Verified reviewer
Skincare data you can actually verify
DermFND exists because the skincare industry has a transparency problem. Marketing budgets dwarf R&D spending. Influencers promote products they've never used for more than a week. "Dermatologist recommended" is a paid endorsement, not an independent evaluation.
We take a different approach. Every product in this database goes through the same systematic analysis — ingredient-by-ingredient evaluation, evidence-level scoring, and structured editorial summaries grounded in published research. No product pays to be listed. No brand gets preferential treatment. No first-hand product testing is claimed where none exists.
Who runs this
The editor
DermFND is built and edited by Alex Brufsky, founder of ViewEngine. The site exists because skincare research lives in three disconnected places — published cosmetic-chemistry literature, regulatory ingredient registries, and unstructured product copy — and none of those reconcile cleanly at 11pm in front of a CVS aisle. DermFND does that reconciliation systematically: ingredient by ingredient, scored against the published evidence, with every claim traceable back to a source.
DermFND is a research and analysis resource, not medical advice. For the diagnosis or treatment of a skin condition, see a board-certified dermatologist.
Approach
How we analyze every product
Every product page on DermFND includes a structured ingredient analysis: a 0-100 score derived from a transparent formula, an evidence-level rating for each major active, a flagged-ingredient summary (irritants, allergens, comedogenics), and an editorial analysis written by the editor.
We do not claim to have personally tested every product. What we do is parse the INCI list, match each ingredient against the cosmetic-chemistry literature, surface the strongest claim that is actually supported by evidence, and tell you when the marketing exceeds what the ingredients can deliver.
The full scoring methodology is documented at /methodology/.
Transparency
What we disclose
- No affiliate revenue. The site is funded by the founder, not by retailers, and earns no commission on purchases.
- No paid placement. No product pays to be reviewed, scored higher, or featured.
- AI assistance, supervised. This database was built with substantial AI-pipeline assistance for content scaffolding (collecting INCI lists, formatting structured sections). All scoring formulas, evidence ratings, and editorial framings are reviewed by the named editor before publication. AI does not make ranking or evidence calls unsupervised.
- Customer ratings shown on product pages reflect public aggregate review data from Amazon, not original ratings collected by DermFND.
Contact
Get in touch
Questions, corrections, or evidence we should consider? Email [email protected]. Corrections are taken seriously and ingredient-evidence disputes are welcome.