This email is about wholeness. It is about rebuilding layer by layer what eczema made you forget. By the end of this email, you’ll begin to understand how most skin sensitivities start and what your body has been trying to tell you all along.
painting by the artist Magalli Cuzzi Cortez
One thing I know about myself is this: If I don’t fully understand something, I’ll keep repeating the same choices that created my problem. So if I want a different result, I have to change my behaviour, and to do that, the solution has to make sense. I need solid facts I can trust.
That’s why I want to take you into the deeper layers of your skin and show, step by step, how eczema really starts. Once you see this clearly, it changes everything. You begin to recognise your skin not as a problem to fix, but as a messenger asking to be understood.
This is not about beauty.
It is about wholeness.
How Eczema Happens Layer by Layer
Eczema doesn’t appear overnight. It’s a slow unravelling, the gradual loss of protection, moisture, and calm. Our skin is made of layers, and when those layers are stripped away, even gently, the story begins.
1. The Lipid Shield
The skin’s surface is coated with natural oils, a soft film called the lipid barrier. Soaps, foams, and cleansers wash these oils away.
Without them, water escapes, and the skin becomes dry and fragile.
2. The Microbiome
On every inch of skin lives a forest of good bacteria, tiny guardians that protect you and teach your immune system what’s safe. When we over-cleanse or use skincare that includes chemicals, water which adds preservatives, we wipe them out. The skin becomes unguarded, and the immune system starts to overreact.
3. The Immune System
Once exposed, the skin sends distress signals. The immune system rushes to protect, but in confusion, it begins to attack your own skin cells. Inflammation rises, itching begins, and tiny cracks deepen. This is where eczema takes hold.
4. The Nervous System
Your skin and nervous system are deeply connected. When your body feels anxious or unsafe, that stress echoes through the skin, tightening, flushing, flaring. It’s why eczema often worsens with tension or exhaustion. What began as over-cleansing becomes a conversation between skin, immunity, and emotion.
Do you see? Skin doesn’t need another "magical cream". It needs to be rebuilt, layer by layer, each part of its intelligence returning to life. We don’t need magic. We need wholeness. When every layer remembers its role, healing becomes inevitable.
That’s why I never want to use the word "beauty". Our products aren’t about beauty; they’re not about decoration. They’re about wholeness, about helping the body remember how to repair, protect, and trust itself again. So now, let’s go layer by layer and see how we can rebuild the skin from the inside out.
THE BODY RITUAL:
Rebuilding the Barrier
The skin on your body isn’t the same as the skin on your face. It’s thicker, with fewer sebaceous glands, which means it produces less of its own protective oil and regenerates more slowly. That’s why the body often feels tight, itchy, or “dry” even when your face feels fine.
Body skin also faces constant friction from clothing, towels, and movement and more exposure to heat, cold, and pollution. Add frequent showers and soap, and the body’s lipid layer is constantly stripped before it has a chance to rebuild.
Because the body produces less sebum, it needs the right rhythm: hydration first, then oil, then protection. Unlike the face, which benefits from applying raw jojoba before hydration, the body needs hydration first to open the pathways; otherwise, oils just sit on the surface.
That’s the foundation of this Sensitive Skin Body Ritual that I am about to share with you: to rehydrate, replenish, and protect in perfect sequence, until the skin remembers how to self-regulate again.
Scientific studies show that well-hydrated skin can absorb lipids up to 60% more effectively, allowing them to integrate deeply and support barrier recovery from within.
Step 1: Hydrate — Organic Hydrating Rose Mist
After a warm bath or shower, your pores are open and the skin is more receptive. Begin by misting generously with rose water. Rosa damascena is one of nature’s most intelligent plants, cooling, anti-inflammatory, and antibacterial.
On the skin, it acts as a natural humectant, drawing water into the upper layers and reawakening cellular hydration. Its petals hold over a hundred active compounds — flavonoids, phenolics, and vitamins A, C, E, and B3 — known to strengthen capillaries and calm inflammation. The Lactobacillus ferment in our mist supports the microbiome, helping beneficial bacteria thrive again.
