SCAM ALERT: South Beach SkinLab Preposterously Priced Products

South Beach Skinlab is an overpriced skin care marketer created by notorious medical infoscammer Ryan Shelton.  He’s tapped into the fact that people spend billions of dollars of their gold and silver (and paper) on over-the-counter anti-wrinkle cream in an effort to reclaim their youth.  We tried counting up all of the various anti-wrinkle concoctions being sold and our computer collapsed from exhaustion.  We settled upon the official count of “A LOT”. But skin products like the ones peddled by Ryan Shelton are among the worst of the LOT because they charge so much for so little.  In short, it is a rip-off of the worst kind.   We’ll explain below more about this infoscammer behind the “Skinlab” as well as tell you about low-cost, proven skincare products that cost a fraction of what Shelton is trying to charge you.

Who is Behind These Skin Products?

If you go to the “Skinlab’s” website and click on “About Ryan Shelton“.  You will not find him described as a “Board and N.A.B.N.E Certified Doctor.”   If you search for that term, you’ll find it means he’s passed exams by the North American Board of Naturopathic Examiners.   So, he’s a naturopathic examiner, but his website just calls him a doctor.   Is that a lie?  You can make that decision.  However, we believe that when a consumer finds that company is lying, then you need to run away…..and don’t look back.  In this case,   We dug into “Doctor Shelton” and found two different newspaper ads for another one of his supplements:

Both ads are for NeuroFlo — another potion peddled by the bad doctor.  One featured a story about a Texas resident who suffered from chronic neuropathy (no mention of diabetes).  The second one was published in the September 26, 2019 St. Louis Post-Dispatch and highlights one of the ingredients – horse herb.   Again, no mention of diabetes-related pain.    Both of them reference Dr. Ryan Shelton, M.D.  We’ve investigated him and learned that Ryan Shelton is not a medical doctor.   Moreover, he’s an Internet scammer.  Yet, repeatedly he bills himself as a physician, which is a violation of naturopath rules in California.  On one of his web offerings,  he calls himself a “licensed primary care physician” yet there’s no listing of him in the Hawaiian Licensing Division as a medical doctor.

In both of these ads, they use a term that is flat-out wrong.  If it happened only once, you might think it’s a typo.  But it happens repeatedly.  Over the past 10 years, Shelton has moved around the U.S. frequently and appears to current have practices in “sun-soaked” Hawaii as well as having a presence in Australia.  The Zenith Laboratories that he is listed as the medical director of this Illinois-based supplement vendor, although Shelton has no medical practice in that state.  The At one website, Shelton claims:  “between his best-selling books and his medical practice in Hawaii, Dr. Ryan has helped hundreds of thousands of men & women…”   A search on Amazon Books finds no book authored or sold by Ryan Shelton.  Similarly, a search of the Library of Congress shows no book by Shelton.  Even Google comes up snake eyes.  Not only has Shelton not published any books, but whatever ebooks he has sold on the Internet can hardly be called “best selling”. Why does he lie about his credentials and his publishing record?   To learn even more about Shelton and his many medical infoscams, just check out our webpage dedicated to the pills, potions, quack cures, misleading websites and even fertility clinics with which he’s associated.

More Reasons Why You Shouldn’t Even Consider Buying Shelton’s Products

South Beach SkinLab sells five skin products.   They aren’t cheap, even compared to some of the higher-end skin products on the market.  For example, Shelton claims that his Repair and Release cream” reverses wrinkles, tones skin, and reduces sagging while increasing collagen production.   Yes, Shelton is taking on the laws of nature.  So the question is whether his anti-wrinkle creams really combat aging and whether they are worth the often stratospheric price charged.

We say it is not worth the money for two BIG reasons:

1. The website won’t disclose the ingredients in its skin cream.
2. Its advertising claims are highly questionable.

Note specifically that it doesn’t list the active ingredients anywhere on its websites and doesn’t indicate how much retinol is included in the cream.   Because it is a non-prescription cream, there is going to be very little “retinol” or, more correctly, Retin A in the cream.  Makers of the over-the-counter creams and gels don’t have to say how much retinol their products contain, and in the short term, the products might not be as effective as tretinoin. According to WebMD,  it takes about 3 to 6 months of daily use to notice a difference. With prescription retinoids, a patient might notice smoother, more even-toned skin in as early as 6 to 8 weeks.   But beware that prescription Retin-A based-creams can be 100 times” potent as the retinol-containing products sold without prescription.  One of the problems is that the retinol found in over-the-counter products changes to retinoic acid when you put it on your skin and is less effective.

Keep in mind the warnings issued by the Federal government about anti-aging products:  low-cost trial offers for anti-aging products should be avoided.

Now, about the price.  While some Retin-A prescription creams can be somewhat expensive, the generic trentinoin creams are not expensive at all while others generally run for about $60 for a 20-gram tube or $130 for a 45 gram tube.  Pharmacies located at Costco, Sams Club or other discount pharmacies will charge less.   We found 1 oz jars sold on Amazon for $67.   There are 28 grams in an ounce……so South Beach SkinLab cream is being sold at a price that is shockingly close to a prescription version of Retin-A!.

So-Called Review Sites Are Misleading

Another red flag:  if you look for a review of this product, you are deluged with lots of fake review or “scam” sites that simply direct you to the main sales site or offer some pablum talking about how the product is highly rated or recommended.   (such as purabellrev.com, healthandbeautybar.com and other affiliate websites posing as reviewers)   The marketers for this service paid to have these fake sites thwart any customer looking for real reviews.   It is also a tactic to obscure any customers who have posted complaints or alerts about fraudulent claims.  Any products that have lots of these affiliate websites should be avoided.  Some of these affiliate marketing sites claim to “review” the product.  But don’t believe them.  They are just trying to sell you a product for which they make money.

Better Alternatives to South Beach SkinLab Products

Ultimately, it is up to the individual as to overpay for skin-care products that don’t reveal its ingredients and has chosen not to publish safety studies. We recommend that if you want to potentially spend/waste your money on high-end skin care products that you consult the Cosmetics Database to look up the ingredients in products to check their toxicity levels.   There, you can find low-toxicity alternatives at a fraction of South Beach SkinLab’s cost.   Ultimately, the best — and lowest cost — strategy to combat wrinkles (and aging, in general) continues to be:

• Wear sunscreen
• Don’t smoke
• Treat your skin well
• Eat healthy
• Manage stress.

There appears to be consensus among experts that most cases skin creams are harmless, although they are not likely better than moisturizers like Vaseline or Cetaphil that sell for less than a 10th or a 100th of the price.   Consumer Reports frequently tests anti-wrinkle skin creams and are consistently “underwhelmed”.   In 2012, the reputable consumer testing group tried out 7 skin creams and recommended none of them.   It found that retinoids, or vitamin A derivatives, (Retin-A) remain the only proven topical prescription remedy for wrinkles. But there’s a big difference between prescription and non-prescription retinol products.   Aleurier cream is a very weak non-prescription…..but being offered at prescription prices.

Try these first time-tested and very low-cost strategies…………and only after that should you consider anti-wrinkle cream. If you go that route, you might as well pay for a prescription-strength retinol cream.  As for South Beach SkinLab, well, we can only say “caveat emptor” and “good luck”.