Preservatives are the ingredients that protect spray tanning solution or any cosmetic product from the growth of the microorganisms like bacteria, fungi and molds. A preservative also helps the product to protect itself against damage and degradation caused by exposure to oxygen. Without preservatives, cosmetic products can become contaminated, leading to product spoilage and if used on the skin possibly cause irritation or infections. Microbial contamination of products can cause significant problems.

Most people probably appreciate that it is an essential requirement for manufacturers to sell safe products that are hygienic when used according to the instructions and that the product retains its integrity during the required shelf life of the product.

Before we go further, one important things you should know that most spray tanning products and lotions and creams contains water (aqua) as one of the main ingredients and  if those products are not properly preserved it will grow microorganism and product will be contaminated right away.

Preservative free products?

When we have a client ask us why the so and so  company says they have preservative free products our only answer that we have is to carefully look at the ingredient list on those products, If they are using water (aqua) as one of their ingredient then their label is incomplete or they are just hiding the truth!

So how about Natural preservative?

Some companies claim that they use certain “natural” ingredients which they claim safely preserve their products. However, whether that is the case or not can only be proven by a microbiologist carrying out a challenge test on the product. A challenge test provides a standard test regime which establishes whether the product is safely preserved under normal conditions of use against the microorganisms that could be harmful to user and product stability. The fact that a particular “natural” ingredient has preservative properties does not necessarily mean that it is sufficient to provide adequate preservation to the finished product during the normal shelf life of the product. At AYU we are constantly looking at any “natural preservative” out in the market and do challange test and few different types of micro testing and we have not found any natural preservative that successfully preserves our products and keeps the products stable or fresh.

How we choose preservative system for our products?

At AYU, we are group of cosmetic chemists and we have considerable experience, a combined 80 years of experience in fact,  with preserving cosmetics, skin care and sunless tanning/spray tanning products. The choice of a suitable preservative depends upon many issues, not the least of which is pH. Other considerations include compatibility with other ingredients in the product, as sometimes these will affect the preservation efficacy and the end result could potentially be an under-preserved product. There are many preservatives available for the cosmetic chemist to use, but not all are suitable or desirable for the type of products that we manufacture. For example, there are preservatives that work by releasing a small amount of formaldehyde in order to kill off any microorganisms.  However, although highly effective as a preservative, there are issues with formaldehyde even in low doses, such as irritation and other health issues. Another family of preservatives are called parabens. Chemically, parabens are esters of p-hydroxybenzoic acid. These are again highly effective and have had a long history of use in cosmetics. The issue here is that the parabens have received negative publicity whether justified or not and we have chosen not to use them purely for our customer’s peace of mind even though they are deemed safe for use in cosmetic products at the normal levels of usage.

At AYU, we keep abreast of all new ingredients and review very carefully all the safety and technical data applicable to an ingredient being considered for use in our products. Only when we are completely satisfied will we incorporate it into our products.

Do you have any questions regarding preservatives in cosmetics and skin care products or you have different views on preservatives in these products,If so  feel free to leave us a comment.

This may be a strange title for my blog, but this step is really necessary because these areas can become super dark and orange and becomes a tell tail sign of spray tanning.

Most all of us suffer from dry skin around these areas on a regular basis and when you spray tan this becomes a huge problem. This is because these areas will absorb more DHA ( the active ingredient that  gives skin a tan color) and the result is a dark color or orange appearing on the elbows, knees and ankles. I would like to suggest a few tips that you can do every day for smooth, soft elbows, knees and ankles.

1)  Get into the habit of regularly exfoliating these areas with fine grain sugar scrubs. Look for scrubs that are rich in botanicals, oils and butters like Cocoa or Shea Butter. Wet your skin and apply gently in a circular motion. Do not use force because it can scratch or tear the skin then rinse off with warm water. This will help to soften these areas. After doing that apply a rich moisturizer like body butter. This daily 5 minute ritual will help keep these areas soft and hydrated in preparation for your tan.

2) Warm baths with some good bath oil or bath salt will do wonders. Just be sure to apply a little lemon juice and oil to those areas before you get in to the tub. Lemon juice will help to exfoliate and oil will help to keep skin soft.

3) Before going to bed apply AHA or BHA cream  to these areas and that will help to exfoliate dry skin making it soft and smooth.

Only follow these tips when you are not wearing spray tan or preparing for spray tan

When you have a spray tan on you should avoid exfoliation until you are ready for the next spray tan application.

Do you have any suggestions or questions?  please leave us a comments.

Hello there,
Hope this post finds you well!
I was answering an email that I received this morning and thought, why not share  with everyone. How you can avoid getting dry skin when you spray tan?

When you are looking for spray tanning solution ask if it contains one of these ingredients: denatured alcohol, SD-40 or ethanol and if it does and it is listed within the  first 4 ingredients , stay clear of the product… why?

