Brandy let me know that a bunch of people are asking her what’s up with the new products. Here’s a quick update:

New and Improved Moisturizer: I got a new sample with the addition of twice the jojoba (10%) and lichochalcone (powerful anti-inflammatory, imparts yellow color). We removed stearic acid and are in the process of switching out the preservatives (to reduce any possible sting). I tried the latest sample and it is great, but I wouldn’t mind it being even more moisturizing. Therefore, we are adding an extra humectant (perhaps MP Diol) and I will try that sample soon. RELEASE DATE: Several months away. COST: Hopefully the same.

SPF Moisturizer: I tried another sample of a zinc oxide based SPF. We may be between a rock and a hard place with the SPF. I am committed to zinc oxide for its broad spectrum support, but it goes on white, and can sometimes leave the skin feeling a bit tight. I asked them to bump up the humectants again, and add more jojoba to the mix. They’ll resample me on this soon. RELEASE DATE: Your guess is as good as mine. COST: The same as the non-SPF moisturizer.

Salicylic Acid: Stability testing will be completed in early November. If it passes, we’ll print labels and put it into production at that time. RELEASE DATE: A couple/few months. PRICE: Probably about the same as the benzoyl peroxide, perhaps a bit more.

10% Glycolic: I sent out a bunch of samples to the moderators. If they approve of it, I’ll put it into production. I am in love with it. RELEASE DATE: A few months. PRICE: Probably about the same as the moisturizer.

Organic Jojoba Oil: Our testers are liking it and so am I. I am getting clear bottle samples in the mail hopefully early this week, and I’m trying to finalize what kind of cap they should have. RELEASE DATE: A few months. PRICE: Organic Jojoba is very expensive but as always I will try to keep the price as low as I possibly can.

Also, we are going to small/medium/large for all of our products. Everything will now be in 2oz. (trial and travel size), 8oz. (medium size), and 16oz. (bulk size). Acne.org will be much more open in the future to different people’s regimens, so having small/medium/large will allow everyone to mix and match as needed for whichever regimen they choose. The products will all be in curved bottles instead of tubes, and have really cool looking new packaging that Paul, Kent, Joel and I have been working on. I hope you like the new look. I promise I’ll try to stick with this look for a while.

When I came out with the benzoyl peroxide pretty much everyone loved it. Then you guys gave me the feedback that you wanted non-paraben preservatives. I changed to non-paraben preservatives and pretty much all of us have been happy clams ever since.

Then I came out with the cleanser and pretty much everyone loved it. But then a few people gave feedback that they wanted it more moisturizing, so I added 10% more moisturization and pretty much all of us have been happy clams ever since.

Recently I released a moisturizer as well. Again, at first most people loved it. But now a few people have been letting me know that the current moisturizer is giving them some flakiness after a few weeks of use. I’ve also gotten other complaints about the moisturizer. So I had a talk with our manufacturer today and we are going to do two things to the moisturizer. (1) We’re going to swap out stearic acid for another ingredient. Stearic acid is most likely the culprit as far as the delayed flakes go. (2) We’re going to sap out bisabolol for licochalcone, an even better anti-inflammatory which is beneficial in the lipase process and thus beneficial for acne.

What’s my point? Just that I appreciate your feedback. We’re in this together and together we are going to keep making the best acne treatment products on the planet. To this end, Joel and I are making a form that we’ll put on the web site soon so that more and more of you can let me know exactly what you like and what you want changed. I’ll keep you posted on that.

Thanks everybody!!

OK, so this stuff is pretty awesome. Except it stings.

The awesome part: goes on very nicely, spreads evenly, absorbs quickly, leaves no residue, matte finish which is very hard to find in an SPF, zinc oxide based which may actually be good for acne.

The stings part: upon application I get a warming/stinging sensation which can last for up to two hours or so. I am relatively certain this is due to one of the sunscreen ingredients.

Bottom line: this is the best sunscreen I have tried to date aside from the stinging. I am going to discuss this issue with our manufacturer and see if we can improve upon it.

