New Acne Testimony

Might as well start the year off with some new testimony from Clear5 users. We’ve had a bunch of clear skin stories piling up in our email over the last few months, and you can now find some of them at our acne testimony page. One of my favorite pieces of new testimony was from a customer who had already been using multiple prescription treatments for months, and yet didn’t get the results he was looking for until after adding Clear5 to the mix. We’re not kidding when we say that vitamin B5 treatment is more effective than many prescriptions. Just because something doesn’t contain strong drugs doesn’t mean it can’t have a strong effect on your body. In most cases, acne is something that your body should be able to get rid of itself, it just sometimes lacks the tools (such as a strong supply of vitamins necessary for key metabolic reactions). If you supply those tools, your body will often fix the problem for you.

Clear Skin in ‘07

Happy New Year! I hope you all had a great holiday break! As luck would have it, the US Postal Service still happens to be on break today, so expect weekend orders to ship on the 3rd instead.

There’s still time to make a New Year’s resolution, so why not commit yourself to achieving clear skin and a great complexion in the coming year? I’ll be here to help at the Clear Skin Blog, and there’s a lot of useful information piled up, so check those archives or use the search box (bottom right) if you could use some advice. Even with an effective product like Acne-Vitamins’ Clear5, clear skin still starts with you. So commit yourself to keeping up with a consistent skin care regimen this year.

New Discreet Shipping

Acne-Vitamins started using discreet shipping labels this week. Our packages now ship with labels addressed from our affiliate site, VitaminB5Labs.com. So for those of you that like Clear5 but weren’t crazy about receiving packages with the word “acne” on the label (our previous labels came addressed from Acne-Vitamins.com), these new labels should be a welcome change. I can definitely understand not wanting to deal with embarrassing packages, especially if you live in a dorm, so protecting your privacy will be a little easier now with these very neutral labels. Regarding VitaminB5Labs.com, the site is simply an affiliate doorway page that directs visitors to Acne-Vitamins.com. There’s not much to see, but for a one-page site it looks nice and professional (I made it myself ^_^). Our primary website will be staying the same, so no need to update your bookmarks or remember a new address.

New Clear Skin Testimony

We’ve updated the acne testimony page with even more users experiencing clear skin. This time I’ve added some new (overdue, I know) before-and-after pics as well from a couple of our users overseas. Thanks to all those who have been sending us feedback, we appreciate it!

Besides the testimony update, we’ve also improved the Acne Vitamins shopping cart with the addition of new express shipping options. So if standard airmail (which averages 6-12 days) is just too long of a wait, international customers can now choose express shipping which usually gets the order to you much faster in just 3-5 days. (update: It turns out USPS Express Mail cannot be automated, so we’ve had to disable it until we find something both efficient and affordable to our customers)

One last update that should be on the way soon is discreet shipping. I understand that not everyone likes receiving a package with the word “acne” on the label (especially if you live in a dorm, etc), and so we’re currently working on an arrangement that will allow us to send out your orders with more discreet labels so as not to attract any unwanted attention. I’m sure many will appreciate the change, expect it later this month!

Acne-Vitamins Cart Update

The Acne Vitamins shopping cart received a small update this last week, making it a little easier for our international customers. Besides US Dollars and Euros, currency can now be displayed in British Pounds, Canadian Dollars and Australian Dollars. It’s a small change, and rather overdue, but certainly a welcome one judging from how many emails we’ve received recently from customers asking us to calculate the conversion rates for them (we’ll still gladly take care of that for those of you who use a currency not selectable in our cart, although a quick internet search will also provide plenty of websites that calculate global currency rates). The currency selection box is located on the right-hand column of the cart.

Skin Care Topicals & Vitamin B5

Another popular question lately has been: What cleansers and topical skin care treatments are safe to use with vitamin B5 acne treatment?

Plain and simple, all of the typical over-the-counter creams and cleansers are “safe” to use with B5. It’s merely that those which dry you out can leave your skin agitated and more susceptible to future acne, thus working against your progress. How sensitive your skin is to such treatments varies greatly from person to person, so I’m not going to rule out any specific brands. Generally cleansers with a higher percent of benzoyl peroxide (above 2.5%) or salicylic acid (above 1%) are more likely to leave your skin dry, but again some people with less sensitive skin may be fine even with high-concentration formulas of these drugs.

If you’re preventing excess oil buildup with vitamin B5, you’re naturally going to be less dependent on topical cleansers (or not need them at all), but if you want a safety net or are just starting out, I’d recommend erring on the side of caution and going with a more gentle formula. One of the gentle cleansers I recommend on our acne products reviews page is Clean & Clear’s Foaming Facial Cleanser for Sensitive Skin.

An acne spot treatment is also fine to use alongside B5 while first starting out. A 2.5% BP cream such as On-The-Spot is a popular and fairly safe choice, but I’m finding Tea Tree Oil to be a better alternative for many users, since it appears to work just as well and is usually less drying. Tea Tree Oil is also a much better value for your money, since a 1 oz bottle can easily last you for months - plus it’s all natural.

Your Daily Clear5 Regimen

I’ve received a number of questions about what exactly is the best way to spread out and take your Clear5 tablets, so here is a basic guide for new customers who want to know all the details.

