In earlier post I exposed what seems to be a massive scam by Garrett Devore Labs. Read all about it here: Acnexus – smells like a scam.
I just discovered another addition to the scam.
Acne treatment product called Acnetix.
This scam is so bad, it’s almost hilarious. Look at the error they’ve made in the sales letter.
In the sales letter they talk about Acnetix, how wonderful it is and how it’s going to save the world from certain annihilation. But then at the FAQ-section, they suddenly talk about something called Leptirex.
I had to take a screen capture of this before they change it. So here, take a look.
Leptirex is of course a weightloss pill that gets amazingly good reviews at the same sites that say Acnetix and Acnexus are hot selling acne products.
Besides these glaring errors, their all the sales pages look suspiciously similar. They have the same FAQ-sections and follow the same template.
I bet their business model is something like this.
- Quickly cook up a new product
- Invent an exotic sounding name (Bruunhause, Acnetix, Acnexus, Lepitrex, Freezox, Dermavisu, Reneuvitol… do I need to go on?)
- Copy an existing website and try to remember to change the product name
- Add it to your ‘independent’ review sites
- Create fake accounts at popular forums and review sites and post positive comments about your products, such as this: http://www.acne.org/messageboard/acnetix-t203032.html (notice that that’s suzy8834′s first and only post)
- Start selling on eBay
- Cash in on desperate people that are willing to hand over their money for false promises printed on a nice looking bottle
- Laugh your way to the bank
Lather, rinse, repeat until the FTC hauls your ass in jail.
Please, please, please don’t fall for these scams.
In many ways acne market is like weightloss market. Both are filled with desperate people looking for quick and easy solutions. And in both cases the solution is really simple, but it takes some work and discipline.
Getting clear is really, really, really simple. No secrets or magic required. Acne cannot survive in a body that’s in good health.
It’s so painfully obvious once you get it. And I mean really get it, not just nodding your head and forgetting it after five minutes. Once you get it, you really kick yourself on the ass for wasting years or decades with quick-fixes, when you could have been permanently clear in few months.
You can do it all by yourself. You don’t need to buy anything to get clear. Not even my book Clear for Life.
But if you are not quite sure on what to eat and how to go about this, Clear for Life can help you. I spent 7 years waddling through all the BS in acne and natural health fields to get to these simple truths. I took the simple and really obvious things that work and built the Clear for Life program around them.
Just look at what Nicole wrote to me.
Hey Mr. Pusso! I am so glad that I bought your book. I love all of your ideas, and I find my self nodding along with everything I am reading. Everything finally makes sense! I have been juicing greens everyday and i see and feel the benefits!
Once you get this everything does make sense. Getting clear can be simple. You just need to kick your butt and do it. If you don’t know how, let me take you by the hand and show how.
You are about to learn the simple NON-Secrets about getting clear most acne victims never understand
using these simple techniques anyone can get permanently clear skin - no matter how bad your acne is, how old you are or even if you've tried everything...
- Discover the secrets to permanently clear skin
- How to easily identify foods that cause acne for you
- How to take control of your life so that your life and emotions are NO longer ruled by acne
Subscribe to my Clear Skin Tips Newsletter and also receive "The 5 Deadly Mistakes That Keep You From Getting Clear" special report"- for FREE.
July 15th, 2008 at 11:28 am
[...] Seppo added an interesting post on Acnetix – another scam from Garrett Devore LabsHere’s a small excerpthttp://blog.natural-acne-solution.com/images/acnetix-scam.jpg. Leptirex is of course a weightloss pill that gets amazingly good reviews at the same sites that say Acnetix and Acnexus are hot selling acne products. … [...]
September 13th, 2008 at 5:25 am
- product definitely makes your skin feel softer.
- shouldn’t need a moisturizer, although i still use one (i use less though because skin isn’t as dry). when you use the scrub it feels like the oil in the scrub absorbs into the skin. the product itself doesn’t seem oily though. some may feel like there’s a residue after rinsing but i interpret that as the healthy oils that are left behind.
- definitely makes skin feel healthier. it’s non-drying.
- i’ve used the product i think 7 times over the past 3/4 days.
- i’m not 100% sure it clears acne effectively. i seem to be getting whiteheads, but i’ll continue to use the product for some more time before i give a final conclusion.
- i’ll update as i use the product.
- i would say that my skin is mild to moderate with acne. i’ve used proactiv before trying acnetix. i find proactiv over-drying with fading results. it was awesome when i first used it.
September 13th, 2008 at 5:31 am
ps – i’m not too sure how honest the online reviews are.
not the following:
- your post to sybervision must be approved by moderators. i tried posting the above reponse.
- the yahoo!answers question is already resolved. no more reponses can be made.
- the enzine article is written by the same person who contributed to sybervision.
- the ebay review can also be the same person.
- it’s very sketchy.
- the “check me out” option on the researchacnetreatments is the same for both acnetix and acjuva (same company?).
- i’ll continue to post with my experience with the product and the company.
September 15th, 2008 at 4:20 am
Luke,
Thanks for your input.
You are right about those ‘reviews’, they all seem very dubious.
Of course I don’t have conclusive proof of this, but it looks strongly that each and every positive piece of them is written by people with interest to promote Acnetix.
October 23rd, 2008 at 8:35 am
[...] too long to discover that the same beloved characters that brought us such heart warming scams as Acnetix and Acnexus are also behind the 7 Day Acne Detox miracle. Namely the colorful characters at Garrett [...]
