The Best CBD Creams & Topicals for Eczema: Reviews & Guide (2024)

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There’s growing evidence that can help with eczema. But with so many products on the market, it can be difficult to choose the right one, especially at a reasonable price.

That’s why I compared dozens of topical products based on their formula, third-party test results, hemp quality, potency, customer reviews, price, and other criteria.

Here are the best CBD creams & topicals for eczema I found.

4 Best CBD Topicals for Eczema

There are many CBD creams and other topicals that can help with eczema, so I broke down my top picks into helpful categories.

1. Best Overall: Medterra Manuka CBD cream | Full review
2. Best Value: Lazarus Naturals Skin Repair Cream | Full review
3. Best Salve: CBDfx Calming Balm Stick | Full review
4. Best Formula: Kiara Naturals Dermacure Cream | Full review

Medterra Manuka Honey Healing Cream (Best Overall)

This cream is formulated with manuka honey, which has been shown to reduce eczema in studies and has other ingredients that may help, such as coconut oil.

Like all Medterra products, the cream is sourced from organic Kentucky hemp and tested by a third-party lab. It costs 24-32 cents per mg CBD, which is higher than average but still reasonable given the addition of manuka honey. You can also get 30% off by subscribing.

Medterra is a reputable brand offering a full range of high-quality CBD products at affordable prices. It’s one of few companies certified by the U.S. Hemp Authority, highlighting its adherence to strict hemp production standards.

Lazarus Naturals Skin Repair Cream (Best Value)

Lazarus Naturals is my top recommendation to get the best bang for your buck.

Designed for irritated, cracked, and dry skin, its CBD skin repair cream contains a long list of ingredients that can be beneficial for eczema, including allantoin, calendula, sweet almond oil, and jojoba seed oil.

It costs only 1 cent per mg of CBD, a ridiculously low price for a high-quality CBD cream, and has a fairly high potency for a topical.

An employee-owned company that grows its own hemp in Central Oregon, Lazarus Naturals is respected for its affordable, high-quality products. Most other CBD companies buy their hemp or extracts from other producers.

CBDfx Calming CBD Balm Stick (Best Salve)

Balms and salves are a great choice for people who prefer simple, water-free topical products. One of the best CBD salves for eczema is offered by CBDfx.

Each 60 ml stick contains CBD blended with all-natural skincare ingredients that can moisturize, reduce inflammation, and help with other eczema symptoms, including tea tree oil, lavender, and chamomile.

Derived from organic Kentucky hemp, this balm is comprehensively tested by a third-party lab and has a low price tag. California’s CBDfx is known for expertly formulated products ranging from tinctures to gummies.

Kiara Naturals CBD Dermacure Cream (Best Formula)

The CBD Dermacure cream from Kiara Naturals has the most impressive anti-eczema and psoriasis formula I’ve seen.

It combines CBD and CBG with botanicals that can help with eczema, inflammation, and skin repair, including aloe vera, gotu kola, indigofera, Chinese goldthread, Chinese skullcap, and stellaria.

Kiara Naturals is a Swiss brand known for offering CBD products infused with time-tested medicinal herbs.

My experience: I occasionally get seborrheic dermatitis, and this cream seemed to help. I applied it directly to the red, scaly patches on my face and parts of my scalp and saw improvement after two days. The cream has a slightly viscous consistency and is easy to rub in. It feels refreshing on the face.

How I Choose CBD Creams & Topicals

Here are the criteria I use to find the right CBD creams and topicals for eczema:

• Third-party test results (to verify the CBD content and lack of contaminants)
• Formula (I look for added ingredients that can help with eczema)
• Type of CBD (to get the best effects)
• Product potency (to avoid products with too little CBD)
• Hemp quality (to get a high-quality product)
• Company reputation (to verify the company can be trusted)
• Price (to get a good deal)

Read on for a closer look at how I judge these factors. You can also use these tips to find the best CBD creams on your own.

Third-Party Testing

Third-party testing is the best way to confirm the efficacy and safety of CBD products. These tests are done by an independent laboratory that checks whether a given product carries as much CBD as it says on the label. 

