How We Rate
We evaluate every product through six lenses that matter most to your health and your skin’s resilience.
1. Sensitivity Potential
Your skin barrier is precious. Sensitizers like fragrance, essential oils (citrus, peppermint, lavender, cinnamon, clove), drying alcohols, and harsh surfactants often go unnoticed — but over time they weaken the barrier, making skin fragile and inflamed.
2. Carcinogens
We never overlook the obvious. Ingredients like PEGs, formaldehyde releasers, petrolatum, talc, DEA, and coal tar derivatives have no place in products meant to support health and beauty.
3. Hormonal Disruptors
Some ingredients mimic or block hormones, disrupting the body’s natural rhythm. Oxybenzone, parabens, triclosan, phthalates, and chemical sunscreens like octinoxate and homosalate fall into this category.
4. Allergens
Even “natural” ingredients can cause long-term reactions. We note common triggers such as resorcinol, propylene glycol, lavender, citrus oils, peppermint, mucuna, lanolin, nickel, and chromium.
5. Other Considerations
Not everything harmful fits into one box. We call out environmental toxins like PFAS (“forever chemicals”), siloxanes, acrylamides, and toluene, as well as devices or tools that can accelerate aging through chronic heat.
6. Beneficial Ingredients
It’s not all about avoidance — we highlight what’s good. From niacinamide, ceramides, and peptides to squalane, jojoba, adaptogens, and probiotics — we celebrate ingredients that nurture, repair, and strengthen skin and health.
Our Star Rating
We score products on a 1–5 star scale, weighted not just by safety but by true compatibility with human skin:
- 5 Stars: Exceptional — safe, skin-friendly, barrier-supportive.
- 4 Stars: Strong — generally safe, with minor precautions for sensitive skin.
- 3 Stars: Fair — contains concerns, may be tolerable for some in short-term use.
- 2 Stars: Poor — multiple problematic ingredients; not suited for long-term use.
- 1 Star: Unsafe — significant carcinogens, disruptors, or irritants. Avoid.
Important: We never let a “good” ingredient outweigh a harmful one. A serum with peptides but also fragrance and parabens will still score poorly — because your health is worth more than marketing promises.
Why Our Standards Are Different
- We go beyond toxicity. Safety matters, but compatibility matters more.
- We put people first. Every guideline was shaped by real-world struggles — sensitive skin, dermatitis, hormone imbalance, early aging.
- We believe in Functional Beauty. Our reviews integrate skin biology, longevity science, and barrier health — not just a checklist of ingredients.
We care about tomorrow. The products you use daily should leave your skin stronger, not weaker, year after year.