October 24th, 2008 at 10:13 pm
Seppo,
I cant thank you enough for telling the world about all these fake scams and fraudulent claims, It is so pathetic how so many people out there are just looking to make money off of innocent consumers. It was actually when I was researching about Acnetix that I came across your site and now am so passionate about living a healthy lifestyle! You have truly changed my life. You have truly inspired me and I am sure many others. Thankyou again!
October 26th, 2008 at 11:06 am
Thanks for the positive comments Mickey. And I’m really glad to hear you’ve ‘seen the light’.
October 26th, 2008 at 3:35 pm
hi… I just wanted to post here because I have actually tried this product and it has worked for me. I do understand that this company may look like a scam but Acnetix has cleared my skin without drying it out like other products do. I think its kind of lame that you all haven’t even tried this stuff and are scaring people away from trying something that could help their problem. Try doing a little better research on the actual product next time not just the company backing it financially. I would reccommend this product to ANYONE!
October 26th, 2008 at 4:18 pm
Hmmm… it seems that we again have someone from GD Labs posting here. But in case ‘ttlu’ actually is a real person, let me ask one question.
Where did I tell you that Acnetix or any of their products wouldn’t work?
I haven’t said a work on the quality of their products. As I sidenote, after seeing their business practices I have very few reasons to believe anything good about their products.
Of course there’s a chance that their products are good. I don’t know, but I just don’t think so.
I just think people have the right to know the whole story before putting their trust on anyone.
October 27th, 2008 at 8:48 pm
I thought I would check it out myself since step 6 is “Start selling on eBay”. It looks like there is a guy that sells this acne med. These are the reviews he has.
http://feedback.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewFeedback2&userid=itchy22&&ftab=FeedbackAsSeller&iid=160264362163&sspagename=VIP:feedback:2:us
99.3% positive feedback. I couldn’t find one of the negatives so I don’t know what the complaints are about. My guess this guy also complained about how he spilt a hot cup coffee on his lap at McDonalds or ate to many Twinkies and it was the hostess companies fault. The time that was put into this guys post is disturbing!
November 2nd, 2008 at 6:43 pm
I got ACNETIX in the mail yesterday. My mom ordered it for me, I guess she thought I needed to do something! ha, well, anyway. I haven’t read your book, but my story goes:
I am 25. I am very active, running 25-30 miles a week, unless I am training for a marathon, in which case milage goes up. I had clear skin until about 2 years ago. I pay alot of attention to what I eat, and try to be as healthy as possible. I am going to try this product. If it doesn’t work, I will give your book a try. Different things work for different people. I do think you should have given the product a chance before you started bashing it.
PS. I found your website as I was looking up information to see what this product was my mom sent me.
Thanks!
Megan
November 4th, 2008 at 8:43 pm
It is very suspicious that all the sites look and sound very similar, and I agree that the healthier you are the more your face is going to reflect that! But I have used some of the GD Labs Acne stuff and I liked it! Maybe they are scammers but they do have some good product! And I’d rather use healthy ingredients then chemicals anyways. Thanks for the heads up though. For everyone else out there, Everyone’s face is different and not everything is going to work for you, but give it a shot… don’t dispose of all your options. I’m going to try Acnetix next, I will give the spill on how it worked for me after a few months.
Thanks and good luck to everyone else!
November 5th, 2008 at 5:32 pm
I have not said a word about their products. They may be good or they may not. I don’t know.
Seeing all they did and reading the things at acne.org forums, I just wouldn’t trust them with my money.
If you do, then you do, but at least you do so after getting all the facts. And if their products work for you, even better, keep using them.
November 7th, 2008 at 3:31 am
What you said in the FAQ about the wrong name being mentioned..it doesn’t say the weight loss thing, it says Acnetix. And if they are willing to refund your cost including shipping..how exactly do they steal your money?
November 7th, 2008 at 3:34 am
I mean no offence to you, but how do we know you didn’t copy,paste, and change it to what you wanted? The whole point is no one knows for sure, we just have to take a chance and find our own mistakes. So if we want to try the product.. so what? just let us be and if it’s really a scam then we’ll let you know.
November 7th, 2008 at 10:49 am
Interesting that common people seem to be defending a product they’ve never tried so passionately.
From Kim’s comments it looks like I’m somehow taking away something from these people.
Or perhaps these people have an interest to make Acnetix and other products from GD Labs look good?
You make up your own mind.
Anyway, let them comment here as much as they want. The more they do, the higher up on Google rankings this page gets and the more people see this.
Finally Kim, where did I say they would steal anybody’s money?
At the time of writing they quite explicitly said that the refund promise is not valid ‘due to rock-bottom pricing’. Interestingly, the product is always priced at ‘rock bottom’.
Maybe they have changed that since. They seem to have corrected many other blunders I showed.
November 8th, 2008 at 12:28 am
“Cash in on desperate people that are willing to hand over their money for false promises printed on a nice looking bottle
Laugh your way to the bank ”
I’m just replying to what your saying, no need to freak out. I guess I just don’t see why someone who hasn’t used the product before puts so much time and energy to tell people not to buy it because it’s a scam. I would understand if it was someone who bought the stuff and didn’t like it and they didn’t get their money back doing this. I dunno it just seems weird to me that’s all. No need to freak out..
November 8th, 2008 at 12:35 am
What do you think the best products are for acne that you’ve heard about?
