How We Assess

Every entry on this site follows the same order of operations. It is written down here so you can hold us to it.

1. The label, before the marketing

We start with the published ingredient list (INCI) and the brand's own product page: declared actives and their concentrations, pH window where disclosed, and usage instructions. If a brand doesn't disclose a concentration that matters to how a product works, we say so rather than guessing.

2. Published data, attributed

Where measurements exist — SPF test results, clinical-panel results, independent lab analyses — we quote them with their source. We don't run a laboratory. Every claim of the form "the brand states" is checked against the brand's own current page, and anything we cannot trace is either omitted or flagged as unverified.

3. Price per gram

Beauty pricing obscures more than it reveals, so in comparisons we normalize to price per gram or per milliliter — the only honest way to put a $14 serum next to a $42 one. Prices are checked on the retailer's US site and quoted as they appeared when the entry was last updated.

4. Picks are shortlisted before links exist

In comparison entries, the shortlist is set on steps 1-3 first. Only then do we attach retailer links, which may be affiliate links. Rank order follows the assessment, never the commission. When a price band has nothing worth recommending, we write that.

5. Updates

Formulas get reformulated and prices move. Every entry carries a published date and an updated date; changes are made to the entry with the updated date advanced, and material corrections are made promptly when a reader or brand points one out.

The commercial side — how affiliate links are labeled and what they do and don't influence — is covered in the Affiliate Disclosure.