HeadOn! Apply Directly to the Forehead!

Seems like everyone has something to say about the HeadOn advertising campaign-- and none of it is good. Whenever the conversation comes up, the one thing I never hear asked is this-- does it work?

HeadOn is a homeopathic headache cure, which claims to be able to cure your headache safely and naturally. Unlike the thousands of others who are talking about it, I'd never seen the obnoxious commercial for it until just now.

I did, however, buy a tube a while back. So, did it work for me? Well, yeah, sort of. Here's the gist: you put this waxy stuff on your forehead, and at first, you don't really feel anything at all. Shortly, however, the waxy stuff starts to make your forehead, very, very cold. Some people, like the migraine sufferer from this article, have said that this tingly cold feeling was pleasant. I was not one of those people. However, I did notice that, while my head was freezing cold, it was no longer in pain.

Did the much acclaimed homeopathy really work for me? Or is it just a commercial version of how your cousin Ronny would claim to make it so the knee you scraped didn't hurt any more, then do so by creating a distracting discomfort, as by punching you in the arm? Well, you got me. But it did earn a three out of five star rating epinions.com, with over half the users giving it four or five stars.

So, should you buy it? Once again, it's a situation where it works for a small majority of those who use it. If you're actively looking for a solution to migraine or headache pain and tend to distrust drugs and pain relievers, or just want to start putting fewer of these things in your body, then yeah, go out and get yourself some. If you're happy with your Tylenol, then you really don't have a reason to risk being one of the people it doesn't work for.

One-A-Day Weight Smart

One-A-Day WeightSmart (TM) is a "Complete Multivitamin specifically designed to provide general nutritional support while you work to manage your weight." It accomplishes this, or claims to, with high levels of Chronium, B Vitamins, and EGCG.

So, what's the real deal with this stuff?

I know three people who have taken this product during times of dieting, myself included, and I was the only one who was not smart enough to realize that it was, in fact, making me horrible nauseous right away-- unlike my friends, I was taking this vitamin at the same time as I took thermogenic-style diet pills, and I blamed the majority of the adverse effects on the other pills, reasoning that since the WeightSmart was only a vitamin, it couldn't possibly be to blame for the feeling of imminent vomit. However, having taken these pills by themselves the other day on a whim, I can now officially told you I was wrong.

These vitamins scored a three out of five rating on epinions.com, where a variety of users confirmed the two things I suspected to be true about the product: it is effective for weight loss, but it causes stomach problems in a large percentage of those who take it.

On the bright side, nausea and diarrhea aren't nessecarily a bad thing if you're desperate enough to lose weight. But if you are that desperate, what you need more than pills is, well, therapy.


Aside from the tiny detail of torturing your digestive system by taking these, many vitamin experts (vitamin snobs?) say that the average store bought one-a-day multivitamin (One-a-Day, Centrum, etc.) is pretty bottom-of-the-barrel as far as supplements are concerned, claiming they are too dense to dissolve in your stomach and release the needed nutrition. There's much controversy over whether multivitamins accomplish anything at all, as well as some theories that they can do more harm than good, as broad-spectrum supplements can throw unbalanced bodies with very specific needs even more out of whack.

The final word on vitamins in general? There is none, really, and their probably never will be. This is an argument that's gone on for years, and you'll get different answers from every expert you think to ask: don't put too much trust in the opinion of your doctor, nutrionist, or overly-talkative, secretly-commissioned GNC salesman Or me, for that matter.

The final word on One-A-Day WeightSmart? Probably better to get the EGCG they're so proud of from a food source like Green Tea, and the chronium from, well, I get mine from delicious Slim Mints (an acquired taste, to be sure.)

Should you buy it? Probably not. If you're interested, and you have the five to ten bucks to spare, go for it-- you'll know it one or two pills whether or not your stomach agrees with your decision.

iFreeClub.com Membership

iFreeClub.com is reportedly a site which "offers hundreds of the most popular products to their Club Members at no cost to them." According to the welcome page, they've made deals with marketing and research firms which allows their members to participate in short surveys in exchange for valuable electronics, appliances and more. And you can buy a one-year membership for only $19.95! Too good to be true? Well, yes.

Let's take a look at all the shady sides of this bargain, one at a time.

