SHI ZHEN SHUI GAO - Soothing Cream for Eczema-Prone Skin

Also known as: Shi Zhen Shui Gao, Soothing Cream, Eczema Hand & Body Cream, Eczema Soothing Cream.

A cooling cream for hot, red, itchy skin. Chinese indigo and Amur cork bark do the clearing, borage and peach kernel oil keep it from drying the surface out.

Why I stock this line

Dermatology M is Mazin Al-Khafaji's formulary. I trained in herbal dermatology under him, and these creams are built the way I was taught to build them: matched to a pattern rather than to a diagnosis label.

That distinction is the whole thing. Eczema is not one condition in Chinese medicine. Two people with the same dermatologist's diagnosis can need opposite treatments, and putting a cooling cream on cold, depleted skin will make it worse.

The pattern this cream fits

This is a damp-heat formula. It belongs on skin that is red, hot, angry, and either weeping or intensely itchy with a burning quality. If the area feels warm to your hand and the itch is worse at night or with heat, this is the right cream.

For pale, dry, thickened patches that feel cool and look dull, use the Zi Cao Shui Gao Nourishing Cream instead. That presentation is blood deficiency with dryness, and cooling it further stalls the repair.

Once the heat has cleared and you are rebuilding barrier, the Sha Ji Shui Gao Sea Buckthorn Cream takes over. Most people move through more than one of these across a flare cycle.

A note on topical steroid withdrawal

TSW skin in the early inflammatory phase is usually a damp-heat picture: burning, bright red, oozing, thermoregulation all over the place. This cream is steroid-free and it fits that phase, which is why I keep it in the clinic.

Go gently. TSW skin has a compromised barrier and reacts to things that would be unremarkable on intact skin. Patch a small area first, and expect to change products as the phases shift rather than committing to one cream for the whole course.

What's doing the work

• Qing Dai is in here as Polygonum tinctorium (Chinese indigo) leaf and stem extract, the plant Qing Dai is prepared from. Worth being precise about the evidence: the published trial support is for concentrated indigo naturalis ointment in plaque psoriasis (Lin YK et al, Archives of Dermatology 2008;144(11):1457-1464), which is a stronger preparation than a cosmetic leaf extract. The tradition behind it is much older than the trial.
• Huang Bai (Phellodendron amurense, Amur cork bark) clears damp-heat and drains fire. Topically it is the workhorse for hot, wet, itchy lesions.
• Borage seed oil supplies gamma-linolenic acid directly. Atopic skin tends to convert fatty acids poorly, so supplying GLA ready-made is a reasonable strategy rather than a marketing line.
• Safflower and peach kernel oil are the carriers: light and non-occlusive, so they will not sit on top of inflamed skin the way a heavy ointment does. Zinc oxide and calcium sulfate give it the dry, matte finish.

How to use

• Apply a thin layer to clean skin 3 to 5 times daily. More is not better with a cooling formula.
• Patch test on a small area first, particularly on facial skin or during TSW.
• The indigo pigment can mark light fabric and pale bathroom surfaces. Let it absorb before dressing.
• This is not for infected skin. Honey-coloured crusting, spreading warmth or fever needs medical attention first.
• If the skin gets colder, drier and tighter over two weeks of use, the pattern has shifted and it is time to switch creams rather than push through.

Full ingredients

Aqua (Water), Carthamus Tinctorius (Safflower) Seed Oil, Glycerin, Sodium Stearoyl Lactylate, Borago Officinalis (Borage) Seed Oil, Glyceryl Stearate, Cetearyl Alcohol, Butyrospermum Parkii (Shea) Nut Butter, Prunus Persica (Peach) Kernel Oil, Calcium Sulfate, Phellodendron Amurense (Amur Cork) Bark Extract, Polygonum Tinctorium (Chinese Indigo) Leaf/Stem Extract, Zinc Oxide, Panthenol, Squalane, Phenoxyethanol, Lactic Acid, Theobroma Cacao (Cocoa) Seed Butter, Tocopherol, Allantoin, Hydrated Silica, Inulin Lauryl Carbamate, Xanthan Gum, Helianthus Annuus (Sunflower) Seed Oil, Urea, Aloe Barbadensis (Aloe Vera) Leaf Juice Powder, Caprylyl Glycol, Pantolactone.

1.69 fl oz / 48 g. Contains shea nut butter and cocoa butter. For external use only. Keep out of reach of children.

Browse the full Dermatology M collection. Eczema and TSW usually need internal treatment alongside topicals, and that work happens through my clinical practice.

Dermatology M, formulated by Dr Mazin Al-Khafaji. Selected and reviewed by Dr. Stacee Munroe, OMD, L.Ac., NCBAHM board-certified, trained in herbal dermatology under Mazin Al-Khafaji. Last reviewed August 2026. Cosmetic use only. Not intended to diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent any disease.