November 8th, 2008 at 1:42 am
First of all, I am sure that this blog is solely for the use of educating consumers about many of the scams out on the market today. Why attack Seppo for giving honest and straightforward info about these manipulative and greedy companies? When I discovered this blog I was actually looking for insight on Acnetix because I was so convinced that this would be the magic potion that would solve all my skin problems. Then I got my wake up call. What makes you think that a product will clear your skin permanently when there are so many other factors that influence acne? Even if this product works for a little bit, I have a strong feeling that the majority of people that try the product will eventually be disappointed. Just like everything else on the market. If you don’t want to waste your time, money and energy, wake up.
November 8th, 2008 at 10:32 am
Kim, I don’t think there are any good acne products in the market. None of them address the root cause of acne (because it cannot be fixed with a pill or cream). So they are all temporary solutions at best. If someone asks I recommend Acnezine, but even that falls desperately short of being a real cure.
November 8th, 2008 at 10:39 am
Mickey, I strongly suspect that these people are somehow tied to GD Labs.
If they aren’t, my apologies, but I just wonder whey they get so worked up for me telling people what most people would agree to be a dishonest way to sell their products.
I discovered this whole thing only after a reader, who got scammed, emailed me and asked about this. As I wrote in my original post about Acnexus..
November 10th, 2008 at 8:46 pm
I’m a model in my 20s whose career is being put on hold because of acne. I would love to try this stuff, but there are definitely some cautionary elements to their site.
My opinion is that people are not paying attention here…Seppo is reviewing the BUSINESS, not the PRODUCT. It is quite possible that a company with questionable business practices may make a shoddy product, but this is not necessarily true. I think it would be nice if people who actually used the product were posting reviews so those of us seeking info had something realistic to go on.
If the product works, a lot of people don’t care about the business. If the business sucks, the product may not work. Kind of circular, yes? Anyhow, I note that Seppo promotes his/her book here as well, and if you sign up for the book, you get taken to the Acnezine page which Seppo says he/she reluctantly promotes. The lesson is that everyone is out to sell something, and some people are out to educate. Looks like Seppo’s out to do both, and there’s nothing wrong with that. I’d suggest checking multiple reviews and sites and books to see what works and what doesn”t. Don’t buy a website’s false claims, or even someone who seems like they’re doing a good thing, like Seppo (sorry Seppo).
Best yet, just try the stuff for yourself, but my own research tells me that Seppo’s right, acne isn’t curable by a topical product or a drug. It’s an inside out sort of thing…people just need to learn to read up and be healthy instead of looking for quick fixes.
November 11th, 2008 at 3:32 pm
I couldn’t have said it better.
November 11th, 2008 at 4:30 pm
You pretty much nailed in Beth.
I don’t know which book you mean. Because nothing that I currently do takes you to Acnezine page. At one point I was handing out a free Acnezine Booster report. That had some tips on how to make Acnezine more effective.
If you signed up for that, then yes you were taken to the Acnezine page. But I stopped that and nothing should take you to Acnezine page (at least to my knowledge). It just doesn’t make sense for me to send people to Acnezine page. I’d rather market my own books to them.
Because at the end of the day I have to somehow make money doing this. Since most of the acne products out there are an inch sort of crap, the best solution for me is to sell my own books.
Like Beth said, do your research and check from many sources. I do believe that I’m doing a good thing, but I’m not a saint or anything. At the end of the day I have to make enough money to pay the rent. So naturally I’m going to promote my own books and hopefully help you to see how they could help you.
November 14th, 2008 at 7:48 pm
As a follow up, I subscribed to Seppo’s newsletter and it’s really quite good. I don’t fault you for trying to sell your book (which I may very well be buying) since we do all have to pay our rent! Anyhow, your blog and newsletter and helpful as I continue on my never ending journey to understand why I have adult acne…
November 17th, 2008 at 8:31 am
Thanks Beth… If I did my job well then your never ending journey to understand why you have acne should quickly turn out to be not so never ending after all.
Because, it’s really not that difficult or complicated.
January 4th, 2009 at 10:45 pm
I am deciding to buy Acnetix. I have read about every comment on every website about it because I don’t want to get scammed. I still haven’t decided yet it is a very controversial topic.
January 5th, 2009 at 5:26 am
Well let us know how it goes. And remember that I’m not saying anything about the product here. I’m just highlighting the somewhat dubious marketing methods of GD Labs. With topicals it’s always like going to casino. So you never know, Acnetix might even work for you.
January 19th, 2009 at 5:09 am
Ok, so I have been trying acne products for years, and I just figured my skin wasn’t easily cured, and know…… wow. I feel a little ridicuous. My acne is bad but it isn’t horrible, but when everyone around you gets cured from products sold at drugstores you start to think that yours is the worst. Especially when the almighty ProAcitv doesn’t work. And until I found this website I was almost positive that Acnetix would fix it all, haha.
So know I have no idea, they definently sound falty (forgetting to change the name from a DIET pill, seriously??) But i misssed most of the websites faults, because I didn’t know what to look for, and I went after many of the errors had been fixed.
Not to sound rude, but with all the skepticism going around how am I to know you aren’t changing stuff around? (sorry i just kind of attacked everyone on this wall). No I don’t work for GD, and I am not promoting this product, but wow I was already a suspicious person and now I just don’t know what to believe. I had heard at one point that what you eat, etc effected your acne, but that it was a myth.
Thanks I guess for all the added insight, its interesting to see an opposing view..
I may still consider trying it, but don’t be offended or anything because now I’m mostly just curious.
I do have one question though, Is it at all strange to worry about a product that a someone just went home and mixed together a ton of natural ingredients from the store and then mass produced, what I mean is, isn’t that a little risky?
