IS Clinical vs. Phyto-C (old IS Clinical formulations)
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Thu Nov 26, 2009 4:24 pm

IS Clinical changed its formulations in 2008. If you've used both the old (now under the Phyto-C label) and new IS formulations, which do you prefer and why? Also, if you've only used the Phyto-C line, please tell me your opinion.

I thought I was set on buying IS Clinical b/c of all the wonderful reviews, but they are mostly for the old formulas. The old formulas were developed by Phytoceuticals and are now being sold through their own line called Phyto-C. I started researching, and it looks like the split between Phyto-C and IS Clinical has gotten a bit ugly.

TIA

free skin care · Thu Nov 26, 2009 5:41 pm

I am using the IS Clinical Version of Pro heal and I do not like it near as much for my rosacea and breakouts, the old version did work way better for me. More glow and healing properties it seems to me. I have not tried the Phyto-C version now.

Thu Nov 26, 2009 6:01 pm

AnnieR wrote:

I am using the IS Clinical Version of Pro heal and I do not like it near as much for my rosacea and breakouts, the old version did work way better for me. More glow and healing properties it seems to me. I have not tried the Phyto-C version now.

Thanks for the reply. You don't happen to have your old bottle do you? I'm wondering if we can compare the ingredient lists. From looking at the current ISC and Phyto-C ingredients, the difference appears to be a change in the concentration of the various ingredients, mainly olive leaf extract. Retinol is also further down the list in ISC. I don't know if this is b/c of less retinol or more of the other ingredients.

Did you also use the poly-vitamin serum? Phyto-C created a new version called velvet serum where they added coQ10 and some other ingredients.

Thu Nov 26, 2009 6:26 pm

AnnieR wrote:

I am using the IS Clinical Version of Pro heal and I do not like it near as much for my rosacea and breakouts, the old version did work way better for me. More glow and healing properties it seems to me. I have not tried the Phyto-C version now.

If you're interested in trying a free sample of Phyto-C's pro-heal to compare it to the old ISC formula, you can order it online at SkinElite. Sorry, I can't post a link.

free skin care · Fri Nov 27, 2009 9:05 am

Sorry, I don't have an old bottle. I can tell you that it doesn't surprise me about the olive leaf extract. The color and texture, plus healing properties are different. This Pro heal is thinner, more watery and does not help me breakouts or rosacea. I do want to use the old formula when this runs out.
I have used the poly-vit in the past but it makes my sensitive skin too flushed as it contains niacin if I remember right.

Fri Nov 27, 2009 10:29 am

I just got a response from Dr. Omar of Phyto-C, and he told me that Phyto-C's formulations and IS Clinical's old formulations are identical. IS Clinical was only a distributor.

I'm still interested in hearing from some others who have used both the old and new ISC formulations.

Fri Nov 27, 2009 12:56 pm

AnnieR wrote:

Sorry, I don't have an old bottle. I can tell you that it doesn't surprise me about the olive leaf extract. The color and texture, plus healing properties are different. This Pro heal is thinner, more watery and does not help me breakouts or rosacea. I do want to use the old formula when this runs out.
I have used the poly-vit in the past but it makes my sensitive skin too flushed as it contains niacin if I remember right.

You might want to check out their ACE serum. It's essentially the pro-heal serum without the sd alcohol and laureth-4. I think that's what I'm getting. It seems like it would be less irritating.

free skin care · Sat Nov 28, 2009 9:15 am

I did order a sample from skinelite of the Phyto Proheal and I will compare the thickness and color to my IS Clinical Proheal.

free skin care · Fri Dec 04, 2009 9:13 am

I got a sample in and the difference is amazing when you put them side by side.
The very obvious is the color and texture, the phyto being green and thicker like when I used to get the old formula from IS. The IS is runnier and light yellowish in color.
The not so obvious is that my skin reacted to the Phyto like it used to when I bought the old IS.
It really does help my little acne breakouts, rosacea and gives my skin more of a glow.
I will reorder the Phyto not the IS next time, I just wished EDS would carry it!

