Leave It To Us To Tackle the Gross Stuff! Backne!

Clearing Up Backne-  The first thing to clear up about backne is what is and what it isn’t.  The word “backne” is a take on acne; it refers to those pimple-like breakouts on the back. Although breakouts can also happen on the shoulders, arms, tush, etc. Most people think the blemishes on these areas are the same as facial acne and caused by the same  bacteria. Backne is actually a growth of a yeast bacterium, pityrosporum, and the condition is called pitsyrosporum folliculitis (backne…much easier to remember and pronounce).

It now makes sense why some people have bacne and no acne or facial blemishes, or why some have facial acne with no blemishes on the back or other parts of the body.  And unfortunately some people have both.

Looking Similar Is Not Everything

It may look similar to acne or blemishes, but actually there are no comedones (black/white heads) as there are with facial acne, although there can be cysts.  Yeast organisms feeding on the sweat and body oils cause pitsyrosporum folliculitis (PF).  This is due to a bacterial imbalance in the body and skin’s flora that cause overactive sebum production.

Yucky, yes.  But these organisms, malassezia, are on all of our bodies.  For various reasons, however,  people who have this condition have a more favorable setting for the spread of the yeast.  Men more than women have PF (hmm…maybe it’s because men sweat whereas ladies glisten….).  The condition is found at the hair follicles where they become enlarged and blocked with cellular debris that the yeasts nosh on.  Hmmm…what’s for dinner?

Okay, we’re sorry if we are grossing you out, but we gotta share. This condition is also related to seborrhea and candidiasis, which are also a result of the body’s flora being out of balance in favor of yeast producing microorganism.

And The Reason Is…

This overgrowth of yeast organism on the body can have many causes.  It can be caused by any one of these or a combination: medical (diabetes, autoimmune diseases, etc); changes in hormones (pregnancy, post-puberty); antibiotics can disrupt the skin’s flora; environment plays a role (high temperatures and humidity); not removing the dead skin through bathing (particularly after sweating), and diet (diet plays a large role).

Certain products that you put on your skin can cause the condition or worsen it.  Lotions, cosmetics, and sunscreens mix with the sebum being released from the body to create a sympathetic environment for yeast growth.  There can also be a genetic disposition that creates the right scenario for some people to get it (although not a reason that you have to just live with it).

Why Those Medications Didn’t Work

If you have tried the typical acne products for your backne and got no results, it’s because medications and products for facial acne typically don’t work on PF.  PF and facial acne do not share the same bacterial organisms. Backne is a fungus and requires a different approach to improve or eliminate it.  And remember that antibiotics can disrupt the balance of bacteria in the body and on the skin, so antibiotics that work for acne could exacerbate PF.  Always check with your doctor before changing any medicines you are taking and evaluate/diagnose any skin conditions you may have.

Clearing Up Backne

• First, you need to keep the area clean, especially after an activity that makes you sweat. Remember the pityrosporum feed on sweat and sebum.  Even if you can’t immediately shower after say–a workout, clean the area with a washcloth or a gentle cleansing wipe.  Be particular in what wipes you use, some of them have ingredients that will aggravate the condition instead of helping it.
•  Use a washcloth or even a hand towel to clean those hard to reach areas.  You can also buy body sponges that have long handles.
•  The skin on the back is thicker and denser so gentle exfoliation is beneficial because exfoliating removes the dead skin cells that block the pores.
•  Wear clothes that breathe and can absorb sweat such as cotton, especially when you are doing sweat generating activities.  Things that rub against the skin such as backpacks; tight clothes can aggravate the blemishes and cause the yeast to spread. Even an intense massage could irritate PF.
•  Change your bedding regularly, especially if you sweat during the night.  Unless you want to give those little buggers a bedtime snack!  Consider changing at least your pillowcase daily.  Instead of making your bed, pull back the top sheet and blankets to allow the bedding to get air and light.
•  Harsh detergents (bacterial “soaps” and shower gels) can worsen PF because they strip the skin of the good bacteria and oils.  Remember it’s a fungus.  And while you want to be clean, being overzealous with scrubbing the skin will not improve it either.
•  Changing your diet, especially if it’s high in carbohydrates and/or the wrong carbohydrates can make the biggest difference in PF.  Sorry, guys…beer may give your more than just a belly…. Yeast feeds on sugar and unbalances the body’s flora.  These sugars make their way to your skin.  So, make sure each day you are eating fresh fruit and vegetables.  Especially green leafy vegetables.  See our blog from last Friday for skin healthy nutrients and a yummy salad recipe.
•  Three of our products, Orange You Glad Salt Scrub, Argan Acne Serum, and Manly-Lavender Shave Balm will also help. The Dead Sea Salts in Orange You Glad… gently exfoliate and provide the skin with 21 minerals. You can also apply the scrubs to a washcloth for those hard to reach areas.
•  The plant oils we use contain natural nutrients, such as vitamin E, that help nourish and balance the skin.  Plant oils are not the same as oils produced by the body. Secreted body oils in these problem areas have dirt and bacteria mixed with it.
•  Essential oils in the two above mentioned serums work on both acne and backne because essential oils unlike acne medications have multiple properties so they work on more than one condition.  For instance, lavender is a fungicide (kills yeast and fungus), an antimicrobial, and an anti-inflammatory.   If you have used lavender for aromatherapy, you know how calming it is; that’s because it also has sedative properties.

