:Clear Skin Blog

At long last, Acne Vitamins finally got our TV commercials going last month, and the extra work has kept me away from blogging for a while. The minute-long spots aired on stations like MTV, VH1, Style and Oxygen across the country, so hopefully some of you got to see them. We didn’t hire any celebrities , but the commercials focused on explaining how Clear5 works and why it is different - eliminating acne by enhancing the rate at which your body metabolizes skin oil, something which no topical cream or cleanser can do.

Hopefully we’ll be expanding to radio spots in the coming year. Thanks to all our customers who have tried Clear5 and helped spread the word! There are real acne solutions out there for those who are willing to look, and in this day and age, no one should have to live without clear skin.

No Comments

As some of you have no doubt noticed, we are no longer offering the liquid vitamins for sale. There were a couple reasons for this, but the main ones are simply that the cost of production is prohibitive, and the demand just isn’t there. Surprisingly, many people know about the benefits of liquid vitamins, but few want to take them in a concentrated form. I can kind of understand this, given that they do have a strong flavor. It’s easier to reduce the vitamin flavor when the dose is less concentrated (as with products like 5-Hour Energy), but that solution only tends to work with products that give you an immediate result. I may experiment again with other delivery methods in the future, but for now we’ll be sticking with the more popular time-released tablets.

I apologize to those of you who were fans of the liquid formula (yes, we’ve gotten quite a few emails ^_^). We do still have some stock on hand, so for a limited time, if you order 6 bottles of the Clear5 tablets, just email us and we’ll switch them to 8 bottles of the liquid Clear5 at your request. This is while supplies last. Makes sure to specify your desired flavor and email us right when you place your order. For those switching to the tablets, don’t fear. They are easy to swallow, effective, tasteless, and have the benefit of being more portable than the liquid vitamins. And hey, we just lowered our prices (especially on the 6-bottle value pack), so now’s a great time to try them!

No Comments

I still get plenty of emails these days about proper usage of the Clear5 time-released tablets, so I’ve gone ahead and created a smart guide that provides some good advice for anyone starting out. These should be included on order invoice forms soon.

1) Take the right dosage. If you have mild acne and weigh under 140 lbs, start with 4 tablets per day, if your acne is moderate to severe and/or you weigh over 140 lbs, start with 6 tablets per day. Spread out your daily intake (ex: for 6 tablets, take 2 in the morning, afternoon and evening). Once your skin is clear, reduce gradually (ex: from 6 tablets to 5 tablets for 2 weeks, then to 4 tablets, etc.).

2) Be consistent. Clear5 will not work if you do not actually take it. Your body likes a predictable schedule, and especially during the first month, it’s essential not to skip days. Also, stay patient and don’t stress out if you do not see next-day results. If your body has been pumping out acne for months or years, it’s only natural that it may take a few weeks to reverse course.

3) Drink plenty of water. Water not only washes down the tablets, it also helps keep your body hydrated and enhances your circulation, making sure that the vitamin contents get where they need to go. Don’t skimp on water. Drink 2 glasses every time you take Clear5.

4) Don’t use 20 other products at the same time. Clear5 is safe to use with other products, but over-treating your skin can seriously have the opposite effect that you want. Give yourself 30 days and use Clear5 without all the other stuff. At least try not to use cleansers or spot treatments more than once per day.

5) Be safe. Rarely, new users may experience mild stomach irritation or stool softening. This usually ceases after a few days once your body adjusts (taking Clear5 with meals may also reduce the risk of these effects). Clear5 uses very safe, natural ingredients, but as with any supplement, there is always a chance that you might be hyper-sensitive or allergic to one of the vitamins or minerals included. If you experience any other side effect, lower your dosage or discontinue taking Clear5.

No Comments

As any of you who have tried to order in the past few days knows, our shopping cart server is currently offline. I’ve contacted our hosting company’s tech support on multiple occasions and they are supposedly working on fixing the problem right now, not that that gives me much comfort since they’ve been saying the same thing for two days without any sign of progress. I apologize for the inconvenience this is causing. Obviously, we would like to accept your orders, but right now the site times out whenever customers try to access the secured server. We’ve received confirmation that this is a problem on the host’s end, and right now I can’t really do much other than wait for them to straighten their servers out.

Update: server is back online. Sorry again for the inconvenience. Hopefully our host will stay up this time.

