The big three that we review are cleansers, moisturizers, and sunscreens. We expand into anti-aging creams, acne treatments, and general over the counter products, but we tend to stay away from makeup products for now. In the future, we’d like to expand to serve the needs and wants of our users.

DermApproved is a public service for users who want to know what other consumers feel about various products. We’ve compiled and listed scores free of charge for 2016.

It’s possible, but relatively unlikely. Our general philosophy revolves around letting the consumers decide while the dermatologists only look for egregiously misleading claims or practices that are contrary to the spirit of science and honest inquiry. More likely scenarios are: The product still hasn’t been picked up, the product hasn’t accumulated enough reviews for us to look at (Niche products or products that heavily rely on direct sales are more challenging to score for since data aggregation depends on larger sample sizes), or that your product type isn’t reviewed at DermApproved. If you have any inquiries, please contact us or apply your product here.

Our review process is independent of our personal views on your product. The fact that the product is listed means that our dermatologists believe that your product is legitimate. As a rule of thumb, scores on a website that deals with only one brand tend to have artificially higher reviews than when the scores are aggregated, because the people that follow a brand already have some level of commitment to the brand. We aggregate review data from the largest sources on the Internet. Our exact process and methodology for aggregating reviews is explained here.

Unfortunately, we will not remove product scores from the review in 2016. We consider this one of the essential services to our users. However, every year when DermApproved calibrates the scores with new data, we will remove the products that have not paid a sponsorship fee.

Although DermApproved accepts corporate sponsorship, we will not be manipulating the Consumer Index Scores or altering where the products show up on the website. The value of DermApproved lies in the integrity of the process and its usefulness to the consumer, and at the end of the day, the value of sponsorship lies in DermApproved having value for consumers.

Sponsoring your product has many tangible benefits. First, your Consumer Index Score will be visible to the public. Starting in 2017, we will be recalibrating the scores in January every year to update the scores as more reviews are posted. Sponsorship helps keep the Index up to date and visible to the consumers on the website. Second, it unlocks features on the website that help you promote your product on a high traffic site with an audience that is specifically looking for cosmetic products. Some of these features include links to your websites, coupon codes, free sample offers, and other ways to directly communicate with people who are searching for your product. Most importantly, it allows you to place a DermApproved seal on your product with the Consumer Index Score showing, distinguishing it clearly from other products on the aisle.

In the clustered market of skincare, it can be a serious challenge to distinguish your product from that of a competitor. Numbers are important–SPF ratings are extremely popular for this reason–and eye catching, but the question is always–who gives these ratings, and who pays them? The Consumer Experience Index immediately distinguishes your product from the others at the drugstore or beauty aisle. It’s a consumer based rating, independent of industry or the influences of organizations that the modern consumers aren’t easy to trust. Some of the benefits include:

• Increasing consumer confidence knowing that other users have given favorable reviews.
• Distinguish your product visually, in an obvious way from your competitors.
• Have an objective third party review that is truly brand neutral.