1) DHA already has a drying effect on the skin and using this ingredient makes the skin even drier.
2) If you are using this type of product on a regular basis with your clients, and they have to leave this product on their skin for 6 to 8 hours before they can rinse off, sooner or later the client  will develop dry skin

What are the results of dry skin? Dry skin leads to loss of tone and that can result in premature aging.

AYU Products are free of any of these ingredients and all products are formulated with hydrating and skin nourishing ingredients that combat the drying effect of the DHA so you and your clients can enjoy a beautiful healthy tan with flawless skin.

Hope this helps and should you have any questions regarding spray tanning products, or how they work,  please do not hesitate to contact us vie email (info at ayusunless. com) call us at 888-298-8081 or 423 910 0577

Before I start this blog topic, I would admit, I am not a writer or not an avid blogger. I am working on that but proving hard  to do but in the past two weeks something has been on my mind and I have to come to ask you all for help!

Since I watched the news about hunger at home which refers to hunger right here in USA I am just so sad. I have two boys and my husband and I  work really hard  to make sure they get life better than ours and  it is so mind boggling that our neighbors might be going through a situation that they don’t have enough food  for their kids even though both parents work?

Here is a link on ABC ‘s website if you are interested in watching:

http://abcnews.go.com/US/hunger_at_home/hunger-home-american-children-malnourished/story?id=14367230

I am a small business owner in Ooltewah, Tennessee and I just searched to see how I can help. Yes, I am guilty of not knowing these details as we have moved a few times including different states so I was not aware of how I can help as a small business. I want to help as much as I can to my local community and to lend a helping hand and my first goal is to deliver 100 food cans or $100 worth of food to Chattanooga food bank before the month of September ends. I am a manufacture of skin care products so I don’t have foot traffic to my facility and cannot host a “food drive” but I thought if you can help me and show me your support just by  clicking “like”  to our business page

http://www.facebook.com/AYUSunless

As soon as we hit the 200 mark we will deliver the food and then start a new goal. If you are based in the Ooltewah area and have another suggestion please feel free to leave a comment or if you are a business in Chattanooga and think we can join partnership to help with community food help for our kids who are not getting daily food.

Let’s help our kids, because they are our future – If we can’t have them healthy, nourished and educated how will we flourish as a nation?

Rapid Tan =  Celerity Tanning Solution

We are pleased to see that Celerity Tan has become very popular in such a short time. We  launched the product in early March but wow, we have been so pleased at the response! If you have not given this solution a test-drive yet I suggest that you please drop by our sample page and order samples of Celerity Tan.

What is Celerity Tan? celerity means rapid so this is ayu’s version of rapid tan. Formulated with self tanning active ingredient DHA synergistically blended with unique amino acids and anti-oxidants that help to accelerate the browning reaction – not only that but it also closely replicates the tone of the natural tan.

Why is this better for you and your clients?

You as a technician now have the opportunity to help out clients who are looking to get a last minute tan but don’t have 6 to 8 hours to wait, for example someone is going dancing and going to  be very active and doesn’t want to take a chance on sweating off the bronzer, Celerity Tan will work for that, they can jump in the shower rinse off  the color guide, gently dry and get dressed and in  1, 2 or 3 hours, you can see that the tan has already started even after you completely rinsed off the product!

Why take my word for this? We are offering a sample of Celerity Tan so try it yourself!

Click here to go to our sample page

Another way to obtain a sample – join us in our daily contest and win different sample packs , right here on our FaceBook page

Give a high five by liking us and answering a question of the day to try our innovative product samples.

If you have any questions feel free to email, call or comment here and we will get back  to you!

Before purchasing anything I always look for the BBB (Better Business Bureau) logo on the website or even in the local phone directory. So when the BBB approached us to go through with their membership requirement and then the process of accreditation, we jumped at the opportunity. Since we started the business we have taken great pride in our customer service and we knew having a BBB accreditation would be like the “icing on the cake” for us. We want to give our clients confidence in our business and our customer service and BBB accreditation is a sure way to have piece of mind for our customer’s new or existing.

BBB accreditation is a huge accomplishment for us. We met their high standard of requirements as part of the accreditation process and we are continuously working towards staying on top of that. Their accreditation is built on BBB standard for the following company policies and philosophy:

Build Trust -Establish and maintain a positive track record in the marketplace.

Advertise Honestly – Adhere to established standards of advertising and selling.

Tell the Truth – Honestly represent products and services, including clear and adequate disclosures of all material terms.

Be Transparent -Openly identify the nature, location, and ownership of the business, and clearly disclose all policies, guarantees and procedures that bear on a customer’s decision to buy.

Honor Promises -Abide by all written agreements and verbal representations.

