How we review products
CleanGlow reviews ingredient lists, not products in a lab. Every product goes through the same documented steps, and every result links its sources.
1. Data sources
- Brand websites (3319 products): the ingredient list the brand publishes on its official product page. Most records come from here; the product page links the exact page.
- Open Beauty Facts (839 products): a free, community-contributed product database (ODbL licence), used where we have no brand-site list. Pages based on it say so and link the record.
- Watchlist sources: IARC Monographs (International Agency for Research on Cancer) and the EU Cosmetics Regulation (EC) No 1223/2009 annexes and amendments, plus the EU CosIng database. Each watchlist group links its source on the methodology page.
- Retailer availability: we show a retailer button only for retailers we verified carry the brand (for Amazon: only verified official brand stores).
2. The check
We match each ingredient list against the ingredient names (including common spelling variants) of 10 watchlist groups (for example titanium dioxide, talc, BHA, formaldehyde releasers and EU-restricted parabens). If none match, the product gets "No watchlist ingredients found"; otherwise it is flagged and the matching ingredients are named and linked. Products with a missing or unreadable ingredient list are left out rather than guessed. Regional formulas (for example EU or India versions) are listed separately because their ingredients differ.
We do not lab-test products, rate how well they work, or publish user reviews or star ratings. A clean label means none of our watchlist ingredients are listed; it is not a safety guarantee.
3. Guides and rankings
"Best" guides only include products that pass the check, in the guide's category. Each guide states its own ordering rules (for example matching the guide's skin-type claims on the brand's page, being fragrance-free, or having a US formula and a verified place to buy). Brand pages and "is X clean?" guides count every product we checked for that brand, clean and flagged. Comparisons and "alternatives" pages match products by product type and say so on the page; they do not claim products are equivalent.
4. No paid placement in rankings
No brand can pay for a clean label, to remove a flag, or for a place in a guide, ranking, comparison or alternatives list. Affiliate commissions do not change these either: products with and without a buy button go through the same rules. CleanGlow does sell sponsored placements (see Advertise). Any sponsored placement carries a visible "Sponsored" label, sits outside rankings and screening results, and never changes what a product's page says. No sponsored placements are live at the moment.
5. Updates and corrections
We re-check brands periodically and when a reader or brand tells us about a reformulation or an error. Email [email protected] with the product page and the current ingredient list or a link to it. Guides show the date they were last updated.
6. Who does the work
CleanGlow is run by Space Laika LLC. Data collection and the watchlist match are automated scripts whose rules are published here and on the methodology page, and every result links the source it was based on so anyone can check it. See About CleanGlow.
Informational only, not medical advice. Ingredient lists come from brands' official websites and Open Beauty Facts (community-contributed); each product page links its source, and lists may be incomplete or out of date. "No watchlist ingredients found" means none of the ingredients on our documented watchlist appear in the listed ingredients; it is not a guarantee of safety. Always read the actual product label.