I had a total brainstorm moment at the gym today with a friend. I’ve been redesigning the products and they are a little blah–see the attached pic for a rough mock-up of how they’ll look. I like them because it’s handwritten now, but it is bordering on generic. So I was thinking, “how can we get people involved and how can we incorporate a little color?”

And then it came to me. What if I asked you guys to submit “what do Acne.org products mean to you?” artwork. I want to leave the parameters pretty wide. It’s not so much, “make an icon for a cleanser” or “make an icon for a moisturizer”, but rather, “what do the regimen and acne.org products mean to you?” Any kind of artwork is welcomed, but here is what we need so we can print it:

max size: 1.5″ X 1.5″
300dpi or greater
any amount of color is fine
hand drawn/painted and scanned is absolutely acceptable

I’ll be choosing 3 designs for now. One for each product. I can offer the makers of the winning designs a year of free product (12 cleansers, 12 BPs, and 12 moisturizers, and a body buddy if you want one). Sound fair? If you’d like to submit artwork, I need it fast–like in the next two days would be preferable because these are going to print soon. You can email them to dan@acne.org. Looking forward to it!

I received a perfect salicylic acid sample yesterday and OKed it today. It now enters FDA required stability testing for 3 months after which time I will put it up for sale. So we’re looking at late October or early November.

Our manufacturer attempted to match the formulator’s salicylic acid product and sent a sample to me today. They came very close to matching it exactly but it goes on just slightly too white for my taste. So they’re remixing it ever-so-slightly. Once they nail it we’ll put it into FDA required stability for 3 months at which point I can release it.

After being off of BP for a few weeks and starting to see imperfections arising, last night I put on a very generous amount of BP and applied it gently. I woke up this morning and looked almost completely clear. BP is truly amazing. I’m sitting here wondering if I should put BP on again during the day today and I think I probably will. By tomorrow I should be back to completely spotless at which time I’ll go back to my Sal Acid samples in the morning and BP at night. That combo kept me incredibly clear for many weeks and I think it’s how I’d like to proceed into the future. That is, until I can figure out a holistic way to clear acne from the inside. That might be the next project!

I’ve been using only the salicylic acid cream twice a day for about two weeks or so. At first it was smooth sailing. However, I have a few whiteheads and a couple of blackheads now. They are totally non-inflamed and most people would probably not notice I had anything going on, but I do. When I was doing sal acid in the morning and BP at night my skin was indestructible. Perfect. But I’m becoming convinced that sal acid alone might not cut it for me.

Since everyone who meets me ends up asking what I do for a living and I have to say “I run Acne.org” I really want indestructible clear skin, so I am going back to BP in the evenings and sal acid in the mornings.

My skin stayed completely, totally clear using the sal acid in the morning and BP at night. I was paranoid to go to twice daily sal acid though because Joel, Paul, Brandy, and other people were coming to visit and I didn’t want to be broken out But they’re gone now so I switched to the sal acid morning and evening. My skin is totally clear. The cool thing is, it’s like even under a microscope it would be clear. I have nothing even starting to pop up. What is remarkable about this is that I have had a weird illness for two weeks now and have been blowing my nose constantly. Normally, there is nothing that will prevent breakouts with that much irritation around my nose. But this time is different. My nose is completely smooth. It’s almost weird.

In the interest of full disclosure, since I’ve been sick I have been eating less too. My appetite is down. So I’ve been losing weight. When people lose weight, their skin is often better. So I will keep experimenting with just the sal acid twice a day and keep you guys posted. As of right now I am loving it. And since I switched to using it twice a day I can eliminate the moisturizing step!

I have heard back from two people who have tried the SA formula. They are both liking how it’s working. I am personally still very happy with it. I think I will be able to get away with this in the morning and BP in the evening. I hope other people like it too so I can make it so I can have some for myself! But we’ll see what people think. I figure I’ll give it another 3 weeks or so and see what everybody is thinking. If everyone likes it as it is, it would then go into 3 months of stability testing. If people want changes, which is highly likely, these changes will need to be made and the product will need to be retested by the same people. Anyway, onward we go.