January 20th, 2009 at 3:27 am
Whether you believe me or not makes really no difference to me. My customer asked me about this product and I did some research and shared my findings. That’s my view of things, you are free to form your own opinion.
The product itself may or may not work. Frankly speaking whether an acne product works or not has more to do with luck than anything about the product; some people get clear washing their face with only water.
What you’ve heard about acne is absolutely bollocks. It’s very much linked to your diet, but most people just have no clue about a healthy diet, and they don’t understand what happens during the healing process, and it’s much more than just diet. Hence people get confused and give up too early.
February 2nd, 2009 at 12:29 am
Okay, first off I’m not some person tied to GD Labs. I’m a seventeen year old highschool student. I just want to get the facts straight. Being the same person that falls for other scams like Endothil (yeah, it dosen’t work) I tried Acnetix. To tell yall the truth it really did work . no joke. It does what it says. yeah it may seem like a scam but that’s just how everything seems if they advertise that their product is the best. I’ve tried proactiv,neutregena, and cleanpores. Acnetix worked way better than the others. I can say it’s not a scam. It’s just cheesy promotion and an ad that wasn’t looked over well enough.
February 2nd, 2009 at 7:43 am
To me it seems that whether an acne product works or not has more to do with the population increase and fall among the deep ice dwelling bacteria in the rings of Saturn than anything to do with the product itself, especially when it comes to topical products. And if a product does work it often, unfortunately, stops working sooner or later. So it seems like a totally random process.
If Acnetix worked for you, great, all the power to you and hope it keeps working. But in case it stops working you may want to look into your diet and lifestyle. The fact remains that acne is an internal problem and topical treatments have a miserable track record.
February 13th, 2009 at 1:05 am
Isn’t everyone’s body different in their own way which means that someone else can’t tell you what works or not?
February 15th, 2009 at 8:46 am
Alex,
Ehh… not really. It really depends on how you look at it. If you look at it from the point of trying to fix your acne with these products then yes, then yes I wouldn’t go with anything anyone else tells you. But that’s not really a good way to look at this.
See, acne is not your real problem. I understand you want to get rid of acne, but focusing your efforts on trying to cure acne usually leads to wasted time and money and mounting frustration. Acne is nothing but a symptom of a deeper problem inside of your body. Fighting the symptom doesn’t get you too far because it doesn’t do anything to the real cause.
To keep things simple the real cause is deteriorating health.Yes, I know some people who are very unhealthy but still have clear skin. Not everyone who smoke gets lung cancer, but you wouldn’t point to those as proof that smoking doesn’t cause lung cancer. Not everyone gets acne, but for those who do, it’s linked to deteriorating health.
The only real and permanent solution to acne is to work on building your health. And this works for everybody. Some people may need to go about it a little differently than others but the basic principle remains true for everybody.
February 17th, 2009 at 1:49 am
Im using acnetix and it has shown results pretty quick. If you use too much it will dry out ur skin so using a moisturizer helps.
And i dont think people are “putting their trust” in these companies. Honestly no-one could care less if they just want your money. If it works, i’m happy.
I never really had terrible acne and i used pills and lotion for it that were prescribed by a doctor which almost cleared it up but when i stopped using it the acne came back.
I can say acnetix helps the irratation and the swelling go away. The only way to know if it will work is try it. I havent tried every treatment out there. In fact this is the first one other than what doctos gave me ive tried.
If you do try it, dont pin all your hopes on it working. Im the only one i know using it and so far its looking postive.
March 11th, 2009 at 11:15 pm
Soo how about I wanan try Acnetix and all I’ve found are good reviews about it EVERYWHERE I have looked everywhere for the reviews and have read many of them, I read your site and it makes me kinda ” ehh” about buying it, but hey.. if their website sucks and you say its a scam, BUT everyone says it works, what’s the problem!? :/ hm.. I don’t know what to do. I was thinking about buying Natures cure the pill and the body spray, my fiance said it worked for him whenever he was younger and worked @ Wendy’s and had lots of acne! Not sure what to do!
Thanks for making my decision harder! lol
March 16th, 2009 at 1:03 pm
JoAnna,
Surprisingly most of the sites that give glowing reviews to Acnetix are owned and controlled by the same people who sell Acnetix… The pattern is fairly simple. They rate products sold by GD Labs highly and bash everyone else. If you want to trust them by my guest, but I’d take them with a grain of salt.
Anyway, I’m not saying that Acnetix doesn’t work for you. It may, or it may not. From my experience whether a topical product works or not has little or nothing to do with the product itself. It’s usually just plain, old luck. Simply because topicals cannot address the root cause of acne; only diet and lifestyle change can do that.
March 19th, 2009 at 4:00 pm
I agree that the financial backer of Acnetix has made it appear to be a scam. But, personally, I don’t believe that necessarily means that prior to them purchasing the rights to it the original patentor gave 2 shits about scamming anyone because that wouldn’t exactly make it worth anything. I haven’t tried it and fell upon this site while researching due to my obsessive-compulsive addiction to sniffing out BS. So far, I haven’t really found many “real” reviews on the product as most are obviously endorsed but the reviews I have believed to be real seem to be leaning toward it being a decent, not great, product. I won’t try it.
Nonetheless, I find it interesting that the original poster on this topic happens to have created cause for skepticism themself. My first reason for looking further into this was that I realize the fact that someone who snubs other products and does research in order to make negative marketing accusations is a person who is used to being somewhat obsessive-compulsive to BS. This, in turn, allows for the knowledge to know what someone will look for in order to verify the efficacy of any products marketing. Take a couple steps out of the eight steps that “prove” Acnetix is a scam, change a couple into more believable and original versions, and you’ve got:
Clear For Life – “A permanent cure for acne”.
