Ok. I asked because eczema is brought on by so many different things and there are different types of eczema. My eczema was brought on from food allergies (which I didn't know until I went to a physician) cosmetics, specifically Victoria's Secret lip glosses and shower gel and exercizing outside when it is too sunny, and stress. It was really trial and error, and patience to find out what was triggering this and ways to avoid it.
With the worse outbreak I had (stress induced) I got a prescription. For my smaller outbreaks I use a hydrocortisone cream at 2%. I then mix petroleum jelly with water until it turns white and put that over the hydrocorisone cream. If it is on a part of my body that I can cover with a bandage I will. Not a band aid, but the kind of bandage you would use for burns.
BTW, I am one of those anti-petroleum jelly people. However, the very reasons I don't use it on my skin and hair is why it works in this case. This is the only time use it. Oh, and if you try this, make sure you get the fragrance free kind, which is usually the store brand.
With all that said, if it is possible for your mom to go to a doctor, I would suggest she start there as this is a medical issue. Hope this helps.
Your concoction sounds like the stuff I used to get prescribed in Kenya. I don't know what was in it but it had the consistency of Vaseline and was white and what a wonder it did to relieve my eczema. Of course now I'm anti-cortisones after years of fighting candidiasis and discovering that steroids turned you into their b**** (Ooh, did I say that out loud?). But I have to say that nothing worked as well as my doctor's concoction. I would so love to know what was in it...hoping he's not a secretive like OP's mom's stylist.
I had severe eczema for a decade and what got rid of mine was removing gluten and soy from my diet forever. They put me on a three week cleanse (burdock root tea). Also, they had to give me things to calm my inflammation down like strong doses of fish oil and a shake mix to mix with juice that had tumeric in it. They also put me on a probiotic. I went to a naturopath to get my eczema cured.
My eczema had to do with something in my diet that was causing it. Maybe your mom is eating foods that she can't tolerate and isn't aware of it. But i didn't have scalp eczema which is different from atopic eczema so i don't know if that helps.
I was going to say Flax seed oil which is a good source of Omegas internally and topically has worked great for my DD. As someone else suggested tea tree oil in small amounts too. Feels so good to a dry scalp! You can probably experiment and come up with a blend of custom oils and then make any needed dietary changes. Does your mom know what types of things she is sensitive to? Eczema is usally in response to something.
^^You two address two very interesting points. Prudent, your suggestion was an aha moment for me.
In 1993, when I was dealing with systemic candidiasis, I found a booklet that told me about changing my diet to fix that. I cut out sugar, gluten (wheat), dairy, all processed and fermented foods, yeast...and all fruit for the first month. I also started to take 5 supplements w/o fail and still do (minus the caprylic acid): garlic, a potent multi, acidophilus (probiotic), a source of Omega oils and a caprylic acid product eg Capricin.
What led me to this journey was developing a rash that looked like the eczema I had had since I was a kid, but it didn't respond to even the cream from my doctor in Kenya. It was just this dry skin that looked like eczema and itched like crazy but creams just sat on it and would not penetrate. It'd itch so much at night, I'd wake up to caked blood and pus from having scratched in my sleep and torn the skin. I knew what to do with eczema (the cream) but this thing baffled me. Hence my search for a solution and my discovery of the existence of systemic candidiasis. I did fight recurrent yeast infections too, but never linked them to the skin issues. Let's just say I was a sickly li'l thing. If it wasn't one thing, it was another. But that rash was unbearable, hence my quest for a solution.
Anyway, I started the new diet and supplementation mainly to get rid of candida's control of my life, but not only did I get relief from candida but my eczema and hay fever (pollen allergy) became a thing of the past. While I always had to have the remedies (cream, antihistamines) handy at all times, since I made this change in my life, I haven't needed these meds since 1993.
If I do slack and eat say ice cream (instead of sorbet)--but really, it's when I overdo it--I start to react to pollen, which is a sign my immunity is dropping so I get back on track and that clears. But my eczema has never returned and I really believe it was the change of my diet that helped. Prudent's mention of EFAs being responsible for improvement did make sense coz I've made them part of my life since then.
Coconut oil has helped a few people in the skin forum, so you can't go wrong using this as a moisturizer. I have sang its praises a lot in the skin forum. I haven't used lotion to moisturize since I discovered how well this worked on skin...and why it's "the best moisturizer" according to a website I always link to. I'll return to give the link.
ETA: This is the link I post ad nauseum in the skin forum:
http://www.coconut-connections.com/skin_care.htm
And then I found this other one while looking for the previous link:
http://hubpages.com/hub/Virgin-Coconut-Oil-the-safest-skin-moisturizer
HTH someone.
erplexed? I thought you had to tell a person what your applying on them for safety/allergic reaction, etc? 
SAD!!!
and I use coconut oil and shea butter oil. My ezcema clears up immediately and I have no outbreaks as long as I use it consistently. It also removes the scarring that can be left behind from an outbreak. Just mix both of them together in a bottle and just alittle goes along way. 