Fri Dec 04, 2009 8:24 pm

AnnieR wrote:

I got a sample in and the difference is amazing when you put them side by side.
The very obvious is the color and texture, the phyto being green and thicker like when I used to get the old formula from IS. The IS is runnier and light yellowish in color.
The not so obvious is that my skin reacted to the Phyto like it used to when I bought the old IS.
It really does help my little acne breakouts, rosacea and gives my skin more of a glow.
I will reorder the Phyto not the IS next time, I just wished EDS would carry it!

Thanks for your review. Dr. Omar recommends the pro-heal over the ACE serum for fair or sensitive skin, so I'll be ordering the pro-heal as well as the poly-vitamin.

In case anyone is interested, Dr. Omar said the phyto-C serums should be good for two years as long as you store them in normal conditions.

free skin care · Fri Dec 04, 2009 9:47 pm

AnnieR wrote:

I got a sample in and the difference is amazing when you put them side by side.
The very obvious is the color and texture, the phyto being green and thicker like when I used to get the old formula from IS. The IS is runnier and light yellowish in color.
The not so obvious is that my skin reacted to the Phyto like it used to when I bought the old IS.
It really does help my little acne breakouts, rosacea and gives my skin more of a glow.
I will reorder the Phyto not the IS next time, I just wished EDS would carry it!

Thanks for the update AnnieR I have been waiting to hear a comparision. I think I will just leave the IS one alone.

free skin care · Sat Dec 05, 2009 8:34 am

As soon as I put the sample on it was like missing an old friend, "Where have you been?"
Thanks finding the Phyto info and pointing me in the right direction.
I might order the Phyto and pass the IS one on to my son, he's not so choosy and it's about a quarter of a bottle. Smile

Sat Dec 26, 2009 1:53 am

Thanks for all your reviews guys! I came onto EDS a while back looking for additional info about the old formulation of the Pro Heal but no one had tried the Phyto kind yet. I will definitely order the Phyto Pro Heal now from Skin Elite as I've been missing "my old friend" too now for quite some time...thanks guys!!! (once I get it, I'll be back and let you know my experience as well....)

Sat Dec 26, 2009 1:56 am

PS -- does anyone know if Skin Elite is the only place you can order the old version of the Pro Heal? ....I'm looking for a website that may offer % discounts as it's always been a bit out of my price range....

free skin care · Sat Dec 26, 2009 9:55 am

I wish I knew and I wish EDS would as I feel like I can trust that they stand behind the products they sell.
I am wanting to reorder when I run out so if you find it cheaper, let me know.

Sat Dec 26, 2009 11:01 pm

finelinehater wrote:

PS -- does anyone know if Skin Elite is the only place you can order the old version of the Pro Heal? ....I'm looking for a website that may offer % discounts as it's always been a bit out of my price range....

I've looked far and wide, and Skin Elite is the only place I've found. (Oh, there is also this one other place in the UK.) Skin Elite offers a 5% discount for newbies, then a 5% discount for your first 5 orders for returning customers, then a 10% discount for returning customers with more than 5 orders. They are also generous with samples. I ordered the .5 ml bottles of the proheal and polyvitamin serums and got free samples of the their eye gel, intense line defense, phyto+, and bionic serums. They also offer samples of all the brands and products they carry.

The proheal and polyvitamin serums have done wonders for my skin. I've been using them for around two weeks, and my pores are almost completely invisible. They were HUGE before! My acne is also gone. I used to have hive-like acne on my cheeks and temples. I also have what used to be a dark scar ironically from AHA and hydroquinone. It's lightened tremendously to the point that it's very faint now. I use the pro-heal, polyvitamin, eye gel, and phyto+. The samples of the eye gel and phyto+ are enough to last me through the .5 ml of the pro-heal and polyvitamin. You only need a litle, so the .5 ml lasts a long time. The intense line defense is too strong for me - too much AHA for my skin. I had intended to use it once a week to exfoliate. I haven't tried the bionic serum yet, b/c I haven't needed to. My acne cleared up with the pro-heal and polyvitamin. I'm normally sensitive to retinol, but the formulations are so gentle that neither serums irritate my skin. The polyvitamin has a lot of hyaluronic acid and panthenol, so the glycolic acid in it also doesn't irritate my skin.

