Cosmetics Review Guide exists because most beauty coverage in the United States is paid for by the very brands it claims to evaluate, whether through sponsored posts, gifted products, or advertising arrangements that shape what gets praised. We wanted a publication that could not be influenced that way, so we built our process around a single rule: nothing we review is given to us.
Every product is bought at ordinary retail — a drugstore, Sephora, Ulta Beauty, Target, CVS, Walgreens, or Amazon.com — using the magazine’s own funds, under conditions no different from what any reader would encounter. We do not request review units, we do not accept unsolicited samples from manufacturers or their public relations representatives, and we do not run paid placements or sponsored rankings of any kind. If a comparison includes a product, it is because we purchased it ourselves and put it through the same testing as everything alongside it.
Testing itself is practical rather than theatrical: wear tests across a full day and across seasons, side-by-side comparisons within a category, and attention to how a formula performs on different skin tones, skin types, and hair textures rather than on a single ideal case. We report what we find, including when a widely praised product performs unremarkably, and when an inexpensive one performs better than its price suggests.
How Findings Are Reviewed
Before any comparison is published, our findings are checked by a small standing review group that includes a dermatologist, a biochemist with a background in topical formulation, and a second dermatologist with clinical experience in cosmetic and aesthetic treatments. This group reviews testing methodology and the language used to describe results, and signs off on conclusions before publication. Its role is to keep our claims accurate and proportionate to the evidence, not to select which products we test or to comment on individual brands. No member of this group is named in our pages, and none has a financial or advisory relationship with any brand we cover.
Corrections and Suggestions
We get things wrong occasionally, and we would rather hear about it than not. If you believe a claim in a review is inaccurate, if a product has been reformulated since we tested it, or if there is a category or comparison you think we should take on, the editorial team welcomes a note. Reach us through the contact page, where a short note is generally more useful to us than a long one, and where we read everything that comes in.