All you have to do is start making the changes advised in your book and your acne will go away and never come back right. Never once does any “advertisement” for your book say that you have to CONTINUE the practices or it will come back. Slight detail.
There are so many blog and review websites
promoting your book. Oddly they are all sponsored by Google ads just as Anetix tends to do. How is it that I didn’t find a single actual review from someone who read your book, yet there are AT LEAST dozens of them from either the author, promoter or, more than likely, both the former and the latter. I recall you stating: “Of course I don’t have conclusive proof of this, but it looks strongly that each and every positive piece of them is written by people with interest to promote Acnetix”. Well, I can’t prove this either but it looks strongly as if the same is being performed with this book.
Let’s check out suzyb’whatever’s post that was mentioned in the proposed Acnetix business model. Oh, weird. There is someone dramatically and consistently snubbing Acnetix as being a scam. Not only do they sound just as naive to their own agenda as this topic’s poster but at one point he when reacting to another user’s question of validity toward him he even states:
“If I had THE cure for acne, I would have posted it here. I only know that there’s many cures for many people. My solution was cutting out bad habits and bad foods and adding supplements (spirulina, maca and zinc). In about 8 months this has improved my acne by 99%. No more cysts, just the occasional pimple that disappears pretty quickly. I know acne can be a long lasting nuisance: I dealt with it for over 25 years before finding out that there is a link between diet and acne (no derm ever told me that).”
By the way I’m “sure” it’s not anyone affiliated with this book but if that user ever reads this post I would like him to know that every “derm” will tell you that.
That same user also gave postive information regarding only one topical product. It just happened to be Acnezine too.
By the way… If anyone reading this hasn’t noticed, blog.natural-acne-solution.com (the domain you’re currently on) is not a site where any public topics can be discussed, it is simply promoting all topics that would increase one’s interest in buying this book. Since this is the case I don’t even know why I am writing this because it will probably not be allowed past the “moderator” but at least they will see that everyone is not as naive as they think. At least I had already stumbled upon this page to “raise it up the Google ladder” before I ever cared to waste my time writing about this crap. Acnetix sure does practice bad business by creating websites to promote their product though.
Also, saying a product is a scam because of it’s marketing principles or otherwise is saying the PRODUCT is a scam no matter how you look at it. I love how seppo (an alias I’m sure) has either uncaringly or over-agressively defended themself numerous times and is so quick to point out that they didn’t say the product wouldn’t work. Nope, they just said it issn’t worth the same amount of money it would cost to buy this book yet somehow that assumption was made without taking the effectiveness of the product into account at all.
I could go on all day but I am done. I wish everyone could read this but I am sure the promoters of Clear For Life will not be allowing it on their page. After seeing their business practices you had very few reasons to believe anything good about Acnetix’ products, right seppo? Isn’t that the reason this page was created? As well as the reason their product is a scam and you can’t stop trying to make sure that EVERYONE hears your opinion on that. Well, based on that philosophy the business practices performed by the marketing executives of this book have made me feel, personally, as if their product is a scam as well. Whether it is good or not I will not be buying it. 0 for 2. Next “product” please.
March 19th, 2009 at 4:55 pm
Hi Justin,
Thanks for your detailed comment.
Just so you know, this is a free forum and people are free to ask and comment whatever they want to. I won’t delete any comments as long as they aren’t obviously spam or offensive in any other way. If you don’t like my books or products and want to express your views here be my guest. I have no issues with that.
Another point, Seppo is actually my real name. I don’t see why I should hide behind an alias. It may sound like a weird name to you; that’s because it’s Finnish and our names sound very weird for foreigners.
Interesting conclusion that I have to be full of BS to stop BS. Well when you are familiar with the internet these things are quite simple to spot.
One reader email me asking about Acnetix and I decided to look into it; simply because it gave me a good topic to write about. I expressed my opinion and people are free to agree or disagree with it.
I’ve said it many times that I believe the business practices behind Acnetix, and other products from GD Labs, are crooked. That doesn’t give me much confidence about their products. Then again, it doesn’t mean they have to be bad.
Actually the tag line for Clear for Life is “Lifestyle for health, happiness and clear skin”. I don’t know what lifestyle means to you, but to me it means something permanent and long term. Slight detail.
I know that most sites promoting Clear for Life do so for money; not all, but many do. They are my affiliates and get a commission for sales they refer. This is a common practice in the internet; and also the reason why you shouldn’t trust a lot of the things you read.
That said, financial gain doesn’t mean they are all crooked. I’ve been in touch with one person who is actually doing the program and getting good results. He promotes it because it works for him and he’s happy about it. If he can earn a bit money at the same time all the better for him.
Not all people promoting my book are this honest. I don’t like it, but there’s nothing I can do about it. Anyway fake reviews are quite easy to stop, and you shouldn’t believe them – no matter what they promote.
Clear for Life has been discussed at some acne forums. Here’s one discussion at acne.org:
http://www.acne.org/messageboard/Clear-Life-t206717.html
You are also free to look at the forums I created. It’s real discussion about what people go through, the challenges they faced and the results they’ve got. Many comments are positive, but not all. Alex is a customer of mine and he’s been blogging about his progress. Here are his blog entries:
http://community.natural-acne-solution.com/profiles/blog/list?user=2eh345vnxdfgv
I have to say that Alex’s progress has been faster and better than the average; partially because he has been very committed and disciplined.