• Marketing: If you're like me, you first heard about this website when you downloaded a misnamed MP3 and heard an advertisement; in my case, a cheesy Bill Clinton Impersonator. Wanting to believe the best, I thought that perhaps, rather than a truly sleazy marketing campaign from the website itself, it could be just a member looking to get referral bonuses. However, I quickly realized that no member is going to get credit for these bonuses without using a referral ID of some kind, which was not mentioned in the ad. Conclusion? Genuinely disreputable marketing feeding off the vulnerabilites of blue-blooded internet users who just want to download their illegal music in peace.
• Limited Time Offer: On the welcome page, iFreeClub.com cautions you that the $19.95 deal for a one-year membership is a limited time offer that expires at 12am tonight. But which night? I've checked back to this website several times, and trust me when I tell you it's said that very same thing for at least seven months now. No rush.
• FAQ's: Here's where the savvy surfer can normally find the real meat of the issue. Most of the larger internet scams aren't going to risk fines or legal action by making promises they can't keep. What you're looking for, rather than outright lies, is vague language. Mind you, this website is among the best at avoiding any instant deal-breakers, but if you look hard enough, you'll find enough subtle implication of deferred liability ("Please note that iFree Club is a promotional research and referral service. Each of our partners sets the terms for their free offers.") to tip you off. Probably, what you're actually buying into is a website that lists links to hundreds of websites where you're promised a free iPod after completing endless pages of "offers", rather than just offering up your own opinions. To further clarify, I sent an inquiry via their "contact us" box, and was promptly sent back an e-mail assuring me that different items required different things, and I may or may not have to complete the occasional offer to get any particular item. Well, that's not vague language at all.

So, should you buy it? Well, no. With a little "No" one the side. And then some "No" for dessert.

Any current members of iFreeClub.com, please feel free to comment if you feel differently.

The Red Exerciser

So here's a machine that looks way too good to be true-- but is it? In case you haven't seen the commercial, the RED exerciser is a little....circular-cushion thing that you sit on, holding the handles, and you just sorta...swivel back and forth. The manufacturer claims that it gives you an excellent core workout, working all the different sections of your abs with ease, comfort and all that other good stuff. But do consumers agree?

The first website of Red Exerciser reviews I found was here I found only had three reviews, two of which are very good and one which is very bad. Only the middle, which gave it four stars, said anything about the results-- she said that while you're unlikely to feel the burn while you're doing it, you'll feel it the next day.

This site has a lady complaining about their customer service, but nothing about the actual product.

This review, by what appears to be a professional reviewer, gives a fairly favorable opinon, but also says that he didn't feel much with the basic "twist" move, but says several moves that were on the included DVD were very promising, and gives their $14.95 thirty-day trial offer a thumbs up.

And this website talks about it being one of the three pieces equipment used to workout NASA enlistees....wait, seriously?

None currently for sale on ebay, which is a good thing (means that not a lot people who have bought it have been selling them within a few weeks of purchase.)

So, should you buy it? Well, always be wary of the $14.95 risk-free trials (the real price is about 175 dollars), but if you think you can manage to outsmart those slippery customer service reps if you don't like it, I'd say give it a try. What's good enough for NASA is good enough fro me!

Nature's Cure Acne Treatment

My sister has pretty bad acne and has for her whole life, so I'm often pretty curious about new acne treatments on the market. I've been seeing a lot of television play for Nature's Cure, so I thought I'd check out a few review sites.

The first site of Nature's cure reviews I found was here, at Acne.org. Mixed reviews seem to indicate that those who liked it found it to be very effective and affordable, but those whom it didn't work for often said it made their problem worse. The majoriy of people do seem to give it a glowing review.

This website of Nature's Cure reviews lists about 25 reviews, the vast majority of which are "excellent". The remainder is divided between "good", "satisfactory", and "adverse effects", which there are only three of, however, all three complain of developing digestive problems with use that do not go away when you stop using it.


So, should you buy it? Short and sweet, about 60-75% percent of nature's cure users seem happy to very happy with the results. The remainder is divided between people who were neither helped nor harmed by the product and the people who said their acne got worse or they developed intestinal problems (those with stomach problems seem to mostly be the males.) It's promising and affortable enough to give it a shot if you've tried everything else, but run and hide at the first sign of Irritable bowel syndrome.