First off, I purchased Vitamin A in hopes of having a counter to my acne issue. Here is my acne history: I have what Dermatologists call Level 4 or Grade 4 Acne. What this means, my dear hopefuls, is that when I say I have BAD skin, I'm not whining because I get one or two pimples a month or a week. No, I had a FACE full of acne as a teenager, 18-21, which covered EVERY increment of skin on my face. For those of you unfortunate enough to understand what Level 4 acne is, it basically means NO antibiotic or topic medication can help your skin. Not only that, Level 4 acne is ONLY considered level 4 if you have what is called Cystic acne. Cystic acne is the type that grows UNDERNEATH the skin and develops into a nodule filled with bacteria. This type of acne cannot be treated without surgery or other invasive procedures. Guess how many I had? 4. I had two cystic acne the size of QUARTERS on both of my cheeks. So imagine me, an 18 year old bright-eyed college hopeful going to school with a face covered in acne that can only be described as the Acne God waging a self-esteem war on me. On top of that, I had cystic acne that inflicted SEVERE pain if I so much as touched it when washing my face. Flash forward 4 years and I'm at my wits end. Proactive started my acne issue, neutrogena did nothing, L'oreal was useless, Skin ID did squat, eating organic foods made it slightly better. So, what's a 22 year old with a complexion of Swiss cheese to do? I went to the motherload of all Acne cures: Accutane. Yeah, I can feel you guys cringing. Accutane is the most effective but also the most destructive way to cure acne. You CANNOT be prescribed this without at least a Level 3 category acne and I had the whole clearance! Check me out! Jumping all the way to the top! Anyways, more to the point, Accutane did everything it promised. Within 5 months, my acne stopped. My cystic acne dissolved within my cheeks and I was able to properly wash my face without wincing anymore. However, the side effects were horrendous. Accutane should have a slogan "Beauty is worth EVERYTHING" because those 5 months were hell. Depression, dry skin, terribly sore back (If I moved while I slept, I would bolt awake from the pain). Flash forward 1 year. I am now 23, my acne is back.... Yeah, did I mention I had horrible acne? My acne is so bad, Accutane couldn't fix it. (Sounds like a yo mama joke). So a couple weeks ago, I decided to give this a try. I've read close to 100 acne blogs on the internet, cross referenced many claims (like using oil to wash your face....really?) and everything led me to just taking Vitamin A. Funny how the major skin care companies stress EXTERNAL help instead of taking a very cheap but healthy pill (Where there is money, there will always be deception and white lies). You can buy the most expensive cream in the world but if your insides are not regulated, your skin will NEVER look good, THAT is a fact. Here is my reasoning (If you've read this far...man do you have bad acne): Accutane is a derivative of Vitamin A much like Retin-A (another effective combatant of acne, do you see a trend? Vitamin A is acne's worse enemy!). Its medical name is Isotretinoin. When you are prescribed Accutane, the doctor takes into consideration your health, psychology, and weight. If ANY of these three are not up to standard, it is illegal for them to prescribe it. Why? My dermatologist put it best "Isotretinoin is a controlled OVERDOSE of Vitamin A". In order to control your acne, and cure it (not in my case), you have to overdose on Vitamin A to jolt your skin into producing less Sebum. Vitamin A is crucial in monitoring your oil production therefore, overdosing on it means your forcing the oil production to ALMOST cease. Of course, if you guys are thinking "Thanks guy on Amazon! I'm going to take 5 capsules a day for 5 months and cure my acne" you are DEAD wrong. Overdosing on Vitamin A without professional guidance causes liver failure, brain tumors, and death. When you are on Accutane, you have to sign a health waiver. Accutane is so dangerous, the patient must have a notarized document stating that they understand the risks. In the 5-6 months that you are required to take Accutane, you MUST come in for a monthly blood test and general health screening. I can't stress this enough. I've read Acne Blogs where young adults post about what they are going to do with this product. "I'm going to start taking 3 a day because I think 75,000 IU will be near the level of what Accutane is". Sure, you can do that but there are more peaceful ways to commit suicide. Did I mention that Accutane is prescribed according to your weight, age, and mental health history? You can't just self-medicate! So far, it's been a week taking 1 capsule a day (Which is still 5 times more than the normal daily requirement of Vitamin A) and my skin has started to heal. I've gotten 1 new acne in a week...before taking these I got 8 in a day from stress. I'm still stressing but my acne growth has slowed considerably. So...YES this works, take it from a guy who survived Accutane and STILL gets level 2 acne (At least it divided my acne in half!). There really isn't a reason for it NOT to work because it's what Vitamin A does. For those of the reviewers who claimed it did nothing, they probably took it for three days and wrote the review. It takes a minimum of a week for any nutrients to show effect in your system

