Skin, Unfiltered checks skincare claims against the label, the brand's published specs, and cited evidence, then says which products made the cut.
How Skin, Unfiltered reads a label
- Start with the back. For sunscreens, the Drug Facts box: active ingredients and percentages, “broad spectrum”, SPF, water resistance in minutes.
- Identify the exact promise. Then ask whether the evidence supports that promise for this finished product.
- Check the brand's own published page and the retailer listing, and note where they disagree.
- Check availability and price on the day, and date the verdict.
- If information essential to the recommendation cannot be verified, the verdict stays Pending review.
The possible verdicts
- Upheld: the editor backs it, and the information essential to the recommendation is verified. Each card says where its specs come from: the brand's own page, a retailer listing or the product label. It is not a validation of every marketing claim.
- Conditional: recommended with a stated, minor caveat: a mismatch between listings, a non-essential detail unconfirmed, out of stock, or no water resistance on a product sold for swimming, sports or long outdoor use. For everyday wear, a missing water-resistance claim is stated on the card but doesn't lower the verdict by itself.
- Pending review: information essential to the recommendation can't currently be verified, so there is no recommendation and no link.
- Dismissed: the claim doesn't hold, or the product doesn't meet the bar.
- No SPF and Wear with SPF: lip care or color worn for what it does, not for sun. It goes on with a lip SPF, never in place of one.
The lip SPF bar. For lip sun protection, Skin, Unfiltered prefers verified broad-spectrum SPF 30 or higher. A lower SPF is judged case by case: the SPF level, broad-spectrum coverage, water resistance and how it's used. Color and comfort products without SPF are assessed separately; neither substitutes for sunscreen.
The regulatory background: cosmetics, drugs and sunscreen labels
A serum can list a well-studied ingredient without having been tested itself. A device can be FDA-cleared without proving every result in its advertising. Those distinctions matter when you’re deciding what to buy.
Cosmetic or drug: the line the vocabulary blurs
In the US, the law sorts products by what they are intended to do. A cosmetic is for cleansing, beautifying, or altering the appearance. A product intended “to affect the structure or any function of the body” is a drug, and is regulated as one. A product's claims are evidence of its intended use. (FDA: Is it a cosmetic, a drug, or both?; 21 U.S.C. 321)
“Looks firmer” and “rebuilds collagen” make different promises. Under US law, claims about treating disease or changing the body's structure or function can establish a drug's intended use.
Sunscreen's label has specific obligations
Sunscreen is regulated as an over-the-counter drug. Its label carries a Drug Facts box, and the terms on it are defined by rule: “broad spectrum”, the SPF value, and water resistance of 40 or 80 minutes. (21 CFR 201.327; FDA on sunscreen)
Clinical. Repair. Recovery.
Those words alone don't tell you what was tested, on whom, against what comparison, or with what result. “Hypoallergenic” offers another caution: FDA has no federal definition or standard governing that term. (FDA: Hypoallergenic cosmetics)
Research standards: what counts as evidence
- Labels and listings establish declared ingredients, directions and product claims. Each card names its source.
- Published research is assessed for study design, participants, comparisons and results. Ingredient research is distinguished from testing of the finished formula.
- Dermatology guidance supports practical protection and care recommendations.
- Personal use informs texture, comfort and everyday experience. It does not establish clinical efficacy.
Buying guidance
- Each verdict says who the product suits and what to check on the pack.
- Prices change; follow the retailer link for current pricing.
- Cosmetic benefits and regulated drug or device indications are reported accurately. Established findings are kept separate from marketing claims.
Money and independence
- Some links earn a commission through ShopMy or Amazon Associates. Each is labelled next to the link; the rest go directly to the brand.
- A higher commission never improves a verdict, and Dismissed products never carry affiliate links.
- Verdicts are dated and re-checked when labels or listings change.
What this isn't
Independent consumer guidance, not diagnosis or treatment. New, changing or persistent skin concerns belong with a qualified clinician.