I have ordered the Total Balance Women Premium. I currently take HRT (estrogen only) along with Calcium each day. Do I need to continue the HRT or will the ingredients in the TBWP take care of the need for this medicine?

Thank you.

Hi Kim,

This would depend upon how severe your menopausal symptoms are.

Many women find that the ingredients in TBWP are potent enough not to have to use HRT in order to avoid uncomfortable symptoms.

I would suggest that if you are only taking HRT for these symptoms that you try cutting the daily dose back by half for a month and then if everything is OK try stopping it altogether for the next month.

Also it would seem that with taking both HRT and Calcium that you are concerned about your bones. If this is the case please ensure that irrespective of your age that you try to do weight resistant exercises on a regular basis. This is one of the best things you can do to ensure that you maintain good bone density.

Please let me know how you get on re phasing out your HRT. I would be most interested. Thank you.

Hello Warren,

First of all, a little about me. I'm a 26 year old male brit with very pale skin (type 1 - I'm practically white) and a very thin frame/face) and naturally quite sunken eyes, and have pretty noticeable (i find them very noticeable) shiny dark blue circles with slight bagging under my eyes. I'm a heavy, computer user and along with the paleness and thin face (both meant to make dark circles more obvious, from what I hear) and dyspraxia that means I quickly tire from physical exertion, have found that these dark circles have become a increasingly constant presence since my early 20's. My eyes frequently feel tired throughout the day, no doubt due to the amount of time I spend using computers, but I also wake up with very sore eyes. I also used to smoke on and off since the age of 17 but stopped about 6 months ago.

I've been using the men's eye contour gel for about 3 months now with some small success. but given the almost translucent pallor of the skin around my eyes and the way it makes even small blemishes stand out, I get the nasty feeling that even with your product I won't be able to reduce them by much.

I was wondering if you had any suggestions for any products or practices that might help improve the dark circles? I was thinking of purchasing some Age-Defense active facial fluid as I also have some fine wrinkles around my eyes and quite a few annoying forehead wrinkles, and was thinking of getting some of your Multi X-tra vitamins (sadly, I cannot afford the monthly cost of the Men's total balance range).

I was also wondering if you'd heard anything about glasses causing dark circles? I've been wearing them since I was 15 and was wondering if the constant pressure on the bridge of my nose could somehow be causing or exacerbating the formation of these circles.

Many thanks,
Edward.

Hi Ed,

I would very much doubt that the glasses would be the cause of the problem. Much more likely that is an internal factor.

If you have been having some success with the eye contour gel continue with it for at least another 3 months. This problem that you have is not a recent thing and it takes time to get results and to have some noticeable improvement in 3 months is encouraging.

It is not practical to use the Facial fluid around the eyes so I would not suggest purchasing this at this stage particuarly if your budget it tight.

Some of the problem may indeed in internal and if you cannot manage the Total Balance at this stage then please use the Multi-Xtra. When we developed this product we did so specifically to cater for people such as yourself who want the best but cannot stretch the budget far enough at this point.

Multi-xtra is the best multi that you can get and I think you may well find it will have some beneficial impact on your face as well as help your energy levels.

Thanks for the quick reply, Warren.

I think I'll order some Multi-xtra and perhaps some of your fish oil caplets as well, as I've heard numerous beneficial things about fish oil over the years, but don't like the sound of mercury poisoning.

I'll also keep up with the eye contour gel. I think there has been a slight reduction in puffiness around my eyes, so hopefully the discolouration should also start to lessen with time.

I have to say , the little Eye Contour Gel tubes don't look that big, but they sure hold a lot of applications! I've used it most days for about 3 months there's still a little bit left in the tube!

Many thanks,
Edward.

Hi Warren,

May i know what are the chemical that etend- life use in the eye contour gel instead of parabens for long shelf life ?

Hi Lim,

We are using a preservative known as

Euxyl PE9010

Here is a description:

Euxyl PE 9010 is gentle enough to use on sensitive mucus membranes while still effectively preserving the nutritional elements of the product. It is a natural alternative to parabens. It is broad-spectrum and organic. Phenoxyethanol and Ethylhexyglycerin have natural abilities to kill bacteria, therefore used together as a preservative. They are non-irritant and non-allergenic

PLUS some more info which was in response to an email from someone concerned about Phenozyethanol.