I can't even believe how much my skin has improved in one week. I have tried expensive skin care systems (OBAGI, Proactiv) and all kinds of peels and creams. My pores are significantly smaller, my skin (including back and shoulder) is producing FAR less sebum. I struggle with cystic acne that ALWAYS leave scars. I can't believe I'm posting makeup-less photos, but hopefully they will help someone make a good, low-cost purchase that will truly address their problem. These two photos were taken in the same light. The texture and tone improvement is remarkable. This is the first week in my adult life that I have felt more comfortable without foundation than with it. Please try this supplement! You will not be disappointed. Tip- taking this supplement after consuming fat increases absorption. I have been taking a tblsp of organic coconut oil just prior to the vitamin A

I want to share real results, best thing that I've been able to try for acne I've tried all washes scubs masks you name it threw out hundreds of dollars seen a dermatologist nothing worked, this vitamin also relieved some of my symptoms of my monthly cycle

5 stars because it is absolutely great for what it is. You get exactly what the label reads. BUT, before you go and use this to cure your acne, ask yourself, Do you want to keep your hair? I took this daily for two weeks. My skin cleared up in days (my acne is so severe, it didn't clear entirely, but noticeably). It worked faster, more efficiently and was cheaper than anything I'd ever used. Seemed too good to be true. Well, it was. My hair started thinning. I've always had extremely thick, dense hair, so imagine if you already have fine hair, this will destroy it. There isn't much research into why this happens. Medical literature is limited. There are only a few other anecdotal experiences posted about this on the internet. Very frustrating. I don't know when it will go grow back, or if it will grow back any time soon, considering the amount I put into my body. Wish I read more up on this before I started. Skin clearing didn't last. Now I'm back with acne bad as ever and thinning hair at a young age. Please, I hope you read this and consider this first. Just because it's a vitamin doesn't mean it can't do damag

I've suffered from some bad breakouts and acne for a long time now, on and off. I don't know why but I just got so lazy i don't want to type anymore. Okay I'm going to try and keep going. Anyway, like many others in this terrible world we live in, I tried absolutely everything for my face, washing it all the time, creams, soaps, acids. Up until now nothing really worked all that well, some might have helped a bit, and others made it worse. But then I had an epiphany! after reading an article online about how apricots were good for your skin because of all the vitamin A, i thought, why don't i just go directly to the vitamin and start taking it and see what happens! Well thats exactly what i did, and let me tell you, this is apparently the only thing I needed all along! After 2 days my skin was cleared up, and I've had no breakouts in about 2 weeks! Greatest feeling in the world and I owe it all to this product. Listened people, if you have terrible skin like me, it may just be vitamin A deficiency so try this out... After all the wasted years.

This product has nearly cleared up my son's face and back. He has cystic acne and has tried everything from antibiotics to topicals. The dermo was going to put him on Accutane...which has some very nasty side effects. I am SOOOO glad we tried Vitamin A. We ramped up on the vitamin A to the point of taking the following: 127,550 units of vitamin A. He takes 5 of these 25K unit vitamin A's, plus a tablespoon of Carslon's Lemon Cod liver oil, one turmeric capsule with black pepper extract, vitamin d3, and a vitamin k2. The fish oil adds 2550 units of A to his regimen totaling 127,550 units altogether of vitamin A. The fish oil has more than just vitamin A in it. It has DHA and EPA...along with omega 3. We do blood tests for my son, too. We have noticed that his cholesterol is raised a bit. We added in garlic pills to my son's daily pill intake. We'll see if that did anything on his next monthly blood test. However, so far everything is looking good. His face(neck, jawline, and forehead) are looking normal again. Very very few breakouts. Same on his back. We added in vitamin E to help clear up his skin faster and reduce scarring. It might be better for him to use vitamin E directly on his skin, though. He hasn't done that. However, we've been so pleased after two months of this that we just can't hardly believe it. We just did not want to do Accutane. Too scary. Not only is it scary, but it is insanely expensive. I would give vitamin A here a 5 star if not for the cholesterol increase. They usually want you to be on Accutane for 6 months. We don't know how long we'll do this vitamin A route. Maybe we'll cycle it. Hit it for 3 months then off a few weeks or something. Doctors don't want to help much other than giving out prescriptions. Dermatologists are like the snake oil salesmen of the medical world to boot. UPDATE: Looks like the garlic pills, two per day, has brought the cholesterol numbers down to normal. All tests have come back well on this latest round of testing. The dermo was amazed and said she won't have to see him again...and said to keep up the vitamin A until June

