Deep Steep Moisture Stick

Portable Skin Soother

• What: Deep Steep Moisture Stick
• When: Skin gets irritated
• Why: No harsh chemicals or toxins, super moisturizing, packable
• Where: Amazon

I discovered the awesomeness of Deep Steep in a monthly subscription box (now sadly defunct) after the birth of my second child. I loved the kids’ products tailored to my infant’s specific age, but I loved it even more when they included stuff for me in the monthly box of surprises, and this product is no exception.

Deep Steep has been one of my favorite things to appear magically on my doorstep. (I also discovered Skip Hop Zoo Lunchies via this service.) I suffer from psoriasis, and it got much worse with the frequent hand washing after I had a toddler and a newborn at home. I fell in love with the soothing lavender scent of Deep Steep, and when it calmed my skin after only one application, I couldn’t live without it.

Each tube comes with half an ounce. It doesn’t sound like much, but because it works so well, it lasts a long time. In more than five years, I’ve gone through two or three tubes because I use it only on small areas of skin. It works so well I rarely have to apply it more than a couple times to fix whatever skin issues I’m trying to resolve. It works as well for dry or chapped skin as it does to prevent those conditions if applied ahead of exposure to irritants. I’ve used it on my hands, feet, calves, stomach, elbows, and anywhere else I discover a patch of flaky skin.

I love the compact packaging, which meant I could slide it into my diaper bag easily, or keep it handy in almost any room of the house. Because I could rub it directly onto the affected areas, I didn’t risk upsetting angry skin by introducing even more germs with my fingers (or washing my hands yet again). Because it comes as a solid, I don’t have any trouble flying with it, and I love having it for the dry air during flights.

It twists up to access more moisturizer, which means even if your toddler gets ahold of it, they can’t ruin the entire thing. (Beware of pocket storage, though, because much like chapstick, it doesn’t survive a trip through the dryer.) It scores well (a nice green 2) on EWG’s Healthy Living app. Now it comes in several other scents, like rosemary mint, grapefruit bergamot, brown sugar vanilla, tangerine melon, and passion fruit guava, in additional to the lavender chamomile version I first fell for.