No Comments

Business venting time….Sometimes I just want to quit sending any shipments to the UK. On the one hand, a lot of UK residents are great customers and trustworthy people, but on the other, we get more lost packages and chargebacks from the UK than from anywhere else, despite that we ship a whole lot more packages to the US. Why? The problems are two-fold. First, Royal Mail is just less reliable than the postal services in countries such as the US, Canada or Australia. We almost always ship orders within 1 business day, but Royal Mail seems to arbitrarily take anywhere from 1-3 weeks to deliver, and sometimes not at all.

The second problem is taxes (and it’s related to the first, since customs is a big part of what delays deliveries). In an effort to stifle free trade, the UK slams imported products with ridiculously high import taxes that often add 30-50% onto the final cost. These customs fees cannot be charged or collected by us in advance, they have to be paid by the customer when they pick up the package. This is the same with any international (or outside the EU trade zone) purchase that falls over a certain amount. Big corporations with local warehousing or distribution centers can get around it (like Amazon, etc), but for small operations like us, the customer needs to be aware of their local tax laws. Unfortunately, many in the UK don’t have a clue about their nation’s tax policies, and are actually surprised when they get charged VAT/customs fees, etc. This leads to packages getting sent back to us since the customers were oblivious to their country’s tax system. I wish we could change the UK tax system, but it’s quite out of my hands. If you’re buying anything internationally, you have to be an educated consumer.

My next headache comes from our new toll free number, which I’m currently regretting. I’ve never been a fan of phone sales, since your credit card information is a lot more secure if you simply purchase online. With online sales, human eyes never see your credit card info and everything is encrypted. Of course, there’s no such thing anywhere as 100% security, but basically, an online shopping cart is a lot safer than a phone purchase. We now offer the option of phone orders, but as far as I can tell it’s rarely being used (most smart customers stick with the cart), and worse, the call center keeps trying to overcharge us. I’m still getting false invoices from before we were even up and running, and calculating an 8-week billing cycle seems to be beyond the ability of their billing department. I don’t want to quit just yet, but if the 800 number disappears for while, don’t be surprised.

No Comments

What makes a good acne treatment commercial? I’ve been studying this lately, as I’m considering putting out a few commercials (or infomercials) myself for Clear5. In simple terms, a good commercial is any commercial that moves product, with brand building being a nice side benefit. However, setting aside that market reality, what makes a commercial that actually benefits you, the acne sufferer?

The right sales pitch can sell any product, as recent examples like the Snuggie (basically a backwards bath robe) and Vince Offer’s Shamwow and Slapchop (products you’ve all seen before) can attest. But for the acne sufferer who’s been let down by dozens of competing products already, it can take a little more to make a commercial trustworthy - or at least it should.

Proactiv is obviously the biggest success story in the market, with their approach of using celebrity testimony. Testimony is a powerful marketing tool. It’s hard to refute a product’s claims when dramatic before-and-after pictures are staring you in the face. However, the fact is that every acne product has testimony. Often, besides just using a treatment, testimony candidates are given advice on factors such as their diet, which can play a powerful role in helping their skin improve.

Given the short nature of commercials, perhaps the hardest thing for any product to communicate is *how* it works. And yet, this is often the most important factor when evaluating a treatment. I know that I would have a hell of a time trying to explain the connection between the factors that make Clear5 work, from vitamin B5 to Coenzyme-A to hormonal production and sebum metabolism - all in 60 seconds! Most listeners would probably be flat-out confused.

Despite the time-limit barrier, most commercials at least make a short attempt at explaining how they combat acne. The factor to listen for here is the language. Sayings like “our treatment gets deep under the skin” are generally just sales talk. A more trustworthy commercial will usually mention key active ingredients. If these are the same ingredients found in a million other treatments you’ve already tried (like benzoyl peroxide and salicylic acid), you can probably skip this one. However, if a treatment actually combats acne from a new angle, it may be worth looking into.

Remember not to be swayed by the same old tactics. Testimony is everywhere. Celebrities can be paid to say most anything. Just because a treatment is “developed by a doctor” doesn’t mean squat (so are 1,000 other treatments that don’t work). If you’ve tried every off-the-shelf treatment without luck, don’t buy into treatments that use the same ingredients, just with a slick new sales pitch. Look for something that genuinely takes a different approach, and you may just find a solution that works for you.

