How we rate ingredients
Every ingredient gets a word, and rated ones also get a color. The word is always there, so you never have to rely on color alone.
The four colors
- Green, low concern: 1 to 2 out of 10. Either a regulator judged it fine, or we checked every list we use and none flags it. Tap an ingredient to see which.
- Yellow, moderate concern: 3 to 6 out of 10. Our sources set a limit on strength or use, or flag something to watch, such as a fragrance allergen.
- Red, high concern: 7 to 10 out of 10. The strongest warnings in our sources, such as a ban or a strict limit.
- Gray (hollow circle), not enough data: we have not found a verdict yet. It does not mean safe, and it does not mean unsafe.
Cancer classifications
We use only four lists: IARC (the World Health Organization's cancer agency), the EU CLP list, the US National Toxicology Program and California Prop 65.
If an ingredient is on none of the four, we do not call it a carcinogen, however worrying it sounds.
We always say which exposure a classification is based on. Titanium dioxide, for example, is classified by IARC on breathing in its powder (Reference: IARC, 2010). A lotion on your skin is a different exposure, so it does not count the same: we leave titanium dioxide sprays and loose powders out of routine picks, but not lotions.
How strong is the evidence?
Each benefit carries one of four tags: clinical (tested on people), literature (reviews and papers), regulatory (an official rule), or unknown.
When a study is behind a benefit, we show the ingredient, the strength it was tested at, and the first author and year.
We also show where the ingredient sits on that product's label, so you can see whether it could reach the tested strength. A product can list an ingredient without having enough of it.
We say "clinically tested" about ingredients, never about a whole product.
When we don't know
If we have not been able to check an ingredient yet, or what we found is not enough to judge, we mark it "not enough data" and keep looking.
What our routine picks leave out
Routine picks leave out products with a high-concern ingredient. One exception: adapalene, an acne medicine sold without a prescription in the US. It is high concern only because the EU keeps medicines out of cosmetics. At its US strength and on its own, we may pick it for acne, but never during pregnancy, nursing or while planning a pregnancy.
Looking up a product hides nothing. You see every ingredient and every color.
Money
Ratings come from our sources only. Some store links earn us a fee, and that never changes a color. Routine picks only include products we can link to a store.