How We Research & Select Products
Transparency about how our content gets made — including what we don't do — matters more to us than sounding more authoritative than we are.
Our Research Process
Four steps behind every guide we publish
01
Primary literature first
For every ingredient guide, we start with peer-reviewed research — clinical trials, systematic reviews, and dermatology journal articles — rather than brand marketing copy. When we cite a study, we describe what it actually measured and at what concentration, not just its headline conclusion.
02
Label and INCI verification
For product picks, we check where an active ingredient sits on the INCI list (ingredient lists are ordered by concentration), cross-reference brand-published concentration claims where available, and flag when a product's marketing outpaces what's actually in the formula.
03
Evidence-tier honesty
We distinguish explicitly between ingredients with strong clinical evidence (retinoids, vitamin C, niacinamide), ingredients with emerging or brand-sponsored evidence (many proprietary 'complex' ingredients), and ingredients that are mostly marketing narrative. We say which tier something falls into rather than presenting all claims as equally proven.
04
Periodic review
Articles are revisited as new research, product reformulations, or pricing changes come to light. The publish date shown on every article reflects our most recent research pass on that page.
What We Don't Do
We do not conduct in-house clinical trials or hands-on product testing in a lab — our product evaluations are based on published research, formulation analysis, and label literacy, not personal use. We think this distinction matters, and we'd rather be upfront about it than imply testing that isn't happening.
We do not accept payment for favorable coverage, and no brand has editorial input over what we publish.
We do not claim specific individual authorship credentials we can't verify. Articles are produced by the Glowstice editorial process described above rather than attributed to an invented expert persona.
Questions about a specific article?
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