Hey you guys. You’ve asked and I’m listening. We’ve designed new labels and taken ACNE.ORG off the front of the label. It only whispers about the web site on the back of the label. We have also added longer, more specific directions to the labels so that “The Regimen is on the labels.” This is the “duh” idea that you guys told me you supported not too long ago. The new labels are much more medical looking, and that’s on purpose. Acne.org products are the very highest quality out there. I want the labels to reflect this.

The products themselves won’t change, just the labels. The one exception is our moisturizer, which if you’ve been reading the blog you know is changing to a new, improved version. Here is our moisturizer label, which will most likely roll out first.

I think we may have nailed the spot treatment. It’s got:

12% AHA at a 3.5pH, so it’s extremely powerful and stings to high heaven. You’ll need to use only a very tiny amount each time.

2% Salicylic Acid, to bump up acne fighting properties. Even though we all know sal acid isn’t good enough on its own, I thought it would make sense to put the legal limit of it in here just to cover all of our bases.

10% Willow Bark, which is a way of getting more natural aspirin/sal acid into the product, and hopefully helping out a bit with analgesic (pain killing) properties, even though, to be honest, this product isn’t the great topical pain reliever I wanted it to be. To get that effect, I’ve found you need to go with lidocaine or benzocaine, and they don’t work in an acidic base. I tried topical ibuprofen, ketoprofen, aspirin, and other similar topical pain killers and it turns out they just aren’t great for epidermis (surface) pain killing. Supposedly they work deep down on joint pain, but quite frankly I didn’t find that to be the case either.

0.1% Licochalcone, ‘cuz we all know it and love it.

Ayurvedics, like Neem, Boswellia, and Turmeric because even though all the bases were already covered, might as well double cover all the bases

I’ll be sending samples out to the moderators to get their response and if they OK it, we’ll make it a Go and get it out to you guys to see what everybody thinks. I’m not sure about price yet, or size for that matter. You need to use only a minuscule amount of it each time you use it, so it will be small. I’m making these decisions as we move forward. It is considered an over-the-counter acne treatment, so it must enter into FDA required stability testing before it goes for sale. This process takes months, but at least hopefully we can get the ball rolling…

We originally heard that Olay was switching back to zinc oxide (from avobenzone) for their Olay Complete for Sensitive Skin product with SPF15 as of April, 2010. However, I’ve been looking on shelves and haven’t seen it yet, so I just gave them a call to see where the heck it is. I spoke to a very nice woman named Brandy over at Olay and she read from the official statement she had there in front of her. It said that they are actually going to be switching back to the original formula as of May, 2010. I asked if that meant the product would be available on store shelves in May and she said “yes”. So, hopefully we’ll be able to get our hands on some of the original zinc oxide based stuff in May. It will have a slight name change she said. It will now be called:

Olay Complete Classic Gentle Formula

Kinda reminds me of Classic Coke Don’t change a good thing.

Bear in mind that while I think the Olay Complete Classic Gentle Formula should be good enough when combined with a few drops of jojoba oil, it is not ideal. So, I am still at it…working away at a good SPF for us. I’m testing lots of combinations of safe and effective ingredients to see if we can get one that doesn’t clog pores while at the same time eliminating flakiness and providing broad spectrum protection–an extremely tall order, and perhaps impossible, but I won’t stop trying.

Right now, the Acne.org product bottles are nice and clean with lots of white space. Aesthetically speaking I think they’re beautiful. But yesterday, Kent had a brainstorm which I think is genius. Ever come across an idea that is so simple it makes you wonder why you haven’t always been doing it? Well, I was complaining to him that it’s hard for me to get people to follow the Regimen precisely sometimes. His response:

Why not print the long form of the regimen instructions right on the bottles?

That way the detailed Regimen is always with you, always in the bathroom, and always there if you need a refresher. People who only take a cursory glance at the Regimen on Acne.org before buying products will have better instructions as well. Heck, we could even give products to friends or family members and they could start the Regimen right away without having to visit Acne.org.

Is this a “duh!” idea or what!? Like, “duh, why haven’t we been doing this?”

The only potential downside is that some or much of the white space on the bottles might be filled in with instructions. However, I think we can design it so that the products not only remain beautiful, but achieve added interest. I’m working on mocking it up.

Also, while I’m at it, I am going to remove the big “ACNE.ORG” from the bottles. A bunch of you guys have asked that we do that, and this could be an opportunity to change that.

Unless you guys have strong feelings against this, I think it could be a really beneficial thing for a lot of people. Let me know what you think.

I’ve been soaking in some rays in my back yard for the last couple of weeks. I wear a hat so I don’t expose my face and neck too much, but my body is exposed.

At any rate, bear with me, this might get a little yucky, but I’ve been lazy and not covering the outdoor wood chair I sit in with a towel. It’s been pretty warm too so I tend to sweat. The combo of the hard surface directly against the moist skin on my back caused some irritation and I found myself beginning to break out a bit on my back. The breakout may have been partially due to the sun exposure as well.

I decided to go on 100% attack! Last night I loaded on BP (2 pumps on each side of my back), waited 15 minutes for it to dry, and generously applied AHA.

Literally overnight my emerging breakout subsided to almost nothing. It just reminded me how powerful the severe back acne regimen really is. It also reminded me how important it is to be generous with product application.

Just thought I’d share. I had only a small emerging breakout – perhaps 3 or 4 small zits and some very small comedones. People who have more severe acne should not expect complete overnight clearing. However, even severe back acne should respond quickly and dramatically.

Because the skin on the back is so thick and tough, feel free to go full strength from day one should you decide to try it out.

