Eczema had plagued Elaine B. from her birth, almost 70 years ago, until she entered adolescence. Steroid creams—with their benefits and their drawbacks—were a daily part of those early years. But her disruptive inflammatory skin condition subsided dramatically as the hormones of puberty appeared, which happens with roughly 50% of those who develop eczema in infancy. From that point on, Elaine experienced only very occasional, very minor episodes that were easily subdued by steroid creams. This state of affairs ended very unexpectedly many years later, when Elaine’s hormonal landscape changed again—this time, when she lost her protective hormones at the onset of menopause.

Elaine’s eczema erupted with unparalleled fury, “far more severe than anything I had experienced before,” she recalls. “My eczema was not only a lot worse than it had ever been, but parts of my body were affected for the first time ever—including my face from my nostrils to below my lips. The daily suffering I was living with was life-changing,” she remembers. 

Elaine was very grateful when the first nonsteroidal topical anti-inflammatory drug for eczema, Protopic, finally became available in 2000. It provided some modest relief. Another 17 years passed before the next treatment advance, when Dupixent® (periodically injected under the skin) was approved for eczema. But this highly anticipated innovative drug only helps patients whose eczema is driven by the overactivity of two specific inflammatory pathways in the skin. Yet there are multiple inflammatory pathways that can drive the various types of eczema—which explained Elaine’s very mixed response. “Dupixent® helped my hands and fingers tremendously,” she says, “but it provided no help whatsoever for my face.” So at best, her face remained extremely painful to live with and unsightly to look at. And when her face was accidentally exposed to some of the many topical, environmental, and dietary substances she had become allergic to, results were dramatic. Elaine recalls the time she had to attend an official event after accidentally touching her face with a trace amount of one of these allergens. Her face was so red, swollen, and bruised-looking that she appeared to have been beaten. The nonsteroid anti-inflammatory cream Opzelura® became available for eczema in 2021. It helps just a modest percentage of patients, its immunosuppressive action creates a vulnerability to infection, it carries an unpleasant variety of potential side effects, and it must be used intermittently for no more than 8 weeks at a time. For Elaine it was helpful—when she could use it. She was grateful for the immediate and significant relief it enabled from the intense burning, itching, and painfully cracked skin that plagued her face. Meanwhile, between her severe eczema flares and her worsening food and environmental allergies, Elaine had days when she couldn’t leave her home.

Then in the fall of 2024, Crescel Skin Renewal Cream entered Elaine’s life via a friend who worked with the Crescel company. It was an uncertain beginning. Elaine began applying it to her face and to a newly troubled area on one of her shins, but with no idea how long it should take for the first evidence of benefit to appear. She explains that “the area from the bottom of my nose to the bottom of my lips was getting so crazy inflamed that I quickly decided to return to Opzelura® for my face.” But she continued applying Crescel to the irritations on her shin. “And then several weeks later, I saw that my shin was actually beginning to heal. So I resumed applying Crescel on my face...and waited. In 10 days or so I began to notice improvement—and this was just the start,” Elaine adds. “My face continued to improve steadily, and 6 weeks later—it was completely clear!”

An unexpected plus for Elaine is her more youthful looking skin. Once her facial eczema had healed, she could see that the prominent signs of aging and sun damage that had distressed her for years were improving noticeably. She had always known that her unusually hypersensitive skin could never tolerate even the mildest strength of the gentlest anti-aging procedures and products, and had resigned herself to living with this diminished appearance. “So I have continued applying Crescel twice a day on my entire face,” she explains, “and it is significantly rejuvenating my skin. I love it!” 
Elaine had begun using Crescel during the fall–winter time that she always spends in a warm weather setting. Then in midspring, she returned to her Boston suburb and checked in with her dermatologist. Elaine reports that when her dermatologist walked into the exam room and saw her healed and rejuvenated face for the first time, “she was both startled and delighted. ‘Your skin looks great! I am thrilled!’” 

Elaine reflects on the impact—profound beyond all imagining—that Crescel has had on her life:

“For so long, I lived with the visible impact of severe eczema—redness, intense irritation, and unpredictability. But it wasn’t just physically uncomfortable. It affected how I felt walking into a room, being photographed, or even simply looking in the mirror. There was always this quiet, persistent self-consciousness.

Since using Crescel, that weight has lifted. While I still experience occasional flare-ups—understandable, given that eczema is a chronic immune condition—I no longer carry the constant stress of wondering what my skin will do next. My skin feels calmer, more balanced. And the emotional relief is hard to put into words—it’s like finally being able to breathe in my own skin. 

And yes, I do love the rejuvenation benefits. It’s an unexpected and welcome bonus to feel more confident and refreshed overall.”

“Crescel has truly changed not just how I look, but how I feel. And that means everything.”