Third-party tests can also look for pesticides, heavy metals, and other contaminants. Nowadays, all reputable CBD companies utilize third-party testing and share the test results publicly on their websites. A lack of these tests is a big red flag. 

I check the test results for all the products I review to ensure they contain advertised CBD levels, the correct type of CBD, and are free of contaminants. For full-spectrum products, I also check the concentrations of minor cannabinoids (and terpenes, if available).

Formula

I look for topical products that contain additional natural ingredients that can help with eczema, such as tea tree oil. Read more below about what kinds of ingredients you want to look for.

Hemp Quality

CBD comes from hemp, meaning the plant quality and cultivation process matters. The best American hemp is organic and grown in one of three states: Colorado, Kentucky, and Oregon. 

European countries are also an excellent source of hemp because many have been growing it continuously for centuries. 

Check the brand’s website for this information. It’s even better if the company uses USDA-certified organic ingredients or directly grows its hemp.

Type of CBD

As I highlighted at the beginning of the article, there are three main types of CBD: isolate, full-spectrum, and broad-spectrum. 

If you want to get the best effects out of a CBD product for eczema or any other health issues, it’s best to use a full-spectrum or broad-spectrum product. 

That’s because they benefit from the cannabis “entourage effect” — the combined effects of all cannabis compounds working together in synergy instead of pure CBD on its lonesome (1). 

Company Reputation

I also consider the reputation of CBD companies. The brands I recommend have overwhelmingly positive customer reviews that help verify that you’re getting effective CBD oil and good customer service.

They’re also transparent about their hemp source, third-party testing results, and the people behind the company, and they provide other helpful details to build trust with customers.

Price

CBD oil is not cheap, so I also consider the price. I look for products that are affordable yet of good quality. I also make it easy to tell if you’re paying a low, average, or high price by comparing the price per milligram (mg) of CBD. 

Generally speaking, topical CBD products fall into three tiers:

1. Low: $0.08 or less per mg
2. Average: $0.09-$0.20 per mg
3. High: $0.21+ per mg

CBD Dosage for Eczema

There isn’t enough evidence to recommend a specific dose of CBD that’s ideal for eczema. Besides, the ideal dose varies from person to person based on the severity of your symptoms, the type of product you’re using, and other factors.

The best thing you can do is look for a product that has a potency of at least 4 mg of CBD per ml to make sure that it’s strong enough to affect your skin. Anything less than that runs the risk of being too weak to provide a benefit. 

Safety and Side Effects

CBD is already a safe, non-intoxicating substance that’s only been associated with few and minor side effects (3).

Additionally, topical products infused with CBD are even safer because cannabidiol has a hard time penetrating into your skin and reaching the bloodstream. Since CBD can’t reach the blood, so it can’t even cause any side effects.

Nonetheless, you should know that your skin can react negatively to other ingredients in a topical CBD product. 

Guide to Using CBD for Eczema

Interested in trying out CBD for eczema but not sure where to start? Here’s my evidence-based buying guide to using CBD for this common skin condition.

What is CBD?

Cannabidiol (CBD) is a natural cannabinoid compound that comes from cannabis. Thanks to its non-intoxicating properties and multiple health benefits, CBD has grown widely popular in the past several years.

CBD is typically sourced from hemp, which is a type of cannabis with high cannabidiol but low THC levels (0.3% or less).

Most people use it in the form of CBD oil, a liquid tincture where the CBD is dissolved in a carrier oil to aid its absorption and applied under the tongue. However, CBD can also be used in many other products, including topicals such as creams, salves, lotions, and balms.

What is Eczema?

Also known as atopic dermatitis, eczema is a condition characterized by red, itchy, and inflamed skin. Eczema tends to last a long time and with ongoing flare-ups. It’s estimated to affect 20% of children and up to 10% of adults in high-income countries (4).

Health experts believe this condition is linked to immune system dysfunction & allergies, stress, as well as other factors that can disrupt the skin’s barrier, which protects you from external threats and seals in moisture. 

Eczema is not curable, and therapy usually focuses on soothing and preventing flare-ups. 

CBD Benefits for Eczema

CBD may help relieve the inflammation that characterizes eczema, which in turn can alleviate symptoms such as itching, redness, and dryness.