I love instant gratification

It’s raining today, so I guess no sun today…

I’ve never offered automatic shipments because I thought it might be perceived as pushy, and Acne.org has never been about pushing product. But I frequently get requests to set up an auto-ship program from people who would prefer to not have to log in and reorder regularly. I’ve been thinking through how it might work and I’m thinking we could offer the best of both worlds. What do you guys think of the following scenario?:

What if we set up an auto-ship option, but it would be purely optional? People who want to log in and reorder can always do so, and nothing would change for them.
Also, what if the auto-shipments were fully customizable and super easily cancelled, a la Netflix? That way if you did choose auto-shipments you could always change what you wanted to receive and how often you wanted to receive it on the fly. And, if and when you wanted to cancel, it would be as easy as clicking “Cancel” one time.

Anyway, as always, I wanted to get your weigh in before I moved forward…

A member of Acne.org wrote us to let us know that she wrote to Olay complaining that they took away our beloved Olay Complete for Sensitive Skin with zinc oxide. She received the following response from Olay:

“I’m sorry to hear that you were not happy with the formula change made to the Complete SPF 15 products. Our goal is to produce high quality products that consistently delight our consumers and I’m sorry this wasn’t your experience. Please be assured I’m sharing your comments with the rest of our team.

It may be helpful to know there was a formula change in May 2009 for all Complete SPF 15 products with the exception of Complete Defense SPF 30 and Complete Plus. The changes include improved UVA protection with Skin Shield which is a combination of moisture, vitamins, and enhanced UV protection. Skin Shield is an Avobenzone and Octocrylene based sunscreen system with significant levels of both glycerin for moisture and active levels of niacinimide, a B3 complex.

However, although our newest formula with Skin Shield technology is safe and has strong UV protection, we realize the original sensitive version with its gentle formula better meets the needs of our Complete Sensitive users. Therefore, Olay will re-launch the original version of Olay Complete All Day Sensitive SPF 15 Sensitive Cream and Lotion! This will be widely available in April May 2010 and will say Classic Gentle Formula.”

Spot treatment: I’m thinking about calling this product, “This stuff works about 70% of the time.” How’s that for an honest name of a product? Seriously though, it is not a miracle. Nothing is when it comes to spot treatments. But from the feedback I’m receiving I’d estimate success hovers around 70%. And for me, I’ll take that when it comes to a spot treatment. I find it’s really nice to have something around that I can use as a weapon should I need it. I’m still awaiting some more input from the people I sent some to, but it’s looking good for this sample.

New & Improved Non-SPF moisturizer: After lots of formulating and testing, I decided on a potential winner for the New & Improved Non-SPF moisturizer. It should have little or no sting, little or no tackiness, and still take care of flakiness if all goes well. Plus it has licochalcone so it should be particularly soothing to acne-prone skin. I sent out 30 moisturizer samples to moderators and a few product testers. I didn’t have enough to send it to all product testers this time. Feedback is coming in, mostly positive. I personally adore it. I do notice I have to use a little more of it than the current Non-SPF moisturizer, but my skin looks and feels great. If the moderators and testers give it a green light I’m ready to switch it over. This is a lengthy process which includes stability testing, reprinting labels, etc., but I’m eager to get that ball rolling.

The BETA program of the Salicylic Acid+ product has reached a close. I have decided not to continue selling the product.

I have never been a big fan of salicylic acid. Over the years I’ve tried numerous salicylic acid products, always with little success. What I always came back to was benzoyl peroxide. But while a properly applied benzoyl peroxide regimen works to clear up just about anyone who follows it precisely, some people are allergic to benzoyl peroxide. Plus, many of us, myself included, get frustrated with how benzoyl peroxide can sometimes bleach fabric. It was my hope that I could introduce the latest cutting edge performance ingredients into a salicylic acid formulation in order to bump up the efficacy of salicylic acid enough to compete with benzoyl peroxide. Along with an industry leading formulator, I put together the very best salicylic acid formulation I could. However, no matter how great I could make a salicylic acid formulation, I could not get it to match up with benzoyl peroxide.

In the end, the Salicylic Acid+ product did not meet my standards of an Acne.org product. Hundreds of you were nice enough to send your feedback through the BETA feedback form and I read each and every one of your comments. While some of you really liked the product, there were as many or more of you who found it to be only partially effective. Moreover, some of you experienced extra redness after application.

I only want extraordinary products which work to completely eliminate acne as part of the Acne.org line. I believe wholeheartedly in the Acne.org benzoyl peroxide, AHA+, cleanser, and moisturizer. This Salicylic Acid+ product just doesn’t quite fit.

For those of you who liked the product, I do not know of a comparable salicylic acid product. As I said earlier, salicylic acid just isn’t benzoyl peroxide. However, feel free to read through the salicylic acid containing product reviews pages of acne.org for alternatives. Also, if you’d like to stock up, I’ll be selling the Salicylic Acid+ for one more week, until November 30, at which point it will be pulled. The product has approximately 11.5 months of shelf life left before it is expired. I also reduced the price to $10.

I’ve heard about ResellerRatings.com a few times before and a coworker of mine mentioned it again yesterday. I just checked it out and there are no reviews for Acne.org/DanielKern.com.

Do you guys go to ResellerRatings.com to see which web sites are reputable and which are not? I don’t, but maybe I should start. I tend to just trust most web sites and have had good luck so far. At any rate, please feel free to honestly rate Acne.org/DanielKern.com.

As a side note, if you have any customer service questions, Travis, our customer service guy, is always here to help you out, or you can call our 1-800-773-7803 number too.

Thanks!