"The chemical form of Phenoxyethanol can be very toxic in its chemical form. It is used in many chemical cosmetics and other household products such as cleaners. However, there is confusion about the differences between natural and chemical phenoxyethanol. Natural phenoxyethanol can be foujnd in fruits, such as grapefruits and is totally natural and non-toxic to the body.
To perhaps help clarify the ingredients in our lists, what is important to understand here is that there is something called an INCI name, which is the legal name of an ingredient that has to be listed on a product. Unfortunately, the INCI name remains the same for many ingredients whether they are of chemical origin or natural origin, so it can be confusing. If you take a look at the Phenoxyethanol in our own ingredient list, you will see that we have also listed its proper name, as the natural trade formula that has been created, this is Euxyl PE9010.
Whereas chemical phenoxyethanol is banned or restricted in some countries, Euxyl PE9010 is globally approved. In the EU amounts tested up to 1.1% in lotions (entitled 'leave on products') is approved for safe natural use. In the USA up to 5.5% is tested for the same purpose. In our products we use 0.8%, well within the safety limits. And this is for the natural source of the ingredient, we don't use any chemical sources, such as those that are being reported in many articles you may have read. I believe even the article and media information relating to the nipple cream you mention itself states “...while it’s.........possible to derive phenoxyethanol from natural sources, beauty industry prefers a cheap synthetic phenoxyethanol that can be bought very cheaply from China." This statement is very true and hence why many cosmetics are found to contain the chemical version of the ingredient. We do not do this. We have never used chemicals in any of our products, only naturally sourced ingredients. We have also never compromised on quality for the sake of cost - our supplement formulas verify this as they contain many expensive ingredients that other companies often leave out due to cost issues. We pride ourselves in providing the needed ingredients for optimum health, whilst still maintaining value for money for the customer. We are able to do this because we do not use any third parties. We do all the manufacturing and retailing ourselves. So we keep our costs down that way.
Euxyl PE 9010 uses natural plant extracts and oils to produce the ingredients needed to create the natural formula. Many articles also refer to ingredients' negative effects when used at larger doses. This is true of any ingredient, natural or otherwise, where used in excess, it would of course have potential for toxicity. I.e. if you ate 50 gratefruits per day you would likely be ill!! no surprise there! however, used in proper concentration, any natural substance has abilities and properties for beneficial health use.
I hope this helps to elaborate on the natural source of our ingredients and their safe dosage, very similar to what is found in nature and ingested by the body from other sources, such as foods as in this example, for health, and that it is in no way comparable to the nipple cream scandal in recent media reports."

Hi,

I'm 37 and using tretinoin to improve my overall skin look.
the main problem is the skin around my eyes. It's becoming saggy, flaky and even more wrinkled!
So would you recommend me use your eye geL?
and how about your daily moisterizer. Would they both be a good complement ?

Thanks for your professional advice!!!

Thanks!

Hi Alejandra,

Yes, I think that it would be well worth you trying our eye gel. Many people have reported excellent results and all my family and staff use it...so do I.

For your face I would be surprised if you didn;t find our day cream, and night cream the best that you have ever used. If you try it any don't think that it is then let us know and we will give you a refund.

Now..it is important to realise that topical applications to your skin can only do so much. You must make sure that the skin has the 'fuel' in which to maintain its collagen and elastin. Part of the reason why skin becomes saggy is due to glycation. If you reduce that you also reduce skin aging. Best of all if you reduce glycation then you reduce the risk of a large number of degenerative disease in latter life such as Alzheimers.

I would suggest that if you want to ensure that you take best possible care of your skin that you add both our Total Balance and our Omega 3 fish oil to your beauty regime.

Hi Warren,

The women's day cream has an unpleasant smell to it... it is supposed to be like that? The night cream smells ok.

Hi Avril,

We have had the odd complaint that the day cream has developed a slightly sour odor. We have had these tubes returned and had them checked in the laboratory for possible contamination which may have occured after shipping. (every batch is checked prior to shipping). But, we have not found a problem or the reason why some tubes develop this slight sour odor.