Since I created these forums you probably think I made up all those stories. Well, you are free to believe what you want and nothing I can or want to do about it.
Anyway, my forums are open for everyone who is on the road to naturally clear skin. Feel free to drop by, ask questions and post your opinions. Whether you buy my book or not; I don’t really care.
March 21st, 2009 at 6:52 am
So, you’re saying that independent review sites and creating fake accounts at popular forums and review sites to post positive comments about a product are now acceptable business practices? It’s odd that the only real difference I see between the marketing for Acnetix and Clear For Life is the fact that Clear For Life tries to directly snub Acnetix as a scam for practicing many of the same marketing strategies as Clear For Life does themselves. Acnetix does nothing of the sort toward you? You would think that you would let people know you would appreciate their business not tell them that you don’t care whether they purchase your product. Leave that to monopolistic cable companies. A marketing program can be run efficiently AND tactfully. If you need help with accomplishing that with your product I would be more that willing to teach you ways to do so without being feciscious and lacking morals. Until you take those steps toward good business practice I would suggest discountinuing the hypocracy toward competitors.
March 21st, 2009 at 7:04 am
By the way, I understand what “lifestyle” means. But doesn’t that make it a temporary solution unless continued permanently? Well, if a topical product works temporarily and is continued permanently that would make it a permanent solution as well to you, correct?
March 21st, 2009 at 7:38 am
I don’t know why do you insist on twisting my words.
Could you point to me where I said it’s ok to create fake user accounts and fake positive comments?
If you choose to believe that I created those accounts and posted all those comments, then that’s up to you. You are free to believe what you want.
Just see all the posts those people at acne.org have made. Do they look like fake accounts? If so, then again you are free to believe so.
Another thing I fail to understand. If I created those accounts it would mean I would have posted hundreds of posts on other discussion. All this in order to post one or two positive comments about my own product.
Maybe that sounds like a good way to spend your time, but I can’t agree with you. Why would I waste all that time creating those fake accounts and posts when I could spend the same time creating something real; something that can help my customers.
Trying to scam people is a bad business strategy anyway. People aren’t stupid. You can scam them once but pretty soon your reputation catches with you.
I believe it’s much easier to create something that really helps people and then allow the positive reputation to work for you. But each to their own.
Let me clarify what I meant when I said I don’t care whether you buy my book or not. I know that I can’t please everybody, and you clearly are one of those who I cannot please. You have already made up your mind that I’m trying to scam you. You know what, I’m OK with that. I don’t need to change your mind. In fact, I think trying to do that would be a massive waste of time.
I would rather spend my time helping those who are a bit more open minded. Doing that allows me to help more people – and to make much more money.
So I suggest that we respectfully part ways. I wish you all the best with your life and truly hope something that helps with your skin.
If you choose to continue our discussion here please feel free to do so, but also please excuse me if I choose not to join you anymore.
March 21st, 2009 at 7:51 am
I’m glad we agree on the definition of lifestyle.
Yes, if you want to remain healthy and clear you have to continue living a healthy life. You can’t expect to remain slim if you keep stuffing your face with excess calories and never exercising. Most people would think that’s quite obvious. Those who don’t are free to try Acnetix and other quick-fixes.
I didn’t say topicals are temporary solutions because you have to keep using them repeatedly; I said it because they often stop working. If you happen to find a topical solution that never stops working then it would be a permanent solution. Unfortunately such things rarely happen. Of couse you would have to keep spending money on them also permanently, but I think most people would be willing to do so if they would find something that keeps working.
Lifestyle is also very simple to maintain. Once you establish your new habits you just keep on living your life. You don’t have to do anything for the sake of your skin anymore. You enjoy your new lifestyle not only because it gets you clear, but also because it makes you look and feel much better.
March 21st, 2009 at 12:23 pm
I don’t believe that your book is a scam. I also don’t believe that Acnetix is a scam based on the issues you provided. Just because Jessica Simpson probably hasn’t used Proactiv a day in her life doesn’t make Proactiv a scam. The fact that Proactiv doesn’t work for shit does. I simply saw you as the guys with eight small pimples pimpes pointing out the biggest pimple on someone with a face full of acne so everyone would laugh at him. It only made your “small pimples” more apparent when they never would have been noticed in the first place.
I believe that anyone ignorant to the issues addressed in your book has much to gain by reading it. Personally, I have been a competitor in many natural body building events for some time now, was a personal trainer and nutritionist to supplement the duration on my post-graduate schooling and live an overall healthy and happy lifestyle. I still have skin impurities that I feel need to be addressed in a different manner.We both know that, while everyone has much to gain concering impurities of the skin by understanding the lifestyle habits that affect them, not all skin issues will be cured indefinitely for every person. Sometimes no matter how hard and efficiently you work someone will beat you with less effort. One may choose to take steroids on top of full dedication and effort to ever gain as much muscle as another who was simply born with it. Some will still need “steroids” for their skin.
I have no issues with your product at all. I just feel that more efficient and applicable methods would deter less people from purchasing it, just as Acnetix would benefit from realizing the same. In order to point out one’s flaws one should make sure to be flawless. If the roles were reversed and their company tried to say your book was a scam because of some of the unethical marketing tactics used to promote it, it would be upsetting to you as well as morally and factually incorrect. Direct, ethical, fully truthful methods of promotion would benefit you much better. It’s obvious that you see how being unethical can deter a patron from a purchase so why expose yourself to the same possibility.