One promising Italian study tested the effects of a CBD-infused ointment on people with psoriasis, eczema, and scarring related to these conditions. 

The study participants used the ointment daily for 90 days, experiencing an improvement of skin hydration, elasticity, and other measures of skin health, as well as reduced scarring and blemishes (5).

CBD can also help eczema sufferers indirectly through its beneficial effects on mood, anxiety, and sleep. Research suggests these issues are more common in people suffering from eczema and may worsen its symptoms (6, 7, 8, 9).

Did you know? Adding hemp seed oil to your diet — the oil pressed out of hemp seeds, not the same thing as CBD oil — may also help with eczema. In one study, people who used dietary hemp seed oil saw improvements in eczema symptoms, whereas those who took olive oil had no improvement (10). 

How Does CBD Help with Eczema?

Researchers believe CBD can have a positive effect on eczema by interacting with the body’s endocannabinoid system (ECS). 

This system comprises three parts: cannabinoid receptors, endocannabinoids (cannabinoids that your body makes), and special enzymes that build and break them down.

The major role of the ECS is to maintain homeostasis, a healthy state of balance throughout the whole body. As part of its job, the ECS plays an important role in the health of your skin by controlling inflammation, cell growth, and other crucial processes (11).

Researchers theorize that ECS dysfunction could even be at the core of many health disorders, including eczema (12).

CBD can support the ECS by suppressing the enzyme that breaks down anandamide, one of the main endocannabinoids made in the body (13). 

Anandamide has been demonstrated to reduce skin inflammation and itching, highlighting the involvement of the ECS in healthy skin function (14).

Also, test-tube studies have shown that CBD can help regulate the dysfunctional immune system responses that may play a role in eczema (15). This isn’t surprising as the ECS is also known to regulate immune system function (16).

Other Helpful Topical Ingredients for Eczema

If you want to use a CBD-infused topical product for eczema, it’s helpful to look for one that contains some of the following ingredients:

• Vitamin E: also known as tocopherol, this vitamin has been demonstrated to improve itching, eczema extent, and other measures of eczema severity in research studies (17).
• Colloidal oatmeal: a review of multiple studies found that products containing colloidal oatmeal improved itching, dryness, eczema severity, and overall quality of life in eczema sufferers (18).
• Emollients/moisturizers: Moisturizing the skin is one of the best approaches to eczema because it helps protect the damaged skin barrier and keep in moisture. Some studies have shown that emollients are beneficial for eczema (19).
• Manuka honey: this special type of honey comes from a shrub in New Zealand and has been shown to improve eczema in research studies (20)

Other natural ingredients listed below may also be beneficial for some people with eczema. However, their effects are more variable and don’t have as much research evidence:

• Tea tree oil: there are some anecdotal reports of tea tree oil helping with eczema, although it doesn’t seem to work for everyone. One study found that tea tree oil improved contact dermatitis and had potential as an “anti-eczematic agent” (21).
• Coconut oil: some people with eczema swear by the benefits of coconut oil, while others find that it only makes things worse. In any case, there’s evidence that coconut oil can reduce skin inflammation and enhance barrier function, both of which are beneficial for eczema (22).
• Aloe vera: this popular plant is proposed to have antibacterial, wound-healing, and immunity-modulating properties (23). However, there’s a lack of evidence for its benefits, specifically in eczema.

How To Apply CBD Topicals for Eczema

You can apply a topical CBD product directly to the area of skin affected by eczema. It’s best to clean and dry the area first and then massage the product into your skin as you would with most regular topicals.

You can start with a small amount and see if that provides you with some relief. If that’s not enough, you can always apply more later.

Can Topical CBD Cause a Failed Drug Test for THC?

It’s highly unlikely that a topical CBD product will show up as a positive drug test for THC. Not only do CBD products contain very small THC amounts (less than 0.3%), but topically applied CBD has a hard time reaching the bloodstream. 

Can You Apply CBD Oil to Eczema?

Yes, you can apply regular CBD oil to eczema flare-ups. Having said that, you’ll probably have better results from using a dedicated topical product because they contain multiple ingredients and are designed to be applied to the skin.