When Lula Balmond was a little girl, she suffered from such bad eczema that she actually had to be bandaged every night just to help her sleep.
Mum Natalie was so worried about her daughter's condition, that she started researching ways to help her herself. Eventually after years of experimenting with various concoctions of oils and herbs, Natalie came up with her 'super-remedy' - a cream, she called Skin Salvation.
Daughter Lula is now 14, and Natalie's 'magic cream' is now available on the NHS helping Mrs Balmond and her new business to turnover around £100,000 a year.
43 year old Natalie, mother of two other daughters, Ellie, 17, and Ida, eight, said: 'Developing my ointment really was a last resort. Life with Lula's eczema had become unbearable. Normal life had become impossible. Her skin was so sore, she often cried herself to sleep. Yet, although we saw various doctors and specialists, even changing Lula's diet and using Chinese herbs, no treatment they suggested seemed to help. Many of the creams contained strong steroids that actually hurt Lula to apply and I became increasingly worried about the potential long-term side effects'.
One day a friend gave Natalie a book about herbs and the rest, as they say, is history. Once she had researched the different plants and oils which help to alleviate skin conditions, she realised that she could make up a cream in her kitchen. She started with hemp oil which she discovered to be an excellent source of essential fatty acids, which eczema sufferers are lacking. Beeswax, camomile, nettle and chickweed were the next on the agenda in her quest to find a cure. Eventually after much experimentation, she managed to get the right consistency for her cream and she tried it out on herself and then her daughter.
The cream soothed Lula's skin almost instantly and her skin started to heal. Natalie says: 'One day a friend asked if she could try it on her child's skin ..... When it worked for him, she told other friends.'and so a business was born!
Skin Salvation is now sold online and in shops for £6.30 a little pot and Natalie's business, Pure Potions, is going from strength to strength.
Mrs Balmond said: 'It was a complete surprise when friends began asking to try (the cream) and I was overjoyed when it worked for them too. But mostly I had no idea just how much a pot of cream was to change all our lives.'
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March 2011 |
Me And My Thrupenny Bits
