thick cover the sweat can't carry off.
Nancy used it for years. It helped. Then it got in her hair, on her pillowcase and on my side of the bed, and she stopped putting it on every night.
She's not the only one. One woman wrote that Aquaphor "melts & gets in my eyes, even if used at night." Another wrote: "for a long time I used aquaphor and it it worked fine." And then: "Then the aquaphor stopped working."
A seal only works on the nights you put it on. The night you skip it, the drain wins.
Conclusion: The right idea, the wrong seal, and too messy to wear every night. Keep it for chapped lips and a scraped knee.

Check Out Aquaphor

#3 CeraVe Moisturizing Cream

★★☆☆☆ (2.3/5) · Passes 2 of 5 tests
Ingredients: Water is the first ingredient. The first ceramide is the 9th
Pros:
✓ Has ceramides
✓ Fragrance-free, no lanolin, no steroid
✓ Rubs in fast, not greasy
✓ $14.99 on CeraVe's own website
Cons:
✗ Water first: the first hot flash carries it off with the sweat
✗ The main ingredient isn't fat, so it doesn't restore the seal
✗ Soaks in and feels good for an hour, then the itch comes back at night
My Experience: This is the tub everyone tells you to buy. It's a good cream. I've made creams just like it.
But turn it around. Water first. Then glycerin. Then six more ingredients before the first ceramide.
On Nancy's skin it felt nice for an hour. Then she woke up scratching anyway.
A woman on Reddit said it in one line: "I’ve been applying cerave and it certainly smooths the itch but doesn’t seem to help the rash."
Conclusion: A fine daytime cream for ordinary dry skin. Water first means it's exactly what the Night Sweat Drain takes.

Check Out CeraVe

#4 Aveeno Eczema Therapy Daily Moisturizing Cream

★★☆☆☆ (2.1/5) · Passes 2 of 5 tests
Ingredients: Colloidal oatmeal 1%. Water is the first inactive ingredient
Pros:
✓ Oatmeal soothes itchy skin
✓ Steroid-free, fragrance-free, no lanolin
✓ At every drugstore
Cons:
✗ Water first: the drain takes it with the sweat
✗ The main ingredient isn't fat, so it doesn't restore the seal
✗ Only 1% oatmeal
✗ A 5 oz tube goes fast when it's on your arms, legs and back
My Experience: Nancy liked the oatmeal. After a shower it calmed the itch for a little while.
But it's another water cream with good things mixed into the water. The Night Sweat Drain doesn't care what's mixed in. It takes the water, and the itch is back in bed.
One woman on a skin forum wrote: "I spent a fortune trying all sorts Aveeno/Dead Sea Minerals and the like."
Conclusion: Gentle and soothing for a few hours. Not enough for the night.

Check Out Aveeno

#5 Cortizone-10 Maximum Strength (1% Hydrocortisone)

★☆☆☆☆ (1.4/5) · Passes 1 of 5 tests
Ingredients: Hydrocortisone 1% (a steroid), plus water, mineral oil and petrolatum
Pros:
✓ Can calm a bad flare for a few days
✓ At every drugstore
Cons:
✗ It's a steroid
✗ The label says to stop and ask a doctor after 7 days
✗ Contains water
✗ Puts out the fire, doesn't put the oil back
✗ The itch comes back when the tube runs out
My Experience: This one made me mad, because it's the first thing everyone grabs.
It's a steroid. It can put out a flare. But read the back of the box: "Stop use and ask a doctor if condition worsens, symptoms persist for more than 7 days or clear up and occur again within a few days."
That's the label telling you it isn't made for an itch that came with the change and stays for years.
It puts out last night's fire. Tonight, the drain runs again. Nancy went through a tube a week. The itch came back every time.
A WebMD reviewer between 65 and 74 wrote: "Hydrocortisone only made my skin condition worse." A 60-year-old woman on Reddit: "I tried hydrocortisone in tiny amounts when it was really bad and got minor relief briefly."
Conclusion: A 7-day fire extinguisher for a drain that runs every night. Keep it for a bug bite.

Check Out Cortizone-10

Conclusion

Only one of the 5 stops the Night Sweat Drain: no water, a real fat seal, and a shield that stays put through the hot flashes. It's an easy choice. Cura Goods clearly wins. Try it yourself and let us know what you think.

Shop Now

My Professional Recommendation

Only Cura Goods:
1. Actually stops the Night Sweat Drain (no water in the jar for the sweat to carry away)
2. Puts back the oil your skin stopped making after the change (real grass-fed tallow, not petroleum jelly)
3. Is still on your skin at 2 A.M. (beeswax holds the seal through every hot flash)
4. Has no steroid, so you can use it every single night (not just for 7 days)
5. Costs less than one copay ($20 a jar, against $300 for one prescription tube)
6. Gives you your nights back, and hands you don't have to hide

 

Skip everything else - they're water creams the night sweats carry off, petroleum jelly that ends up on your pillowcase, or a steroid the label tells you to stop after 7 days.

 

Right now Cura Goods is giving away free jars. Buy 2, Get 1 FREE: 3 jars for $60, that's 33% OFF. But the real deal is Buy 3, Get 2 FREE: 5 jars for just $90. That's 40% OFF, only $18 a jar, with free US shipping. Less than one copay for a whole season of quiet nights. And every jar is covered by the 60-day money-back guarantee. You keep the jar.

 

Start with: The 3 jars, for the biggest savings and the best results. The drain runs every night, and the nights you skip are the nights it wins. One on the nightstand, one by the kitchen sink, one in your purse, and two for the sister and the friend who've been scratching too.

 

Warning: Once the drain stops, women notice the quiet first. No hairbrush at 2 A.M. No scratching in their sleep. Then the people around them notice. Husbands ask, "Did you sleep all night?" Grandkids grab their hands, and nobody pulls away.
 

Shop Cura Goods Now