Smiley360 Review: Neosporin Eczema Essentials Pack

When Smiley360 emailed me about this review opportunity, I could not click the link fast enough. I have been wanting to try this product ever since it came out a few months ago but just never bit the bullet. Now they sent me my own box to try out :) It's not the nicest subject in the world, but i have really bad eczema on my hands. It gets so bad my doctor says it's borderline psoriasis and I'm really hoping it doesn't decide to cross that border any time soon. When my hands get bad, nothing helps me but prescription steroid cream. I have tried every over the counter lotion you can imagine and have never found anything that works without that prescription stuff. So I had high hopes for this kit - maybe I would finally have relief from a product I don't have to make a doctor's appointment to get.

First, some info about the product. Neosporin Eczema Essentials is a 3 piece kit that includes and anti-itch cream, daily body wash and moisturizing cream. The hydrocortisone anti-itch cream is only to be used a little here and there as needed while the other two are designed to use daily. The main ingredient of this kit is the moisturizing cream - this is the product that is supposed to heal the skin. When used according to the instructions, the product claims to restore visibly healthier skin in 3 days.

The only bad thing about this review opportunity was the timing. Typically my eczema isn't very bad during the summer because Florida is so humid. I've had this product for a couple of months now just waiting for a flare up to try it and man did I get one this week. I touch a lot of nasty dirty objects all day at work in the jewelry store. You wouldn't think a jewelry store would be a nasty place, but you are touching people's jewelry and watches all day and believe me ... people are gross when it comes to their jewelry. I have had to actually scrape thick layers of funk off the back of a watch just so I could get it open on numerous occasions. Anyway, add the increased amount of icky stuff I had to touch this week to the fact that I am honestly OCD about washing my hands and you get one heck of a painful eczema flare up.

Left Hand - Before

Right Hand - Before

I tried my best to get good before and after shots of my hands, but these were as good as I could get. I'm not sure if it really shows the pink splotchiness of my knuckles, so just know it is much worse than it looks here. Also, my right hand is always worse than my left hand. This was a particularly bad case - see those bleeding cuts? Those are from my skin becoming so hard and rough that it cracked and bled. Yeah ... it hurts. By the time I finally decided to use the lotion my hands were really sore and burning. Plus it just looks bad. I'm sure it grosses people out when I help them and they see my hands. It's one of those awkward moments where they wonder if it's contagious.

How did it perform?
So, I applied the moisturizing cream from the Neosporin Eczema Essentials kit. At first anything feels better than it did and for a few seconds I was excited...

Left Hand - After

Right Hand - After

Then the burning started. I toughed it out for a few minutes hoping it was just an initial shock to the skin, but it just didn't stop. It burned so bad that I had to hurry to rinse it off and look at how much worse my hands look! Because it irritated my skin so much it made the red more vibrant and intense. It just looked painful. I didn't have full relief until I got home from work a few hours later and slathered myself with the steroid cream. And just so you know, my hands looked 90% better by the next morning. That steroid cream is magical stuff for my hands.

I give this product 2 out of 5 stars. I had high hopes, but it just didn't hit the mark and ended up causing more pain. I gave it 2 stars because I will be the first to admit that my eczema is a very severe case, so if you had a more mild case it may very well help you. My flare up was just to much for this kit, so much so that I didn't even get to complete the full 3 day challenge. If your eczema isn't as bad as mine and you were looking for an otc relief product, this would still be worth a try. The whole kit sells for around $15 and is available at any drug store so it's hardly going to break the bank like a prescription might. For me though, I'll have to stick with my prescription :(

If you would like to try this product for yourself, go here to print a $3 off coupon. Hopefully you will have better luck than me.

*I received the Neosporin Eczema Essentials pack free from Smiley360 to facilitate my review, but all thoughts and opinions are 100% my own and were not influenced in any way.