Be Responsive -Address marketplace disputes quickly, professionally, and in good faith.
Safeguard Privacy – Protect any data collected against mishandling and fraud, collect personal information only as needed, and respect the preferences of consumers regarding the use of their information.

Embody Integrity -Approach all business dealings, marketplace transactions and commitments with integrity.

We are holding an A+ rating, which is judged on 16 factors, from what type of business we have, to how long we have been in business, any complaint history and arbitration.

Why is this good for you our customer? This will assure you that you are doing business with a well established, verified company that is operating under code of ethics and principles. BBB is a free guarantee to all our customers that we work under these rules and regulations. We meet these obligations and in fact strive to exceed them!

We always thrive to help and our first question is “how can we help you” and this is a proof that our action says exactly what we believe in. We are proud to be rated and accredited by BBB. Click on the image you can see for your self our BBB accredited page.

Let’s talk about a controversial product sometimes used as part of the sunless tanning session – does one use a prep spray or not?

Here is my opinion regarding this question:

Prep spray is an essential product for spray technicians. It helps to ensure that your client’s skin is clean and you have a smooth skin surface to work with and this will help stop solutions from beading on the skin and also helps the solution to adhere well so that application is even and smooth.

After saying that, let me say that the pre tan prep spray does not replace manual exfoliation because manual exfoliation is a most necessary step in sunless tanning sessions to promote a long lasting and even fading sunless tan.

Now, your question is “so my client has all ready exfoliated well, do I still need to go through with prep spray?” Here you have a choice, if client says they have not applied any lotion, make up, deodorant then you can omit the step but if they said that they exfoliated the day before, went to work and used the different products on the skin, you would want to go ahead and use the prep spray, just to make the skin surface clean.

I also hear from time to time clients asking whether prep spray balances the skin’s pH. My response is that I don’t think any product applied topically on the skin balances the skins pH but it becomes a buffer for the skin. Let me explain a little better – mostly DHA solution have a pH range of 3.0 to 4.5 for proper development of tan color and our skin’s pH is between 5.5 to 6, so what prep spray does is to help the skin adjust faster to the solution pH while you being sprayed with DHA solution.

Just recently one of my phone calls was about asking if they can use lemon juice in the jug of water and apply that as a prep spray? NO, please because that mix can irritate your skin and will make you very sensitive to sun. As a result, if you have any plans on going outside after your sunless session where they have used a lemon water mix on your skin, you can do more harm than good. Please always try and use professional products for any type of skin treatment you offer. Prep sprays are not lemon water – check out ingredients on a few of them, we also do not recommend that you need isopropyl alcohol or SD-alcohol in prep spray.

How you can use prep spray?

TO USE: Apply with any spray equipment or spray bottle and wash cloth. Allow it to dry before the spray tanning session.

Always keep  this in mind: prep sprays are for external use only, if accidentally introduced into the eye, rinse thoroughly with lukewarm water. Discontinue use if any irritation occurs. Keep out of reach of children.

www.ayusunless.com  has a prep spray called secret success …click on the image to locate the product.

Visiting family in the Far East is a treat but coming back to a pile of work is another treat. However, I am getting caught up and ready to share some new things happening at AYU, LLC.

This coming month March – 2011 will be a whole year since we moved into our new facility and since then we have added a few more staff and working to serve our clients with dedication to provide new innovative products  and services.

Some new products that are being launched by ayusunless.com in the next few weeks are

Vino Bronzing Mist (Grape Escape Therapy Collection)

Celerity Tan (Rapid Tan that develops quicker then traditional sunless tan)

Here are some images and detail about products:

1) Celerity Sunless Tan

Rapid Sunless tanning with anti aging boost

The secret about this product is that it works quickly, an action packed solution, so by leaving the solution on your skin for a 2, 3 or 4 hour time period it will develop the equivalent strength approximately of a 6%, 8% or 10 % concentration of DHA accordingly.

Key Ingredients:

Rapid DHA ( DHA + Troxerutin), Eco-Certified DHA, Panthenol (B5),Green Tea Extract,Palmitoyl Tripeptide-5, Algae Extract, Black Walnut Leaf Extract, Hyaluronic Acid

2) Vino Bronzing Mist: ( one of the product from our Grape Escape therapy collection)

VINO Bronzing Mist

Grape Escape treatment with muscadine grapes which are grapes that are naturally rich in antioxidants, vitamins and Polyphenols. The interesting fact about the grapes that we are using (muscadine grapes) is that they are grown locally in the southern part of the USA and contain a high level of resveratrol, which is an anti oxidant that is absorbed by the skin easily and works its magic to reduce inflammation and slows the oxidation process that most often causes pre mature aging of the skin.

