The travel size and big size moisturizer are now filled and ready for sale. We also have a “big kit” available with a 16oz. cleanser, 16oz. benzoyl peroxide, and 16oz. moisturizer.

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.

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.

The moisturizer is being shipped on schedule tomorrow. Our manufacturer, being the super sticklers that they are, demand that I wait until Tuesday so they can get the results of the final assay before we put it up for sale. That means they want to triple check that it is exactly perfect now that the bottles are filled. I respect their attention to detail. So as long as Joel and I can get the shopping cart nailed by next Tuesday we should be ready to go.

Our manufacturer has the bottles and has made the “bulk” they call it. The “bulk” means they’ve made the product in large quantities and just need to fill the bottles up. They’re hoping to get to that on Friday or early next week and ship it to our distributor on July 20. Then we’ll just need to give our distributor a few days to get it up and running and we’ll be good to go I hope.

As usual, I am not promising anything because you never know what can happen, but I wanted to keep you guys updated. This is everything I know. I’m excited!

I’ve been getting lots of great feedback on the moisturizer, plus I am personally elated at how they managed to make my dream moisturizer a reality. So we’re all systems go.

Now I’ll get them working on an SPF15 version.

I’ve been getting this question a lot so I thought I’d blog it. I am going to hopefully OK the moisturizer either today or tomorrow. If it’s OKed our manufacturer will start the manufacturing process. They are super-sticklers for good manufacturing processes (GMP) and take tons of precautions. I would have it no other way. So this is how it will go:

1. Our manufacturer orders the raw ingredients (3 weeks or so)

2. They quarantine each ingredient and test each of them (2 weeks)

3. We get scheduled in to be filled (2 weeks)

4. The final filled bottles are once again quarantined and randomly tested in a quality assurance process (1 week)

5. The bottles are sent to our distributor and are ready for sale (1 day)

So we’re looking at 8 weeks or so. They told me they would do everything in their power to make it happen as fast as possible, but in my experience, things usually go longer, not shorter. Having said that, this manufacturer can surprise me with short lead times so I am staying optimistic for a quick turnaround.

I sent 22 moisturizer samples out today to most of the moderators, my brother, and my friend Charlie We’ll see what they think.

I got our 55th sample in the mail last week and have been using it ever since. I think we may have found a good one. I am getting some extra samples sent to me this Friday and I’ll send those out to moderators and see what they think. I helped design it myself. It is extremely high quality and goes on almost like water. I’ve never tried anything like it. It’s exactly what I wanted. Once it’s on, it takes care of flakiness entirely, which as we know is no small feat. It also goes on matte, but not so matte that it is tight. It leaves my skin in just the right sort of balance. It also has no scent and is super white and pretty It contains potent anti-inflammatories and 5% jojoba oil for sebum control. Anyway, I am loving it. We’ll see what other people think. I don’t want to get anyone’s hopes up. I will of course only okay the formulation if the moderators also like it.