The register
Unproven Claims
Somebody has to write down what was actually tested. Every entry here takes one beauty claim, restates it as a proposition somebody could go and check, and records what turned up — including, often, that nobody has looked. No brand is named in a verdict. Nothing here is sponsored, and nothing here links to a shop.
The useful column is not the verdict. It is the one next to it, which says what kind of evidence is missing — because “there is no evidence” is nearly always false, and the accurate answer is usually that the study exists and belongs to something else.
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Microneedling erases acne scars
Partially establishedIt moves scars a grade, reliably, in small trials. It does not erase them, and nobody has shown it holds past a few months.
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Daily sunscreen prevents visible skin ageing
EstablishedRandomised, in people, over four and a half years, measured on skin rather than in a survey. It holds.
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Beef tallow as a skincare base
No adequate source foundClaims for acne, eczema and psoriasis are common on social video and largely uncited; a 2025 analysis found most promoting posts showed financial bias.
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Topical NAD+ and NMN serums
Untested as claimedNo controlled human trial of topical NAD+ or NMN with skin endpoints has been published. The formulation literature exists because the molecule penetrates poorly.
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Blue light from screens ages your skin
No adequate source foundVisible light from the sun does cause pigmentation. That evidence belongs to sunlight, not your monitor, and was carried across without a trial.
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At-home LED masks deliver a clinical dose
No adequate source foundWe found no published independent measurement of what a consumer facial LED mask actually delivers. The dose is the claim, and it is unverified.
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Polynucleotide injections regenerate the skin
Thinly supportedNine studies, all rated low or moderate quality, covering 219 patients between them. Real signal, and nowhere near enough of it to conclude.
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Exosomes rebuild skin after treatment
Thinly supportedNo exosome product is FDA-approved, and the published studies do not describe what was in the vial well enough for anyone to repeat them.
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Rosemary oil works as well as minoxidil
Thinly supportedOne 2015 trial compared rosemary oil with minoxidil 2%, not the 5% most people buy, and had no placebo arm. Nothing has replicated it.
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The four-night skin cycling sequence
Untested as claimedThe ingredients in skin cycling have evidence behind them. The four-night sequence, which is the actual product, has never been tested as a sequence.
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“Medical-grade” skincare is a regulated tier
Not establishedNo regulator in the US, UK or EU defines, confers or enforces "medical-grade" for cosmetics. There are cosmetics and there are drugs.
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Oral collagen supplements reverse skin ageing
Not establishedOral collagen's measured benefit for skin disappears once pharmaceutical-company-funded and low-quality trials are separated from the rest.