Key Ingredients: Muscadine Grape Skin & Seed Extract, Muscadine Grape Juice, Grape Seed Oil, Hyaluronic Acid, Eco-Certified DHA, Panthenol (B5), Green Tea, Red wine Powder, Vitamin-E

If you are interested in trying out our products, please contact us at ayuchemist at gmail.com and mention this blog post about trying out our samples and also becoming a volunteer product tester to test new AYU products that we are launching ongoing.

Happy New Year everyone!

I wanted to say thank you to every single one of you who has been supporting and waiting patiently with our changes throughout 2010.

2010 started for us with big changes. Firstly, we moved into a new facility that has much   more room for a new laboratory, more manufacturing space and storage areas. Lots of new equipments to make our production quick and efficient and a few more staff members who are very innovative and dedicated to what they do, As CEO of AYU International,  I smile and enjoy every moment I spend here in our new facility, especially  remembering how our business started in a small area, which we shared with another business. I have been very grateful to what we have achieved and I am grateful to all the support from you, our customers because without you this would not have been successful.

So, today as we start our first day of work in 2011, I wanted to take a second and wish all of us a very Happy Healthy and Prosperous New Year-2011!

Thank you for being part of AYU’s Success Story!

Warm wishes,

Vibha

This is the season for avocado, and they are now so easily available. It adds such a delicious taste to food and showers you with health and beauty benefits. I believe our diet helps how our skin looks and feel so by choosing food with high nutritional value we benefit both ways!

Avocado is a versatile fruit, that  is delicious in guacamole , soups, salad, and smoothies and it is also used in beauty treatments for deep moisturizing. Avocado it self, or avocado oil and butters are used for skin care, face and hair masque to nourish the skin with vitamins A and E.

Eating Avocado is a good source of vitamin K, dietary fiber, potassium and folate.

Avocados are very low in sodium and cholesterol-free

Avocado does contains mono-unsaturated fat, that is the heart healthy kind fat so enjoy it in moderation.

I came across this interesting link  that said “Adding Avocados to Salads Aids Absorption of Nutrients” http://tinyurl.com/24cvsh3

In a short study it was suggest that:  Adding avocado to salsa increased lycopene and beta-carotene absorption higher, than the average amount of these nutrients absorbed from avocado-free salsa. Since avocados contain a large variety of nutrients including vitamins, minerals, as well as heart-healthy mono-unsaturated fat, eating a little avocado along with carotenoid-rich vegetables and fruits is an excellent way to improve your body’s ability to absorb carotenoids while also receiving other nutritional-and taste-benefits.

Avocados contain antioxidants and eating a healthy amount of antioxidants is vital for great skin. It will help with free radicals that cause cell damage and help prevent premature skin aging. It is also rich in oils that rejuvenate the skin, help with  the frazzled hair and reduces the eye puffiness.

If you are creating spa treatment with avocado fruit make sure you add avocado as the last ingredient before starting a treatment so it does not oxidize and does not change color. Also, avocado is perishable so make sure you use the product as soon you mix for a treatment.

Here are few simple steps to use avocado in beauty treatments:

Avocado blend for a shiny hair:

mashed avocado

1 teaspoon fine grounded Flax Seed Powder

2 teaspoon luke warm water

1 teaspoon vegetable oil (preferable Olive or Coconut oil)

Mix all to make a paste , then apply to your hair, cover with plastic wrap and leave it for 30 minutes or longer , wash as usual with shampoo and very light conditioner if you like – you will be amazed as to how shiny and soft your hair will feel.

Avocado treatment for puffy eyes:

Choose a nice ripe avocado, cut in ½ inch crescent shape slices, lie down with slice under your each eye and rest for 30 minutes or more, you will be amazed to see how well this works!

Dry Skin face masque :

Choose a nice ripe avocado, scoop in to a bowl, mix with ¼ teaspoon of olive oil, make it in to a paste, apply to your face as any other masque, wait for 20 minutes and rinse with warm water.

Oily skin face masque:

1 ripe avocado, mashed

½ tea spoon check pea flour

½ tea spoon lemon juice

Pinch of Turmeric

Apply as a face masque, wait for 20 to 30 minute, until it feels tight on the skin, rinse with warm water.

Soft smooth skin scrub:

1 ripped mashed avocado

1 cup of sugar scrub

1 tbsp of lemon juice

2 tbsp of olive oil

use this to exfoliate your whole body , apply in circular motion , pay attention to dry areas leave it for few minutes and rinse of with hot shower, pat dry, you will be left with silky smooth skin.

Avocado oil and butter are also greatly used as a massage oils for sensitive skin and for deep nourishing lotions, creams, shampoo and conditioner and lip balms.

Hope I have convinced you enough to try this amazing fruit, next time making  your grocery run  sure to pick  up some avocado  and give them a try! Enjoy!