Every time Natalie Balmond rubbed cream on to her daughter's eczema, the toddler screamed in agony.

The 35-year-old mother's life revolved around a ritual of smearing lotions on Lulu's skin, wrapping her in bandages at bedtime and waking every few hours to calm her down.

Natalie, of Firle Road, Brighton, was almost at breaking point before she chanced upon some ancient recipes for beeswax lotions and began to make a cure of her own.

In a last-ditch attempt to offer her daughter some respite, Natalie struck upon a formula that worked and, within two months, Lulu's eczema had virtually disappeared.

In a bid to help other sufferers, Natalie started up a mail order business called Pure Potions. It has attracted so much interest she now needs an investor to help her move the production out of her kitchen and into a workshop.

Mother-of-two Natalie said: "My daughter was 18-months-old when I started making potions.

"She had chronic eczema. It was so debilitating she was on disability allowance.

"It affected my life enormously. Every night I had to put bandages on her. She was very distressed and sat on my lap crying the whole time. Our life ground to a halt for a while.

"I was very aware of not eating food with preservatives in and yet me and my partner, Mark, were putting so many chemicals into her skin by using steroid creams.

"I started looking at traditional recipes and experimented with beeswax, herbal tinctures and essential oils. I wanted to nourish her through her skin and only wanted to put pure things on it.

"The result when I put it on her was absolutely amazing. She didn't flinch or scream at all when I put the ointment on and she slept for much longer. It went from being chronic eczema to manageable in no time."

Natalie began to give bottles of the eczema lotion to her friends to use on their children and when they found it similarly successful she decided it was time to reach a wider market.

What started off two years ago as a small cottage industry has rapidly outgrown Natalie's expectations and premises.

She has enlisted her friend, Louise Kay, to help make the potions in pans on her stove.

The pair have also branched out into natural beauty and health products, such as peppermint foot balm, aloe vera after-sun and refreshing face sprays.

Natalie said: "It's important to realise 60 per cent of what you put on your skin is absorbed into the body so it's a way of nourishing yourself.

"What I want to do is keep true to what I believe and that is skin care is incredibly simple. All you have to do is nourish the skin with natural products and essential fatty acids.

"I don't want to start mass-producing my products because then preservatives and chemicals would have to be put in. But I do need to expand to bigger premises.

"I think of those parents going to the doctors each week struggling to find something that works. If I can get the lotion out to them on a bigger scale it will be fantastic."

The eczema lotion comes in three sizes and costs £4, £7 or £10.

To contact Natalie at Pure Potions, call 01273 689946.