Clear Skin Series: Busting Back and Body Acne

I was recently asked by someone what I would recommend them to treat back-acne.

Well, I have a confession to make. I suffer from the condition too – not severe, but enough to make me think twice whenever I need to consider wearing strapless or backless clothing.

Suffering from acne anywhere on your body can be debilitating, whether it be on your face, back or chest that can be hidden by clothing, it ultimately can have the same effect and lower your self esteem and affect confidence levels. Acne on the body is generally caused by hormonal imbalance, where to body is producing too much sebum and the best thing is to try and keep the oil and grease off the skin so it does not clog the pores and hair follicles on the body.

Here are my tried and true products that I use to keep my body blemishes at bay.

Back-Acne Busters

1. Wash skin with an anti-bacterial cleanser on a daily basis. I recommend anything with benzoyl peroxide as an active ingredient as it will help to kill off the bacteria on skin and remove excess oil. Benzac AC 5% Face and Body Wash is a good place to start and it's not too drying on skin.

2. Incorporate into your cleansing  routine a body wash with AHA to help with removing dead skin cell build-up and unclogging pores. The ASAP Revitalising Body Scrub is great for this as it contains glycolic acid (a type of AHA)and micro polishing beads to manually exfoliate skin leaving it baby smooth without all those layers of dead skin that blocks pores. I recommend using the product 2-3 times a week in place of the anti-bacterial body was.

3. As a further step of exfoliating the skin, try a dry body brush to brush off oil and grease from the body and is especially handy for those hard-to reach areas like the back. The Manicare Cellulite Bristle Brush will do the job perfectly and help with removing skin cells and help with blood circulation. I haven't really used it as a cellulite reduction brush and cannot say how effective it is for that but for exfoliating, it is amazing.

4. Sometimes, all the over-counters products will not be enough to treat your problem if it is persistent and severe. Don't be afraid to call in the help of the GP (you don't have to be dying of the flu to see them!). I recently did just that and was prescribed something topical to help with treating the pimples. If you suffer severe cases, your doctor may be prescribe you oral medication. I use Epiduo Gel which contains 2.5% benzoyl peroxide to kill off the bacteria and 0.1% adapalene, a retinoid to help unclog pores as well as reduce inflammation and swelling of bumps and cysts.

5. The other thing to keep in mind is to wear natural fibre clothing so that excess moisture and oil can be absorbed by the fabric and still let the body breath comfortably. To that end, I recommend wearing cotton, bamboo or woollen materials over the synthetic and polyester clothing.

I hope that these tips will help you keep you skin clear and blemish free (or at least reduce the number of nasty bumps on you skin). Let me know if you have other methods that works for achieving clear skin on your body.

Stocklist Information:
Benzac AC 5% Face and Body Wash 200ml - RRP A$16.99 is available at pharmacies.
ASAP Revitalising Body Scrub 200ml - RRP A$39 is available at selected salons and online at the SkinCareStore.
Manicare Cellulite Bristle Brush - RRP A$14.95 is available at Priceline, Kmart, Target, Big W and selected pharmacies
Epiduo gel is a prescription-only drug and available from your GP upon request.

In the next skincare series, I'll review some great scar treatment products.

How To: Bust Pesky Ingrown Hairs

 If you shave or wax then you would most likely experienced to some degree the frustrating condition of ingrown hairs. Guys are not spared either, in fact, they are more prone as most of them are likely to be shaving their face on a daily basis.

To add insult to injury, these unsightly red bumps not only make a mockery of your attempts for beautiful fuzz free skin, but can be quite painful when they become inflamed and infected, and worse scar your skin afterwards – ouch!

Ingrowns are caused by growing hair curling back as it grows so it gets trapped under the skin. This happens because the end of the hair shaft are cut at an angle during shaving or breaks off at with a sharp tip and courages the hair to grow back into the skin rather than out, and inflaming the hair follicle in the process.

There’s no magic trick to stop it from occurring but here’s a few things to do and products to try to minimise its occurrence.

Manicare Cellulite Bristle Brush, ASAP revitalising body scrub, Skin doctors Ingrow Go, Caron Bump Eraiser

• Shave in the direction of the hair growth so that hair grows back straight rather than against, which encourage it to outward from your skin and minimises the curling.If you are a waxer, then the best is to prep your skin before and treat it after to prevent ingrown hairs (see below points).
• Exfoliate daily. This is a key factor to ensure that there are no skin build up that might trap the hairs under your skin. Try using an exfoliating brush (my favourite is Manicare’s Cellulite Bristle Brush RRP A$14.95. Available at Priceline, Myer and selected pharmacies) or a exfoliating body scrub (I’m loving ASAP Revitalising body scrub RRP A$39 which also has AHA to help remove those dead skin cells and give smooth glowing skin. Available at the Facial Company and selected salons)  
• Use products that specifically treats ingrown hair. Skin Doctors Ingrow Go RRP A$24.95* which is a salycilic based liquid that is particularly good at softening and exfoliating the skin so ingrowns don’t get a chance to develop at all. Ingrow Go has an alcoholic smell and can sting if you have open cuts so is best used in the days before and after shaving rather than immediately afterwards. Available at Myer and selected pharmacies.
• Another star product is Caron Bump Eraiser medi paste RRP A$16.75, a thick cream with tea tree, triclosan and vitamin A to treat the redness and swelling of inflamed ingrown while it prevents further ingrown. With medip paste, you can use the product immediately after without too much discomfort and the days after to prevent bumps occuring after waxing or shaving. I’ve also managed to reduce the appearance of the few bumps at the back of my arms after 2 weeks of use and can’t wait until they completely disappear.Available at selected pharmacies.

If you are suffering from embarrassing and painful ingrowns, don’t just hide away and suffer in silence. Fight back with the right products and a regular exfoliating regime, you’ll soon lose the bumps and and marks and have the smooth skin you’ve always coveted.

Do you suffer from ingrowns? which areas are you most prone to them? I get them on my inner thighs (and I don't even shave there, so go figure), lower legs, less often on the upper arms and underarm areas.

Products marked * were provided for consideration. All other products were either purchased or won in competitions.