Even though it only seems to occur on a very occassional basis we are determined to find out the exact cause...but I can't give you the answer on it right now. What I can tell you is that it is OK to use, that much we have been able to determine. We could easily get rid of the problem by adding a little fragrance but we would rather focus on the finding the cause...which we will.

Nonetheless we will send you a replacement tube today. No need to return the current one. You could continue to use it until the replacement arrives. If you can let Chantal or Korina know when you get the replacement tube and that it is OK I would appreciate that.

Thanks

Thank you so much Warren, truly appreciate that. I actually like the texture of the cream very much, it has a nice smooth feel it.
You really do take care of your customers very well. Will definitely let you know whether this 2nd one smells better. Thanks again.

Hi Avril,

No problem at all. We think that we have solved it. We have had no issues at all from the last batch. Would you mind emailing Michelle at michelle@xtend-life.com and letting her know the batch number so we can confirm that it is the one before the current batch.

We think that yours would have been from the batch before. As soon as we received some complaints about the 'yeasty' smell from some customers we dumped that entire batch even though they still smelt OK at our factory and they tested OK. It seemed that the problem only developed after the tubes had been opened for a while, so even though we were not able to directly replicate it we didn't want to risk sending out any more so we produced a new batch.

If you like you could quote the batch number here on this blog. Then if any other readers have had day cream from that same batch and have noticed a yeasty odor then let Michelle know and we will send you a replacement tube.

Mine is Batch SC00151.

I just received your replacement tube today and it smells fine. No sour unpleasant odor at all. It's great, thanks very much.

Am looking forward to try your eye gel, cleansing mask and hydrating mask too. (yeah, received all of them today! So excited...)

Hi Warren,

I am a new customer and not yet able to give praise to your products, they sound too good to be true! I thought I would tell you the 'tale of my order' as an addition to your blog.
I found your website initially looking for a good product for decreasing wrinkles around the eye area. I am 48 however I do look 10 years younger, but I have noticed that I am getting wrinkles around my eyes, my facial skin is looking generally tired - which is upsetting me somewhat, )so I thought preventative measures is the order of the day). I had a wander around your products and got so enthusiastic with the write-up of the benefits, - natural, synergistic and properly researched,tested and traceable - that I placed an order for the whole family one time for the foundation supplements - total balance together with omega3 fish oil. I also ordered the Rejuvenating night cream and eye gel. I was happy and looking forward. I did not receive my confirmation email, although my xtend life account says it was pending. So I sent an email, and also requested information on the product. No response. Then the 'Beware of the conman' thoughts entered my head.I tried to get reviews on the internet and amongst the barrage of xtend life review sites linkage,which increased my fear of being conned, I finally found one or two negatives - EWG, threads on skin cream not good etc. That was it I cancelled my order. Then before I left the website for good, I saw the live link online which had been offline previously. I quickly clicked through to speak to an agent to confirm I wished to cancel order, and I spoke to Jo. Well she was very pleasant and eager to assist me as much as possible. She told me she had replied to my former email request for information, and repeated her response to me there and then. After such a pleasant experience, I stayed on the site, and headed for your blog, and after reading through many pages, my fears of being conned subsided. So here I am. I have reinstated the order and look forward to using them. I shall let you know how I get on. :0)

Thanks a lot

Hi Jo,

Thank you for sharing this.

I will look into this further.

The email confirmation is automatic. If you do not get it this would be due to it either being blocked by your ISP or going into your junk mail. We will shortly be placing a message on the order confirmation asking for that to be checked.

With regard to you sending an emai and getting no response this is very odd. Can you send an email to Chantal advising when this was sent and we will try to find out what happened. Chantal will let me know. Her email address is chantal.uden@xtend-life.com

With regard to EWG I did an article about this some time back which you can see at http://blog.xtend-life.com/warren_matthews_blog/2009/5/10/a-case-where-a-well-meaning-organization-gets-it-wrong.html Hopefully this will clarify this issue.

I am sure that you will be happy with the final outcome and I do apologise about getting off to a bad start. Thank you for your patience.