Editorial Standards & How We Work

Research + Standards / The Method

The verdict is only as credible as the route used to reach it.

I separate desire from claim, mechanism from outcome, statistical change from visible relevance, and editorial judgment from individualized medical advice. That separation is the whole product.

Authorship + firsthand reporting

I write the posts. I may also test, try, use and compare what I cover — and where I have not, the piece says so.

Beauty was part of my life long before this publication existed. I came to formal aesthetics training after years as the customer: buying the products, booking the treatments, making expensive mistakes, and wanting to understand the machinery underneath the promise. That experience gives me better questions. It does not get to overrule the evidence.

Published editorial posts are written, revised, and finalized by human authors/editors. AI may support research organization, source discovery, analysis, formatting, metadata, coding, and production QA, but it is not the attributed author and may not invent first-person experience. When we personally use a product, try a routine, visit a spa, undergo or observe an experience we are qualified to describe, or compare options firsthand, we identify those observations as personal experience. Personal experience is not a substitute for clinical evidence, individualized diagnosis, professional judgment, or general safety and efficacy claims.

How this site makes money: Programmatic display advertising, served by Google AdSense. Advertisers bid on inventory; they do not see articles before publication, cannot request changes, and have no route to influence a verdict, a score, or whether a product is covered at all. We do not know which ads you were shown.

Affiliate links: This publication may use affiliate links. If you purchase through one, Northern Lantern House LLC may earn a commission at no additional cost to you. Affected links are disclosed at the point of use. Affiliate relationships do not determine coverage, evidence labels, rankings, comparisons, or editorial verdicts.

Not accepted: Payment for coverage, gifted product in exchange for review, comped treatment in exchange for review, sponsored posts, and paid placement in any ranking or comparison.

The method, short form

Six moves, always in this order.

This is the compressed version, kept here so the standards page can be read on its own. The full method — eight passes, with worked files on a device claim, an injectable claim and a serum claim — lives at How to Take a Claim Apart. Where this summary and that page differ, that page governs.

Governance / Corrections

Corrections and updates.

Material errors are corrected openly on the affected page. When a correction changes a material claim, contraindication, regulatory status, evidence interpretation, concentration, device identity, or verdict, the page receives a dated note explaining what changed; significant revisions may also update the review date. Typos, formatting, broken links, accessibility repairs, and minor clarifications may be fixed without a formal note when meaning does not change.

Health, safety, contraindication, interaction, pregnancy or lactation, regulatory, evidence, and commercial-disclosure issues receive priority, and a consequential claim may be withdrawn while it is checked. Commercial relationships do not block legitimate corrections.

To report a possible error, use the contact page with the page address, the statement you are questioning, and any useful context or source. Brands and manufacturers may report errors, but being the subject of a piece does not grant editorial control.