As always our products are guaranteed, or your money back.

Reference: Siobahn M Bower, MD; Chief Editor: Dirk M Elston, MD; “Malassezia (Pityrosporum) Folliculitis:”  Medscape Reference (WebMD) http://emedicine.medscape.com/article/1091037-overview                                                                

Disclaimer: This information is for educational and entertaining purposes only; the information may not be complete. It is not intended to prescribe, diagnose, treat, or cure any disease or conditions.

copyright: Abhijit Chandra, LLC – 2011

You’re Bathing with Soap? Are You Sure ’bout that?

If you have a beautiful piece of jewelry such as a string of pearls or a diamond ring, you aren’t going to put them in harsh chemicals or detergents to clean them, right?  And guys, if there’s a beautiful shine to your car, you are just as careful not to ruin it with an abrasive cleanser, correct?  But yet, everyday millions of people are stripping their skin of their natural emollients (lipids) with harsh detergents and soaps.  These natural lipids help your skin to glow and keep it healthy.  So why strip them away?

You probably think that bar of deodorant or anti-bacterial soap you put on your skin is just that, soap.  It’s most likely not; it’s probably a detergent with synthetic ingredients that are very harsh on the skin, especially dry skin.  According to the U.S. government definitions, soap is made from fats and alkali–that’s it.  Basically anything that makes a claim such as being a deodorizer, being anti-bacterial, beautifying, etc. is considered a cosmetic, not a soap.

 Interestingly, the reason some synthetic ingredients are added to body cleansers is not so much about cleaning or improving your skin.  It’s actually there to keep scum from forming in the tub or shower.  Pure soaps (fat and alkalies) form a “tub ring” in hard water.  So that body cleansers can work the same in all water types, manufactures created products with synthetic ingredients that work in both soft and hard water.  This is what also causes the soap to bubble and lather.  Consequently, the same ingredients that keep your tub clean are also the ingredients you are using on your body.  You also clean with bleach…would you bathe in that?  Alright, a bit of an exaggeration…but still.

Our body scrubs use a combination of plant oils, plant botanicals, and exfoliants, such as sugar or salt to clean the body.  Using plant oils to cleanse the body is hardly a novel idea.  Many cultures used plant oils for these exact purposes.  The Romans, Greeks, and the ayurvedic practice in India promoted the use of plant oils and essential oils to keep the skin not only clean, but moisturized as well.  That is what our scrubs; they clean, exfoliate, and moisturize all in one.    

Mother’s Day Around the Corner…Order Now

Mother’s Day this year is on May 8, a little earlier than other years.  Just in case you get a spot on Jeopardy and there’s a Mother’s Day category– here is some help to prepare you.

A day for celebrating mothers has been around for centuries.  The Greeks (by the way what haven’t they started?) began it with celebrating Rhea who was the mother of the gods and Cybele, the earth mother.

The Roman borrowed from the Greeks and had a day to celebrate Juno, the patroness goddess of Rome and women.  The first Christians (who also borrowed other ideas from….the Greeks) took up this celebration to honor Mary, the mother of Christ on the fourth Sunday of Lent.

Early British religious leaders extended the religious celebration to include all mothers and called it Mothering Day.  It was also a day that folks were to return to the “mother” church and later it evolved so that household servants got the day off to visit their mums.

While the holiday did not cross the seas with early settlers, it eventually landed here. Anna Jarvis, a “protolobbyist,”  got the presidential seal of approval to make it a national holiday.  The first Mother’s Day, May 12, 1907, was a church service in honor of Anna’s mother and other mothers.  Anna handed out white carnations because they symbolized sweetness, purity, and patience.  It was, however,  Julia Ward Howe, a suffragist, who suggested the idea many years before, wanting the day to also celebrate peace.