I do not wish to offend you or the integrity of your book. Some of the things I wrote about earlier were both hypocritical and unethical which was bothersome. All of which would have gone without notice if you hadn’t pointed the gun at another, so to speak. I hope people do read your book and benefit from the knowledge they will gain from it. I am sure it’s a good product with good intentions. Don’t give people a reason to think otherwise is all.
March 22nd, 2009 at 12:41 pm
My reader got scammed by these people. He emailed me asked had I heard of Acnezus, Acnetix or any other products by GD Labs. I did some simple research on the web and reported what I found.
Most of the things in my posts are simply objective reporting. If all the indications point towards a scam, is it wrong to say it out loud?
Did I spice up the headlines a bit? Yes I did. Simply to draw more attention to the posts. Did I also express my opinion about GD Labs and their products based on my findings? Yes I did, but it’s very clear what’s my opinion and what’s objective findings.
I don’t see how I did anything unethical or wrong by reporting what I found about GD Labs and their products. I think people deserve to know these things before handing out their money. At least this way they can make an objective decision.
I have no problems if the good people at GD Labs or anyone else does the same for me. Anyone is more than welcome to inspect my marketing methods and report their findings. I won’t get upset about it or consider it unethical.
If you are aware of unethical marketing practices used to promote Clear for Life please let me know. I’m not aware of any. I know that some affiliates write positive reviews of my book without reading it. I don’t’ like it, but there’s nothing I can do about it. They are also very simple to spot as they often are nothing but summaries of my sales letter.
Aside from that I’m not aware of any unethical practices. If you know any I’d appreciate if can point them to me so I can take action to stop them.
March 29th, 2009 at 9:56 pm
I’ve been trying out countless acne products [Clearasil, Zap!, Proactiv, AcneFree, Neutrogena, Nature's Cure, Eucerin, Purpose, Basis, Cetaphil, Clean and Clear, Stridex, etc.] for years now. So far, the only product that hasn’t let me down yet is my trusty bottle of Loreal TrueMatch. I have moderate-serious acne, and very dry skin. When I saw the ads for Acnetix, I admit I was excited. But I followed the link to the website, and I agree, this company is a major scam. Not only is the website poorly made, the stock photo unrelated, the “weightloss miracle” mentioned, but the spelling and writing style resembles a five-year-old’s. Acnetix is a scam, but then so is Proactiv. Proactiv’s scam is only just more wide-spread and cost a lot more money in advertising. It’s sad that these companies take advantage of people with serious cases of acne. I had a terrible case of acne back in junior high, and I was terrified of making friends and dating. I know I was always looking for the next “miracle solution” to cure my blemishes.
This is the way I’ve cleaned my face for years and have only had mild acne. It isn’t a cure-all, but as someone who has wasted so much money on these expensive treatments, I have to say this is what has worked best for me:
Morning:
Cetaphil Daily Facial Cleanser
Put a thin layer of benzoyl peroxide 2.5% on individual pimples
Moisterizer with SPF 15 or higher
[again, Cetaphil makes a good product]
Night:
Splash face with water
Bye Bye Blemish sulfur acne treatment
[dot on on each pimple with a Q-Tip]
Weekly:
Make a homemade mask of honey
Wear for 10 minutes, wash off
Use Biore Pore Strip on blackheads
I have very dry skin, so someone with oily skin probably wouldn’t find my regimen effective. Anyway, I can honestly say that I’ve found losing 30 pounds to be easier than ridding myself of acne. It’s truly a hard thing to do, so don’t berate yourself if you cannot find a solution. Good luck
April 2nd, 2009 at 9:08 am
Thanks for sharing your experience Elle.
Acne is much like a weight loss market. People are desperate for a solution and fall easily for quick-fixes and other miracle solutions. In these situations you’ll always get some people who want to cash on the “opportunity”.
Acnetix may or may not work, but the way it’s marketed is more than questionable.
Good to hear you found something that works for you.
May 9th, 2009 at 7:03 am
I think the main problem (for me at least) is not knowing how to use acnetix. Ive read lots of posts on the net about how it made people’s skin worse and from what i can gather its mostly because people are pouring it onto their skin the moment their acne gets a little worse.
I was using acnetix for a while and at first, just like everyone else, my skin felt great and acne started to reduce. But after a little while, again just like everyone else, the acne started coming back.
I stopped using it because i didnt really know how. Im on benzoyl peroxide now which kind of dries out my skin too much and the acne comes and goes.
My sister started using the acnetix and she her skin has got way better. Her acne wasnt the same kind as mine but its prety much gone now so i am probably going to try acnetix again but a little more sparingly. She is not a teenager anymore so that may have had something to do with it.
This is how she said to use acnetix
-Use in the shower
-Pour a little bit onto hand and rub over your face
-Wash it off in the shower
-After the shower use a moisturiser (oil free is probably best)
PS. just another thing ive noticed that can aggrevate acne
Look up the chemicals in hair products, shampoo, conditioner, hair gel, etc because there are some that can really mess up your skin (Sodium Laureth Sulfate is the main one i found).
May 13th, 2009 at 2:58 pm
Love this review. Nice work.
May 14th, 2009 at 4:02 pm
Holy crap, you guys have picked this to the bone. I just bought into the acnetix (#1 cure) hype and became curious, and found this thread. Two conclusions.. I don’t want to spend a wad on this product.. and this Seppo guy has gotten bashed left and right for pointing out some redflags that glared in his own perspective. Sh!t people, least you can do is appreciate that someone cared to communicate valid suspicions. I’m affiliated with NOBODY. I don’t have time to read a book. Seppo, you’re the man.