Personally, I recommend most first-time users start with 6 tablets per day. Although many users get great results with 4 tabs, I can’t know from here what exactly your skin type or acne severity is, nor how efficiently your body processes vitamins (we have some users who are very reactive to vitamins, and start out with only 2 tabs). As such, I recommend the 6-tab dose since it maxmizes your success rate, is just as safe, and even if it provides a little more than you need, chances are that you will see results that much faster, and thus be able to decrease your dosage sooner as well.

The important point is to spread out your dosage to at least 3 intervals per day. This ensures a high rate of absorbance and the regular release of out time-released tablets, which release for about 6 hours (as long as current technology allows for water-soluble tablets). For a 6-tablet regimen, take 2 in the morning, 2 in the afternoon, and 2 before bed. This is the easiest starting dosage (esp. since students don’t need to take a pill to school for lunch), and seems to be just as effective as using 4 daily intervals (each meal and before bed) for most 6-tablet users . Taking Clear5 with food does not appear to have much, if any, effect on success. However, combining Clear5 with meals does lessen the chances of stomach irritation that is sometimes felt by first-time users (this naturally stops happening after 2-3 days, once your body adjusts to the vitamin).

Always take those tablets with plenty of water (2 glasses is best). Clear5 tabs are easy-to-swallow, but drinking enough water makes sure they go down easily, and let’s face it, most people don’t drink enough water. That water helps flush out toxins, hydrates your cells, and makes it easier for the chemical reactions Clear5 enables to take place. Water speeds the transport of healthy nutrients into your cells and unwanted wastes out of them.

Note that for those who would rather conserve their first bottle and start with 4 tablets, in this case I recommend spreading out to the full 4 intervals per day. Take 1 tablet with breakfast, lunch, dinner and before bed. At the lower dosage, this makes sure your absorbance is as high as it can be by avoiding competition and maintaining the release of vitamin B5 for most of those 24 hours.

Once you begin lowering your dosage, do so gradually. Decrease your dosage by 1 tablet and maintain that dosage for a few weeks, then decrease another tablet, etc. Try to keep your doses spread out until you get down to 1-2 tablets per day.

Acne Testimony Updated

We’ve added a few new entries to the acne testimony page. The page is getting pretty long, so it’s a fairly small update. I suppose I could start breaking it into multiple pages, but that might just make it less inviting to read, and well, I guess there is something cool about a really long page of user-submitted testimony (I remember back when we started getting testimony from just the first few users of All-in-1. The page was pretty short back then…).

On a related note, our latest formula update has had a very successful response. I initially had reservations about cutting some competing B vitamins out of the formula, as the fact is it just “looks good on paper” to have a long list of vitamins on the label. However, our customer feedback has been extremely conclusive that B5 works better when other B vitamins are taken separately, so as to avoid competition for receptor molecules. Both the science and the user testimony has backed this up, so don’t be fooled by competitors that try to include every B vitamin out there. Our new formula simply works better, period. Even customers who had gone back to the All-in-1 classic formula (pure time-released B5, 1000 mg tabs) after seeing inferior results with the old Clear5 formula are now finding that the new Clear5 works better or just as good, and is easier to take.

New Mail Order Form

Even though Acne-Vitamins had, up until recently, only accepted online purchases, we would still receive occasional mail from visitors who actually printed out the order page, circled the product they wanted, and included a check or money order. This honestly surprised me at first, but as it has kept happening I went ahead and designed a mail order form. Now those who would like to order our acne products via snail mail will at least have an easier time at it.

Yes, I know that enabling mail orders is one of those things I should have done earlier, but being an internet junkie, I guess I just assumed people would prefer the convenience of being able to order immediately online. You can now order from Acne Vitamins via our shopping cart or by filling out and sending in our mail order form. The online transactions are still far more secure than phone purchases, as no human ever actually views your number. In this age of identity theft, every bit of added protection helps.

Acne Vitamins B-Complex

Among vitamin B5 users, taking an additional B-complex supplement is rather common. Even with the additional ingredients found in Clear5, long term users may benefit from a daily multivitamin or B-complex in order to get a well-rounded amount of related vitamins, and prevent the possibility of deficiencies (although vitamin deficiencies are more likely for B5 mega-dosers - as I’ve mentioned before, deficiencies are almost impossible to occur with Clear5). With this in mind, I’ve decided to start offering a new B-complex supplement made specifically with B5 users in mind.

Since a B-50 complex provides more than enough of most B-family vitamins (and getting more than this can actually conflict with B5), I chose that as the framework. A B-50 complex typically has digits of 50 down the line, but our supplement is also fortified with extra Biotin and Folic Acid, providing added insurance against deficiencies for B5 users. Many of these ingredients help with clear skin, but keep in mind that some of them (such as Niacin) can actually have negative effects for your skin of you take too much, so we recommend only one tab per day. A B-100 complex is really more than you need, especially of you’re taking Clear5 rather than mega-dosing.

On top of the normal B-number vitamins, you’ll also find other helpful ingredients such as Inositol and PABA. It’s a very complete formula with:

Thiamin
Riboflavin
Niacin
Vitamin B6
Folic Acid
Vitamin B12
Biotin
Pantothenic Acid
Choline Bitartrate
Inositol
PABA

I’ll be updating our ingredients page soon with the full supplement facts information. I just need to get around to making the new graphics ^_^. Our B-complex formula should be available next week in the shopping cart, so if you’re one of those who would prefer to get all your skin care vitamins at one place, I hope you’ll find it helpful and effective.

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