Aqueous cream in it's "pure" form can be found in most chemists. In fact most large supermarkets such as Tesco, Asda and Boots even do their own brand of the cream. The reason my family and I chose this version over others is the fact that it has the extra added benefit of calamine, long known for it's cooling effect. This particular cream is made by Care and is called their Aqueous calamine cream B.P. and comes in a large 100ml sized tub.

Calamine lotion (part of the ingredients of this cream) is something I recall from being a kid. I associate it with hot summers in Dublin (there's not many of them believe me). I always hated the smell of the stuff but loved how cooling it was on my skin. Any time my pale Irish skin would even be introduced to the sun it would become a lovely shade of lobster pink. And as a child I would run around with my shirt off and of course absolutely no sunscreen protection, it wasn't pushed as much as it is nowadays. And parents didn't seem to use it as often, if at all. Every one used it on holidays but at home, not so much. So once my shoulders were about to spontaneously combust I'd scurry in doors crying that my arm tops were stinging (that's what I called my shoulders by the way). My mother would tell me off for having my shirt off in the sun but I couldn't hear a word she was saying as a result of the pure bliss of the ice cold location being gently applied to my skin. 

Fast forward twenty years and the sensation was anything but bliss.  After the death of a very young member of my family and my immune system was nonexistent. I was very rundown and during times like these the underlying pox virus can rear it's ugly head. I had chicken pocks at the age of eleven and had a relatively easy time with them, but they got their revenge as they returned with a vengeance in the form of their much uglier, more vicious brother, The Shingles. This happened Christmas week, I had a small, very hot, square patch of blister like bumps on my lower back and was quickly diagnosed with the dreaded S word. Soon enough a ring of these blisters started to form around my lower quadrant (trunk) the pain was excruciating. Having clothing just touching them would make me yell out in pain along with the blisters there is a heavy ace in the area. I was heavily medicated with pain killers but my mother had to go and purchase a few tubs of an updated version of an old friend. For the first time in years we had calamine back back in the house ( well it's updated version anyway) and I was about to be covered in it almost head too toe.

The 100ml tubs come in a stocky tub with a pull off removable lid just like the E45 cream tubs. It has a brightly coloured label that warps around the tub the majority of which is taken up by the products name and logo, but there are some simple and straight forward instructions and guidelines as well.

The lotion / cream ( I refer to it this way because it reminds me of the lotion as it's not really the same consistency as a moisturiser, it still has some aspects of the original lotion although this has a more tacky, sticky element to it rather than the completely looses lotion) It has a milder pale pink colour and thankfully is just as amazingly cooling as it had been twenty years earlier plus with the moisturising ingredients it's not as drying. My mother applied it using cotton wool balls the lotion is thick enough but does tend to drip in globs if you take up too much so you will need to be careful as you don't want pink stains everywhere and they are hard to wash out. Upon application it is fantastically comforting it creates a mottled like appearance when it drys. This seals the irritation behind the cooling barrier. The smell of the product is still something I rather hate it just isn't to my liking less strong than the original lotion but still reminiscent but some may like it. This cream can of course be used for other skin problems that have an itchiness to them, such as eczema, certain forms of dermatitis, sunburn of course and chickenpox.

As I mentioned above I was on pain killers while using this cream. I am under no illusion that this cream has pain killing powers, it hasn't. It just soothes the skin and takes the edge of the itch and in the case of The Shingles it created a barrier between my skin and my clothes. This at least gave me the chance to wear a shirt during the weeks I had the condition as walking around topless in the middle of December wouldn't have been enjoyable for me or my family as they tried to have Christmas dinner. Could you imagine?

Thanks for reading :0) 2night.

This can be purchased online at :
amazon.co.uk marketplace
For £1.29 + shipping for a 100ml tub