For Vitamin A, you have a few options: fish liver oil (like this product), beta carotene (supplement or things like carrots and sweet potatoes), or Palmitate (retinol; synthetic vitamin A). I would recommend going with the first 2, since I prefer natural supplements, and retinol supplementation can have negative side effects and can potentially lead to toxicity. Some studies have shown that beta carotene is not very efficiently converted to Vitamin A by the human body. Thus fish liver oil is a good choice for a natural source of Vitamin A. Since taking this daily for about a month, it has definitely improved my skin and eyesight. The severity of my breakouts has greatly diminished, elasticity of the skin is maintained, and it just has a nice healthy radiant "glow." Unfortunately, if you are strictly vegan, you will have to rely on beta carotene or Palmitate. If not, this is a great way to get some vit A

Update: I wouldnt suggest megadosing vit.A any longer, you actually just need more zinc, which is what helps your body use vitamin A to begin with! If you're deficient in zinc, which most of us are (esp if you avoid red meat and oysters, or have copper overload), then you can't effectively use vitamin A. Cod liver oil has a good balance of vit A and D. As someone commented boron is also needed. If you find that megadosing A works on your acne, perhaps try upping your zinc intake and back down on the A to see if that continues to work. Original review: I think this is a powerful product and am glad vitamin A in this form is available (as opposed to plant sources, which don't work based on what I have researched). HOWEVER, as someone mentioned in the 'Question & Answer' section for this product, it is IMO very dangerous to overdose yourself like crazy on this!!! I have witnessed firsthand how this affects bone density because once I and my family started taking this and/or 3tbsp per day of fermented cod liver oil all of our teeth started become grey and translucent. If you research a bit on 'Vitamin A bone poison' or things along that line there are mentions of a study done in Sweden that showed positive correlation with high vitamin A intake and increased fractures, things like that. What the research does mention is that concurrent vitamin D intake helps to regulate vitamin A, so it is extremely important to ALSO take vitamin D along with this or cod liver oil (I believe one tbsp of cod liver oil has something like 30,000IU of vitamin A but don't quote me on this). So if you are an acne sufferer make sure to look into the ratio between vitamin D and vitamin A that is healthy for your body before you blast yourself with megadoses of this. Personally, I have scaled myself back to once or twice a week of this maximum, but take vitamin D daily in the form of sunshine or drops

I love this product and highly recommend it for ACNE. I suffer from hormonal acne at 22. I have tried just about everything under the sun except Accutane. Due to other circumstances I could not try Accutane but found out the main ingredient is Vitamin A. This is a higher percent for over the counter pills so I tried it out. It takes a week to get in your system and as long as you understand there is no magical over the counter pill or cream to fix your acne over night and you stick to a constant routine of taking care of your skin, you will see results. It has only been a few weeks and I see improvement. I am very satisfied from where I started from. I still have break outs but not nearly as much. I maintain a constant routine of washing my face and when I use make up. Getting the kind that fights acne. Creams that only dry your skin out won't be very good during this process as it will dry out your skin severely. I use an oil called Dermatis that treats acne without extreme dryness. And I use Lavo moisturizer which is a moisturizer designed for complicated skin. Every so often I use clay masks to refresh my skin by tightening it and pulling out the gunk. I also have purchased on Groupon laser treatments for acne which really helps kill the bacteria deep in your skin. I have only done one of those treatments thus far but the combination of everything and taking vitamins has helped. I have also cut back my dairy intake which I think has helped. This is a completely honest personal review that I wanted to write to help encourage others. Be patient. Don't give up so soon and stick to a routine to see results. I had previously seen dermatologists and it was a waste of time and money. I highly recommend giving these a try. These are my real results with no make up! Before and afters. I still have a ways to go but it is an impressive start

I'm on my third bottle of this supplement, and I don't know what I'd do without it. I LOVE it. I break out mainly from hormonal and stress factors, but if I'm using this product I don't have breakouts. Ever. My dermatologist wasn't too concerned since as I said, my breakouts are hormonal and stress related, but having medical school in the works did the job and motivated me to find a solution of my own. No more wasted time. I've taken these gels once a day for well over a year now, and my skin looks flawless. I use tub Noxema during the week, and a Nuetrogena Benzoyl Peroxide mask/wash on the weekends since I have sensitive skin. Never had I ever been able to use Noxema without my skin looking like pizza the next morning until I started this Vitamin A regimen. If you have breakouts or even severe acne, skip the Accutane or Retin A and get on this. Give it about a month minimum to start working, and I promise you'll never have flare ups again. I don't really have side-effects. I can tell when my body is storing too much a though since I'll get a slight ache on my left side below the rib cage (spleen). When this happens I'll drop my intake to every other day or altogether for about a month and it goes away. Any breakouts won't occur within a month off of the supplement. Also, when the splenic ache comes I've also noticed that my water intake has decreased so it is most likely correlated even with fat soluble nature of Vitamin A