Beyond biology, rose works on the nervous system. Its scent has been shown to lower cortisol and bring the body into a calmer, more parasympathetic state. So as you mist, you are not only hydrating your skin; you are signalling to your whole system that it is safe to rest.
Step 2: Seal — Raw Organic Jojoba Oil
Now that the skin is hydrated and receptive, it’s time to seal it in. Apply a Raw Organic Jojoba while the skin is still damp. Jojoba is unlike any other plant oil. Its molecular structure is almost identical to human sebum, the skin’s own sacred oil.
Because body skin is thicker and slower to absorb, applying raw jojoba after hydration allows it to merge with the skin rather than sit on top. This replenishes the lipid barrier, restores balance, and teaches your skin to produce its own oils again.
Our jojoba is raw and intact with all its natural wax esters and vitamins. The colour and scent of the oil are not stripped away for cosmetic formulations. That’s why it doesn’t just moisturise; it rebuilds.
Step 3: Protect — Organic Wild Forest Body Balm
Healthy skin relies on three essential elements and lipids to seal moisture, anti-inflammatory compounds to calm reactivity, and antioxidants to prevent further damage. Forest balm restores all three, using ingredients that speak your skin’s biological language.
Chickweed (Stellaria media)
Known in dermatological herbalism as a “dermal anti-pruritic,” chickweed contains saponins and polysaccharides that soothe itching by modulating cytokine activity in inflamed tissue. Its natural mucilage forms a gentle, cooling layer that helps the skin retain moisture while calming heat and irritation. Essential for skin that feels raw or “burning.”
Known in dermatological herbalism as a “dermal anti-pruritic,” chickweed contains saponins and polysaccharides that soothe itching by modulating cytokine activity in inflamed tissue. Its natural mucilage forms a gentle, cooling layer that helps the skin retain moisture while calming heat and irritation. Essential for skin that feels raw or “burning.”
Plantain (Plantago major)
A classic wound-healer, rich in allantoin and aucubin, both known to stimulate fibroblast activity. The cells are responsible for regenerating collagen and repairing damaged tissue. Plantain also contains tannins, which tighten and strengthen the skin’s surface, reducing micro-tears and restoring structural integrity to a weakened barrier.
A classic wound-healer, rich in allantoin and aucubin, both known to stimulate fibroblast activity. The cells are responsible for regenerating collagen and repairing damaged tissue. Plantain also contains tannins, which tighten and strengthen the skin’s surface, reducing micro-tears and restoring structural integrity to a weakened barrier.
Lemon Balm (Melissa officinalis)
A source of rosmarinic acid, a powerful antioxidant and natural antihistamine that reduces redness and overactive immune responses by inhibiting histamine release and blocking pro-inflammatory enzymes. This is particularly relevant to eczema, where histamine and cytokine cascades drive itching and inflammation. Lemon Balm’s phenolic compounds also protect the skin’s microbiome by moderating bacterial overgrowth.
A source of rosmarinic acid, a powerful antioxidant and natural antihistamine that reduces redness and overactive immune responses by inhibiting histamine release and blocking pro-inflammatory enzymes. This is particularly relevant to eczema, where histamine and cytokine cascades drive itching and inflammation. Lemon Balm’s phenolic compounds also protect the skin’s microbiome by moderating bacterial overgrowth.
Rose (Rosa damascena)
Rose offers polyphenols, flavonoids, and vitamin C, which help strengthen fragile capillaries, improve microcirculation, and protect collagen from oxidative stress. This improves nutrient delivery to the epidermis, supporting tissue renewal and helping the skin maintain even tone and resilience.
Rose offers polyphenols, flavonoids, and vitamin C, which help strengthen fragile capillaries, improve microcirculation, and protect collagen from oxidative stress. This improves nutrient delivery to the epidermis, supporting tissue renewal and helping the skin maintain even tone and resilience.
