Aqueous Cream — thick, white, non-greasy cream prescribed (if you receive your prescriptions free from the NHS) or recommended (should you have to pay for prescriptions; it is cheaper to buy over the counter in a pharmacy) liberally by doctors for the symptomatic relief of eczema, or other similar conditions associated with dry skin.

Ingredients:

Aqueous Cream is lanolin-free, so should you suffer from an allergy to that fabulous by-product of sheep's wool, have no fear, you can still use Aqueous Cream. It is rare that Aqueous Cream should cause an allergic reaction, but it is advised to stop using it and consult your doctor if this is the case.

Aqueous Cream might not be the easiest substance to apply — it can be difficult to rub-in and using too much will result in you resembling a snowman, or a milk bottle, or any other significantly white entity that you care to name — but it does help to alleviate the murderous itching that eczema causes. (The best description that I can offer is to imagine thousands of tiny red-hot pin-pricks brushing continually over a particular area of your skin.) Thankfully, Aqueous Cream can be applied as and when required. Furthermore, it can also be used as a substitute for soap, which is perhaps one of dry skin's worst enemies. Experience suggests that the most effective procedure when using Aqueous Cream as soap-substitute is to smear the cream generously over your body before getting into the shower or bath and then proceed to wash. After getting out of the shower or bath, rub a little more cream into your body before drying completely. Of course, eczema being what it is, be prepared to have to coat yourself once more in ten minutes' time.