June 15th, 2009 at 1:06 am
hi i wont 2 order but dont have a credit card what should i do 2 order it. thank you
June 16th, 2009 at 5:01 am
Well I am 27 years old and still have moderate acne. I have tried different products throughout my years and nothing really works. One treatment may work for a few months and then it stops working.
I actually got on the computer tonight because I am so fed up that I am very healthy yet continue to get this crap that is so embarrasing at work and even in my relationship. I took a nutrition class a couple of years ago and have consistently been following a very healthy diet, drinking plenty of water and exercising regularly. I do all the right things for my skin type…but I still have this problem.
I don’t think it is accurate to say that the only thing that influences acne is health and lifestyle, because there are people out there that are not following a healthy lifestyle and are completely clear. Based on your logic that wouldn’t be possible. I think for many it may be applicable but what about people like me that are doing all of the “right” things but still suffering? I just want to look my age
June 26th, 2009 at 6:22 am
Hi Mandy,
Sorry about my late reply. Been up to my neck with getting new version of Clear for Life out.
OK… I’m sure you also know that there are people who smoke and don’t get lung cancer. Are we going to point to those people and say it’s inaccurate to say smoking causes lung cancer?
People who are not prone to getting acne can eat all the garbage they want and still have clear skin. People who are prone to acne can’t. It’s that simple.
There’s a lot more to getting clear than just diet. It’s hard for me to comment since I don’t know anything about your lifestyle. You may also follow the guidelines from the nutrition course perfectly but who’s to say they that diet is the right one for you. If there’s one thing I’ve learned it’s there’s no one diet that fits all. We just have too many differences. Some people do far better with diets that go against the standard nutritional wisdom.
I admit that acne is a very complicated condition. There are just too many things that can affect the skin.
What I can say for sure, though, is that once people start putting all the pieces (elements of health) together they start not only feeling better and happier but their skins also start improving. But what are the right pieces for your puzzle you have to figure out on your own. Books like Clear for Life can guide you to the right direction but they can never give you step-by-step solutions.
July 30th, 2009 at 12:24 am
seppo, i noticed that the link you left on here for kim for some what of help for acne… had to do with your book.
i know and understand that your just putting out the market isn’t very trustworthy, but how do we know you just don’t want us to read your book.
i’m so stuck between buying acnetix or just trying to eat more healthy and work out more…
acne runs horribley in my family.
my sister had the worst of all, so i’m just dreading the time my face breaks out more and more.
anyways, i wish people who have tried acnetix could post some things on here about how it worked… and maybe if they could show us or prove that they’re not apart of GD or GO.. or whatever labels.
cause what if it does work out nice… then i’m missin’ out.
anyways, $50.00 bucks for a 16 year old is about 3 weeks of chores… with a nice father of coarse (haha) and i really hope i’m not wasiting my money.
July 30th, 2009 at 5:03 am
Angela,
Well of course I’m doing my best to get people to read my book. I make my living by selling my book (and soon to be other products related to helping people get over acne). I’ve never said otherwise.
So how do you know that I didn’t write this just to bash competition and promote my own book?
You are right to keep your guards up, and nothing that I say here will change that. Just take a look at the other posts I’ve written here. Take a look at my main site
Natural Acne Solution.
Take a look at my forums.
http://community.natural-acne-solution.com/
I try to keep things as open as possible. Talk to other people there and then make up your own mind.
October 5th, 2009 at 10:05 pm
hey i just received the product(acnetix) today, and im trying it out, seems to be alright. i’ll let you guys know how it goes on the 7th day
October 20th, 2009 at 9:19 am
[...] scam looks very similar to Acnetix and Acnexus scams by Garret Devore Labs I reported about last year. However this scam involves a [...]
November 10th, 2010 at 1:56 am
Please note that same people operating GD Labs also operate Devin R&D, Orovo, LLC, and perhaps other similar entities that market Joint pain/health (e.g. Oxycollasyn, Lifessence Joint +) and other scam supplements with similar techniques that include ownership/operation of misleading websites purporting to do independent product reviews that of course rate their own scam products as clearly best. I don’t even think that I would even trust that their products contain the ingredients listed on the label if they were to be independently tested.
November 10th, 2010 at 2:19 am
If you don’t believe that these Utah-based outfits operate a massive scam to defraud desperate people seeking miracle solutions to their problems, all of their various products are sold at a site called supplementing.com. On that site you can see hundreds of bogus product listings/ratings and the product information and rating wording that has been copied over and over again to numerous phony “independent” product rating sites.
November 10th, 2010 at 3:01 am
Excellent research Jeff, thanks for letting us know.
May 12th, 2011 at 6:20 am
So Iv been reading and researching about all the scams and stuff so I decided to try it out I received my first package of the biodermazen pills today I will keep yal updated I hope this works if not then we all will know the truth
June 7th, 2011 at 1:59 am
23 y.o. male who woke up nearly every morning the past month wanting to off myself. I exaggerate, but it’s fucking frustrating to wake up to inflamed zits all the time when I base my waking life around finding a solution. I have shitloads of healthy habits (plenty of water, regular exercise, skincare regimen with all natural remedies, fish oils, selenium, zinc, chromium, phototherapeutic light) honestly name it I’ve probably tried it. I’m fucking done. I don’t want to waltz into another office to be prescribed another cream or more antibiotics. I’ve tried them for months of my life and wasted obscene figures of money. Signed, desperate.