No Comments

With Clear5 now available in tablet and liquid forms, some have wondered why the dosage differs slightly between these two delivery methods. Our original time-released B5 tablets still have the lowest actual dosage, and this goes back to the frequency effect. Because the tablets are released over 4-6 hours, your body is constantly getting a smaller, but effective dose. Now obviously, there is no way to have a time-released liquid vitamin. Taking a small dose of the liquid every 2 hours would work great, but is extremely inconvenient. So in order to compensate, the liquid vitamins use a higher dose, delivering a surplus of B5 to your body.

The liquid supplements work similar to mega-dosing in practice, but while the dose is higher than with the time-released tablets, it’s still a lot smaller than mega-dose regimens. Why is this? Because, thanks to the high bioavailability of liquid vitamins, insanely high doses are unnecessary. With standard tablets or capsules, your body absorbs a much smaller amount of the vitamins contained within. You will often only absorb 50-60% of the vitamins in a standard tablet (sometimes less), while with liquid vitamins, your body will typically absorb very close to 100%. Thus, even though the dose itself is smaller, the amount of B5 your body actually receives is similar to standard regimens that demand an intake twice as high.

Some have noticed that the proportions of the side ingredients, such as zinc and selenium, are also different in the liquid formula. One of the main reasons for this is simple safety. Unlike vitamin B5, which is water-soluble and basically impossible to “overdose” on, minerals are fat soluble and should be taken with care. These side ingredients are kept at an effective but safe dosage so as not to give anyone an upset stomach. Simply multiplying our standard formula would not have produced the best, or the safest treatment.

No Comments

Continuing with the Acne-Vitamins.com site updates, we’ve updated the testimony page, adding some of the latest stories received from Clear5 users. A new, much-appreciated set of before-and-after pictures has also come in. All our testimony comes from actual customers, not paid participants in studies or focus groups, so we’re always happy to receive more stories for our ever-growing and already rather lengthy testimony page. Vitamin B5 acne treatment is such a simple and effective one-step solution that many first-time users are naturally surprised at how dramatic a difference a single supplement can make.

Also a note that Monday is Columbus Day, and in honor of the national holiday, postal workers take the day off, which obviously means no mail going out. Rest assured that all weekend orders will be shipping first thing Tuesday! Thanks for your patience and continued support!

No Comments

The new Acne Vitamins shopping cart is done at last! It’s actually been live for about 24 hours now. I apologize to any customers who visited while our cart was down. I had hoped that the whole operation could be finished in a few hours, but there were some complications and it turned out taking almost two full days, which I know is pretty bad. The new template didn’t like our version of osCommerce at first, and I didn’t want to start accepting orders until I was sure everything was 100% secure.

Unfortunately the old database got overwritten by the new one, so returning customers will have to create new accounts. On the bright side, the new cart has a much nicer, more modern appearance. The old cart looked a bit dated even back when I installed it in 2005. Otherwise things are about the same, functionality-wise. No big surprises. Of course, our order-counter now looks oddly low.

Well I hope you all like the new Acne-Vitamins shopping cart, and thanks for your continued support! They say acne products are recession-proof, and unfortunately I might just get a chance to find out.

No Comments

Clear5 is getting a mention on a national news show, but one of the guests is a dermatologist who’ve I’ve already been warned does not think kindly of acne vitamin products. This doesn’t really bother me, as any publicity is good publicity right now, and the fact is that most of our business comes from satisfied repeat customers.

In truth, I would probably agree with this dermatologist when it comes to most vitamin-based clear skin treatments. Most acne vitamins are not based on vitamin B5, but rather a mix of thrown-together antioxidants. Instead of targeting oil regulation, they simply attempt to combat bacteria, which we all know is not the root of the acne problem. Most of these treatments are indeed a waste of money. You’re almost always better off with over-the-counter topical drugs than internal treatments that rely solely on antioxidants.

However, when it comes to vitamin B5 treatments, it’s becoming ridiculous that so many dermatologists are still in denial. Treatments like Clear5 that target oil regulation are backed by both science and real-world experience, with an ever growing number of users who have seen results way too dramatic to ignore. It seems almost irresponsible that some dermatologists continue to write-off B5, even while recommending Accutane - a potentially dangerous prescription drug that works by targeting the exact same problem. While Accutane inhibits oil production, vitamin B5 enhances oil metabolism - both bring similar results by helping the body manage excess oil.

I’m sure sentiments among dermatologists will change as B5 treatment becomes more mainstream, but in the meantime I really don’t think any opinions put forth by skin-care professionals are likely to keep that growth from happening. The fact that many customers discover Clear5 only after going to multiple dermatologists and having no luck whatsoever with the treatments they recommended should say enough.

No Comments