HEI BU YAO GAO - Scar Ointment

Also known as: Hei Bu Yao Gao, Black Cloth Plaster, Scar Treatment Ointment, Keloid Scar Cream.

A thick, tarry black ointment built on rice vinegar and Chinese gall. It goes on, dries into a black film, and gets washed off a day or two later. Five ingredients, no base cream, nothing cosmetic about the experience.

This is the oldest kind of preparation in the whole Dermatology M range and it behaves like it.

What's doing the work

• Mi Cu (brown rice vinegar) is the vehicle and the active. Vinegar softens hardness in Chinese medicine and is the classical solvent for raised, bound tissue.
• Wu Bei Zi (Rhus semialata gall, Chinese gall) is heavily astringent and tannin-rich. It is what makes the film black and what makes it bind down.
• Wu Gong (Scolopendra subspinipes, centipede) attacks stubborn accumulation and toxin. Strong, traditional, and the reason this is not a vegan product.
• Bing Pian (borneol) is the penetrant that carries the rest through a thickened surface.
• Feng Mi (honey) binds the paste.

How to use

Apply once every 24 hours. Wash the previous layer off before the next application. Once it dries it forms a black skin that comes off with water after 24 to 48 hours.

Store it in a glass jar. If it stiffens up, stand the jar in a hot water bath for a few minutes to loosen it before you try to spread it.

Stop if the skin under it goes red and irritated.

Full ingredients

Brown Rice Vinegar (Mi Cu), Rhus Semialata Gall Extract (Wu Bei Zi), Mel / Honey (Feng Mi), Scolopendra Subspinipes (Wu Gong), Borneol (Bing Pian).

Ingredient list current as of publication. Check the panel on the item you receive.

Good to know

• 1.01 fl oz / 30ml.
• Not vegan. Contains honey and Scolopendra, an insect-derived ingredient.
• Do not use during pregnancy. Wu Gong and Bing Pian are both traditionally contraindicated in pregnancy.
• Dermatology M lists a tree nut and seed allergy warning on this product.
• It stains. The black film is intended, but it will mark fabric and anything else it touches.
• Not for open or broken skin.
• For external use only. Keep out of reach of children.

Dermatology M, formulated by Dr Mazin Al-Khafaji. Selected and reviewed by Dr. Stacee Munroe, OMD, L.Ac. Cosmetic use only. Not intended to diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent any disease.