You've not had any redness or itching on your hands at all? One wishes that would definitively rule out the ointment, but with dermatological irritations, the point of contact is sometimes not the site where trouble flares. (Mind you, it generally is that simple, but not always.)

Since we're considering the ointment, I must ask whether you blend it yourself.

If one is not the preparer (and sometimes even then) one cannot tell when a preparation may have some substitution in its ingredients, and it's possible that even a change in the type of lavender or in the source of the beeswax could introduce an irritant in a substance you've used for years. And that's not to mention the chance of a contaminant introduced via the processing of the almond oil.

Likely there's nothing I could tell from the jar. If it's an irritant there, it may well be something that is harmless to most users but is provoking havoc in your system because of some unhappy quirk of your constitution and its elements.

And, of course, it may not be the ointment at all. The trouble could be with something you've ingested or come in contact with in another way. You mention parchment, and I must say that I have seen my share of students over the years with sensitivities to parchment itself or to the substances used in preparing it for our use. But again, it's most likely to irritate the hands.

You've not eaten anything recently that you do not usually consume? Tis the season, after all, for holiday hampers to begin arriving, filled with rarities and special treats.