JOIN USLula Balmond's eczema was so horrific and painful that she had to be swathed in bandages to help her sleep every night. Realising that conventional treatments could be doing more harm than good, her mother concocted her own cure in kitchen - and it worked.
The doctors had told the infant's mother Natalie Balmond that her condition would necessitate a two-week hospitalisation.
Lula is now 14, and the cream, a combination of soothing oils and herbs available on prescription, is helping Natalie and her business to earn up to 100,000 pounds a year, the Daily Mail reported.
Balmond, 43, 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," she said.
Her breakthrough came when a friend gave her a book about herbs. Natalie, who lives with husband Mark, 46, an actor in Brighton, began studying the ones known to alleviate skin problems.
She said: "I realised I could make up a cream in my kitchen. I began with hemp oil as I knew it was an excellent source of essential fatty acids, which eczema sufferers lack.
"I experimented by adding various ingredients known for skin soothing such as beeswax, nettle, chickweed and camomile.
"In hindsight, I'm sure many friends and even Mark thought I'd gone mad as I was cooking up these concoctions in my kitchen. But I was determined to find a cure. Finally, after dozens of changes, I hit on the right consistency ointment.
Lula didn't even flinch as the cream was applied for the first time, and it immediately soothed her skin. Within days Natalie noticed her beginning to heal.
The ointment then began to take off. "One day a friend asked if she could try it on her child's skin," Natalie said. "When it worked for him, she told other friends."
She has teamed up with a business partner to sell Skin Salvation, which costs 6.30 pounds for a small pot.