I forgot to take into consideration that we're going to try to get pregnant in Jan, so I'm switching to Phyto-C's E in C serum and icy blue in January b/c of the retinol in the pro-heal and polyvitamin serums.

ETA: Forgot to mention that my skin is soft, smooth, and glows! I love waking up in the morning and seeing my skin!

Sat Dec 26, 2009 11:26 pm

AnnieR wrote:

I wish I knew and I wish EDS would as I feel like I can trust that they stand behind the products they sell.
I am wanting to reorder when I run out so if you find it cheaper, let me know.

If I remember correctly, the bottles have plastic seals on them and the boxes the bottles come in also have a sticker seal.

Mon Mar 29, 2010 2:59 pm

Thanks so much for posting guys... I've been trying to decide between ordering the Phyto-C Velvet Gel and the Phyto-C Poly-vitamin as my 2nd serum (in additional to the Phyto-C Pro-heal)... I'm seeing that the main difference between the Velvet and the Poly-vitamin is that Poly-vit has glycolic acid as an ingredient.

My mom has always sworn by glycolic acid so I guess I'm going to do the Poly-vit instead. Any thoughts???

I see that the Velvet has caffeine in it and someone mentioned that they added Co Q-10, but I don't see that (or the other ubiquinone term for it...). Does caffeine have any long-term benefits I don't know about? I always just assumed that it was a temporary wrinkle helper but if you guys know any reasons why to choose the Velvet Gel over the Poly-vit, I would love to know...

(P.S. in my own emails w/ Dr. Omar, he recommended the Velvet Gel to me as a supplement to the Pro-heal, but you guys seem to really like the Poly-vit - which I've never tried - so I thought I ask...)

Mon Mar 29, 2010 3:04 pm

Since we seem to like the same products for our faces, I was wondering if anyone has a good all-over BODY cream/serum recommendation? I was using Murad's Firm and Tone Serum (77 bucks) but I cannot keep up with the price... I just bought the Jason Ester-C Creme and used it on my body and it was a really good moisturizer (it felt pretty amazing actually for me -- I have very dry skin on my body), but I'm concerned about missing out on the cellulite benefits of the Murad Firm & Tone... Any wonder BOD creams out there??

Thanks!!!

free skin care · Wed Apr 07, 2010 1:19 pm

Since EDS is not carrying the Phyto C proheal yet I was going to order the ones from skinelite. Does anyone know of any coupons or codes to use?
Thanks.

Wed Apr 07, 2010 1:27 pm

I'm going to order the Proheal from SkinElite too...maybe they'll offer a coupon after I order... Will post if they do!

Fri Apr 09, 2010 4:05 pm

Annie, just an FYI that it looks as if some or all of the Phyto-C products are up now: http://www.essentialdayspa.com/phyto-c-n_858.htm

free skin care · Fri Apr 09, 2010 11:10 pm

I am waiting for the Proheal and Active Serums. I am just about to place my order with skinelite.com but if EDS is going to carry them I will place it with them. I have my stuff in their cart and am waiting! Smile

free skin care · Sun Apr 11, 2010 11:13 am

skin4life wrote:

Dr. Omar recommends the pro-heal over the ACE serum for fair or sensitive skin, so I'll be ordering the pro-heal as well as the poly-vitamin.

Hi skin4life,

Did he explain why he recommends the pro-heal over the ACE serum?
I would have thought that the formula with the SD-alcohol would be more irritating. Except for the alcohol and the laureth-4 the ingredients are the same. It doesn't make sense.

TIA

free skin care · Mon Apr 12, 2010 7:17 am

I have found that the olive leaf extract is very soothing so i have no irritation from the Proheal.
I can't wait to reorder, it's been far too long.
I am waiting to hear from EDS to see if they are going to carry the Proheal and Active Serums along with the other Phyto-C products.

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