By the way, Anna never had children of her own. Good thing perhaps. Because if she had children, and they gave her a card or candy or some other present, she would have disowned them.  Anna so hated the idea of sending cards and giving gifts to mothers on Mother’s Day that she spent her entire fortune and the rest of her life fighting against the commercialization of Mother’s Day.

President Woodrow Wilson in 1914 made it official by making the second Sunday in May a national holiday to honor mothers.  And Hallmark has been kowtowing in thanks to him ever since…………

While most countries have a day to celebrate Mother’s Day, Denmark, Turkey, Italy, Australia and a few other countries celebrate on the second Sunday of May just like us.  They borrowed……….of course.

For Mother’s Day, we have put together a combination package with a lovely discount. 

Take advantage of this offer by clicking: http://stores.yumscrub.com/-strse-13/Mother%27s-Day-Package-Set/Detail.bok

Keratosis Pilaris? You Could Have It!

Got red bumpy skin on your upper arms and thighs, and on your buttocks?  It has a name, keratosis pilaris.  Try saying that 3 times fast…  And if you have it, you’re not alone.  It’s estimated that more than 40% of adults worldwide have KP.  While not harmful, it can be annoying.  In colder months it’s itchy.  And in the summer, it can’t be hidden…

Those bumps are still there when you are ready to rock your fabulous new summer dress or bikini.  And those cute short-shorts will be showing more than just legs.  But there is help to eliminate or reduce KP.

KP is a result of too much keratin (a protein) forming in the body and plugging the hair follicles in those areas.  KP is tough and doesn’t flake off as normal dead skin does.  Did you know that skin, hair, nails, hooves, and horns are all made of keratin?

The consensus in the medical field seems to be that there is nothing that can be done except try different creams in the hope they will reduce the bumps.  Most people find the creams don’t work because they act more like a “band-aid,” masking the problem instead of resolving it.  And some actually experience that the ingredients in those lotions worsened their KP, ingredients such as lanolin.

More and more, research shows that diet plays a large role in the condition of our skin.  It only makes sense: Diet affects the health of our body on the inside why wouldn’t it affect the outer layer of the body?  It’s not as if our skin is disconnected from the rest of our body.

Ways to reduce or eliminate KP:

Some of the common foods that people with KP have eliminated from their diet, which in-turn reduced or cleared the skin condition entirely are, wheat, gluten, dairy products, and factory-raised meats (because of the hormones and antibiotics given to the animals–among other things).  So you would want to eat organic raised meats instead.

Studies have shown KP is thought to be hereditary; this connection is often used as a way of dismissing any hope of correcting the condition. However, heredity falls inline with diet as a culprit.  If heredity is the problem then diet makes sense once again.  The reason is that most people eat from the traditional diet of their family’s heritage.  Sure you eat foods from other ethnic traditions, but on a consistent basis (especially when you want that comfort food) you most likely choose something that your parents, grandparents, aunt, uncles and so on eat.  In other words, observe what you eat and look for connections.

If you want smoother skin, try experimenting by eliminating one of the above foods, do it gradually and one at a time.  And allow at least 6-8 weeks from the complete elimination of a food to notice a difference.  Switch from eating factory-raised meats to organic raised and processed meats.  And fill your diet with skin happy foods such as berries, carrots, fish, and green leafy vegetables!!

Other culprits that could cause or exacerbate KP are products (soaps, lotions) that contain lanolin and mineral oils, harsh detergents (commercially produced soap and shower gels), laundry soap, and dryer sheets.

Besides changing up the diet and investigating products that are applied to the skin or come in contact with it, you can improve the condition with regular exfoliation and keeping the areas moisturized.

Yum Scrub! Organics Coco-Mint, Manly-Mint Eucalyptus, and Orange You Glad Scrubs with regular use will reduce or eliminate the bumps.  Not only do the scrubs soften and exfoliate the built-up keratin; the oils in them penetrate and nourish the skin with essential fatty acids.  And the botanicals  improve the skin’s overall condition.

And to help you get started on smoother, healthier skin, Yum Scrub! Organics is offering 10% off any Scrub.  It’s spring time; get your skin ready now for summer!! Use PROMO code: superskin  (Note: Need to register at checkout to use promo code.)

http://stores.yumscrub.com/-strse-Body-Scrubs/Categories.bok

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We are proud to now be selling on Abe’s Market, not only a great place to buy all natural products, but they also give you the opportunity to really know the people behind the brands you are buying!  Click the image above to check it out!