Valerian Root (Valeriana officinalis)
Uniquely, valerian works on both the skin and the nervous system. Its compounds interact with GABA receptors, helping relax the body’s stress response. A key factor is that chronic stress increases cortisol, delays barrier repair, and heightens inflammation. Valerian helps the body switch from “defence” to “repair,” allowing the skin to rest.
Uniquely, valerian works on both the skin and the nervous system. Its compounds interact with GABA receptors, helping relax the body’s stress response. A key factor is that chronic stress increases cortisol, delays barrier repair, and heightens inflammation. Valerian helps the body switch from “defence” to “repair,” allowing the skin to rest.
Lavender, Vetiver, and Rosemary Essential Oils
Each contributes trace phyto-compounds that support circulation, oxygenation, and cellular metabolism. Lavender’s linalool calms the nervous system and reduces inflammatory signalling. Vetiver is grounding and cooling, helping the skin regulate heat and blood flow. Rosemary contains carnosic acid and rosmarinic acid, antioxidants that protect lipids from oxidation, keeping the newly rebuilt barrier intact.
Each contributes trace phyto-compounds that support circulation, oxygenation, and cellular metabolism. Lavender’s linalool calms the nervous system and reduces inflammatory signalling. Vetiver is grounding and cooling, helping the skin regulate heat and blood flow. Rosemary contains carnosic acid and rosmarinic acid, antioxidants that protect lipids from oxidation, keeping the newly rebuilt barrier intact.
Vitamin E (Tocopherol)
Acts as a stabiliser for all these lipids, preventing rancidity and protecting against oxidative stress. It supports barrier recovery by reducing lipid peroxidation, the process that breaks down natural oils in eczema-prone skin.
Acts as a stabiliser for all these lipids, preventing rancidity and protecting against oxidative stress. It supports barrier recovery by reducing lipid peroxidation, the process that breaks down natural oils in eczema-prone skin.
Forest balm is not a cosmetic layer. It’s a biologically intelligent shield. One that breathes, calms, and strengthens. It replaces what eczema stripped away: moisture, structure, and peace.
Hydrate, seal, protect, follow this rhythm, and your skin restores itself layer by layer: calmer, softer, stronger, and finally at ease.
The Power of The Night
For the body, evening is the most restorative time to practice this ritual. After a warm bath or shower, your pores are open, your circulation is active, and the body is beginning to shift from sympathetic (fight or flight) to parasympathetic (rest and digest).
This transition is when true repair begins. The warmth increases skin permeability and oxygenation, allowing each ingredient, rose, jojoba, and the forest botanicals, to integrate more deeply. At night, the skin’s temperature rises slightly, its barrier renewal accelerates, and the nervous system softens.
Applying your ritual at night allows the body not just to absorb, but to internalise. It’s not a routine. It’s a dialogue with your body at its most open, when it finally has time to rest, receive, and rebuild.
A Note on Conventional Eczema Creams
Most drugstore and prescription eczema creams are designed to quiet symptoms, not rebuild the skin’s natural systems. Corticosteroid creams suppress inflammation and immune activity, while barrier creams simply seal the surface to prevent water loss.
They offer comfort, but they don’t restore the skin’s own lipid balance or microbiome, which means sensitivity often returns once they’re stopped.
True healing is not about suppression but about support, giving the skin what it recognises and needs to strengthen itself naturally over time.
You are not fixing your skin; you are rebuilding communication with it. When you stop stripping and start listening, the skin remembers. When your cells feel whole again, your body does what it was made to do: it heals you.
This first email focused on the Body Ritual, the foundation of rebuilding. In the coming weeks, we’ll explore the Face and Hand Rituals, continuing the same rhythm of restoration and guiding every part of you back to balance.
Do you see? These rituals and my intention with Earth To You are not about beauty. They are about wholeness, about helping your skin and your self come home layer by layer to peace and true self-love.
with all my love,
Ezgi
Sensitive Skin Ritual - Body
Sensitive Skin Ritual - Hands
Sensitive Skin Ritual - Face & Neck
