Moisture without the grease! (Doublebase Emolient Cream)

Member Name: yani1

Product:	Doublebase Emolient Cream
Date:	14/09/09 (119 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Gives instant moisture and relief to dry skin without grease

Disadvantages: Bottle a bit awkward when cream gets low. Expensive if you don't have it on prescription.

Doublebase gel (or cream) is a special highly moisturising and protective hydrating gel that is used mainly for individuals who have dry or chapped skin conditions, such as eczema/dermatitis which may be also itchy or inflamed/infected.

It is manufactured by Dermal Labs in the UK, and contains the following active ingredients: Isopropyl Myristate 15% w/w and Liquid Paraffin 15% w/w. The inactive ingredients are Glycerol, Carbomer, Sorbitan Laurate, Triethanolamine, Phenoxyethanol, and Purified Water.

I have the 500g bottle with a pump dispenser, which is very useful for when you are on the go, and just want a little bit of moisture on your hands. However, I think there is a 100g tube, also. Although I have it on presciption, it costs around £10 for 500g, quite expensive.

I have had mild eczema since I was little, and it just seemed to come and go, and never really be too much of a problem. All of a sudden, over the past 3-4 years since having children (I don't know if it's connected!) I have had extremely dry hands intertwined with bouts of bad eczema which have a few times got so bad that I had to take antibiotics as they had got infected.

I started wearing washing up gloves to do washing up, as the washing up liquid made them very sore, dry and cracked, but I still kept getting dry hands. I then realised that it was the handwash giving me dry hands, which I suspect was down to the sulphates and parabens in the handwash making them too dry.

I switched to soap but that still dried my hands out, so finally gave in and went to the GP who gave me Doublebase to moisturise the hands, and another product to wash my hands with (another review!). I seem to have been a lot better since then, and it is a fantastic cream for moisturising, and keeping the skin moisturised without it drying up, as other creams do. It is not greasy either, which is good.

My conclusion

A very useful cream for giving instant moisture and a calming effect to dry, itchy skin, and keeping it moisturised without being too greasy. The only downside is that once the cream gets low in the bottle, it wont go up the pump dispenser, so I have had to cut the bottle (plastic) to get at the rest of the cream, which then dries out a bit. I recommend to put the rest of the cream in an old, clean tub to avoid drying out.

Summary: A great moisturiser for people with very dry and irritated skin.