The Essentials of Essential Oils

Before peeling an orange and digging into its sweet juiciness, do you bring it to your nose first and inhale its wonderful uplifting smell?  Mmmmmmm!  If you haven’t, try it.  The scent and yummy feeling that comes with sniffing an orange is due in large part to its essential oils.  

Essential oils are the “essence” of a plant.  Extraction of volatile (scent and therapeutic) molecules from petals, stems, bark, and/or other parts of a plant is what makes it an essential oil. Some plants such as cypress or patchouli are generous in giving up their essence.  While others such as the rose, which takes almost 10,000 pounds of petals to get approximately one pound of essential oil, aren’t giving their essence away so freely.  By the way, 1/8 ounce of therapeutic grade organic rose essential oil can cost well over a $100.00. And just like a great bottle of wine some improve with age, such as patchouli.

Essential oils are not just dressed up in their fine scents for showing off; they work to.  In almost every culture across the globe and across thousands of years, plant oils have been used for everything from burns to sciatica.  Essential oils were so prized they were used as money and for bartering in many cultures.

Modern aromatherapy resulted from an accident.  After a severe burn to his hand French chemist, Rene-Maurice Gattefosse, grabbed lavender essential oil and poured it on his hand.  He was surprised at how quickly the burn healed and how it prevented scarring.  Yum Scrub! Organics strongly believes in the benefits of essential oils and that’s why we add them to our products.

In addition, Yum Scrub! Organic essential oils are a cut above.  Our supplier sells only organic essential oils, using a distillation process.  Their oils are of the highest quality, and they also are in contact with the producers of the oils they don’t produce themselves.

Yum Scrub! Organics pays more for our essential oils, but we are committed to using the best ingredients that work.  And, we think our wonderful customers deserve the best!

Let’s Go Coconuts!

Mary Beth Janssen and Organic Spa Magazine, share with us the benefits of coconut oil!  Below is just a taste of the article, but take sometime to read the whole thing…  (click the link to read the full story)

Coconut oil is an extremely healthy saturated fat. Its principle fatty acid is lauric acid (also found in human breast milk), a medium chain saturated fatty acid or triglyceride (MCT) that has potent antiviral, antifungal, antipathogenic, and antimicrobial properties. Lauric acid powerfully strengthens the immune system. It optimizes our body’s absorption of vitamins, minerals, and amino acids, enhancing overall health. It can help assuage digestion-related problems, such as heartburn and irritable bowel syndrome. Why, it’s even used to treat AIDS and candida because of its antipathogenic effect in the gut.

And using Coconut oil on your skin?

Whether the drying depths of winter or the heat of the summer, coconut oil is one of the most soothing and cooling oils on the planet and can have dramatic rejuvenative effects on the skin. This oil works wonders as a deep moisturizer, emollient, and lubricant for all skin types, especially dry and aging skin. Use on facial skin, on hands and feet, but also certainly use for a full body self-massage.

Check out the full article by Mary Beth Janssen from Organic Spa Magazine  http://www.organicspamagazine.com/articles/category/beauty-and-style/the-coconut-craze/

Try our Coco-Mint Sugar or Manly-Mint Eucalyptus Scrubs; both contain organic coconut oil    http://stores.yumscrub.com/-strse-Body-Scrubs/Categories.bok

Tootsie Time!

Our feet do so much for us, they get us around, they take the pressure off when standing in line at the grocery store, they allow us to be extra cute with a priceless pair of shoes… we could go on and on… This is why we think it’s time to show our pedes some appreciation.

Not only are there thousands of pores on our feet, they are also the largest on our bodies.   By using a scrub on them you can really help flush out the toxins in your body, not to mention it will make you feel rejuvenated from toe to head!

Using a YUM Scrub! (step #2), follow these simple directions for giving the perfect foot massage and treat your feet (or your loved one’s) on this Valentine’s Day weekend!

http://www.wikihow.com/Give-a-Foot-Massage

Thanks wikihow.com

We Love Our Customers

“Hi, just wanted to let you know how much I enjoy the Coco-Mint Scrub.  Not only do I have dry skin, but I also have a very busy life.  Since starting to use your scrub, I can eliminate the dry skin and the time consuming application of lotion altogether.  I especially appreciate this at bedtime when I’m tired.”

-Gail S.

Portage, PA

Thanks Gail for letting us know how you are making the YUM Scrub Organics experience your own!!!