Introducing Skincare Intel

An Evidence-Based Way to Decide What’s Actually Worth Using

A Dermletter project — now live at dermletter.com/skincare-intel

Why We Built This

If you’ve ever stood in a drugstore aisle holding two serums that both claim to “brighten, firm, and transform” your skin, you already understand the problem. Skincare marketing has become a genre of fiction. Hero ingredients get listed at trace concentrations. “Clinically proven” means something different depending on who paid for the clinic. Star ratings on retailer sites blend people with ten different skin types into a single, meaningless average.

The question nobody seems to answer cleanly is the one you actually care about: does this product work for a person with my skin?

Skincare Intel is our attempt at answering it honestly. It’s a searchable, continuously updated database of over a thousand products, every one of them evaluated against ten specific skin conditions using a transparent scoring model. No affiliate-driven rankings. No “best of 2026” listicles engineered for SEO. Just structured, condition-specific scoring that tells you — for example — whether a given cleanser is a genuine win for eczema-prone skin, or just fine for normal skin and potentially a problem for yours.

This post walks through how the system works, who it’s for, and how to actually use it to make better decisions. If you want to skip ahead and explore, the Skincare Intel homepage is the best starting point.

The Core Idea: One Product, Ten Scores

The single most important thing to understand about Skincare Intel is that a product doesn’t get one score — it gets up to ten.

Every evaluated product is scored against the ten skin conditions that cover the overwhelming majority of real concerns people bring to a dermatologist or an aesthetician:

• Dry / Dehydrated
• Oily
• Combination
• Acne-Prone
• Sensitive
• Aging / Mature
• Hyperpigmentation
• Rosacea
• Dull / Uneven Texture
• Eczema-Prone

Why score a product ten different ways? Because the same bottle genuinely performs differently depending on who’s using it. A cleanser packed with salicylic acid and menthol might be an excellent choice for someone fighting stubborn oily-skin breakouts — and actively harmful for someone with rosacea. A rich ceramide cream can be transformative for eczema-prone skin and feel suffocating on someone with oily, acne-prone skin.

A single “9.2 out of 10” score erases all of that. Ten condition-specific scores preserve it.

You can browse every condition and see the top-performing products for each at the Conditions hub. Each condition has its own page — for example, Acne-Prone Skin, Rosacea, or Sensitive Skin — with the top products, what to look for, common ingredient landmines, and routine guidance.

How the Scoring Actually Works

The scoring engine is what we call the V4.9.2 model — now in its ninth iteration of refinement. Without getting into the statistical weeds, here’s what goes into a score:

Ingredient Analysis

Every product’s full INCI list is parsed. Active ingredient concentrations, where disclosed, are weighted against clinical evidence for efficacy at that concentration. Ingredients with documented issues for a given condition (fragrance for rosacea, drying alcohols for dry skin, physical exfoliants for acne, certain comedogenic oils for acne-prone skin) count against the score for that specific condition — but not for others where they’re fine.

Clinical Evidence

We evaluate the strength of research behind the product’s key actives: strong, moderate, limited, or none. This matters more than marketing claims. A niacinamide serum with solid evidence at 5–10% concentration gets credit that a “firming peptide complex” with no published data doesn’t.

Real User Outcomes

We synthesize reviews specifically filtered for mentions of the relevant condition — not general star ratings. Reviews from someone with oily skin don’t get mixed into the score for dry skin. We pull from Amazon, Ulta, Dermstore, Sephora, and Reddit communities like r/SkincareAddiction, r/AsianBeauty, and condition-specific subs.

Dermatologist Recommendation Patterns

Products with consistent dermatologist backing — not just a single sponsored post — get recognized for it.

Price and Accessibility

Not a scoring input per se, but we tier every product (Drugstore, Mid-Range, Premium, Luxury) so you can filter by what’s actually in your budget.

The Five Score Bands

Every final score lands in one of five bands:

• 92–100: Exceptional — best-in-category for that condition
• 85–91: Excellent — strong performers, highly recommended
• 70–84: Good — solid, reliable choices
• 50–69: Caution — has real limitations for this condition
• 0–49: Avoid — not recommended for this condition

A perfect 100 is possible. A product that fails badly for a condition gets told it fails. The whole point is that the scores actually mean something — which requires being willing to use the full range.

You can read the full methodology on the Methodology page.

The Five Things on Every Product Page

Open any product page — say, a moisturizer or a vitamin C serum — and you’ll find a consistent structure that’s designed to let you make a decision in under two minutes if you’re in a hurry, or go deep if you want to.

1. The Quick Verdict

A 20-word TL;DR for each of the conditions the product was evaluated against. “Best-in-class hydrating cleanser. Repairs barrier, never strips. Dermatologist gold standard.” Or: “Use with caution. Fragrance may irritate. Consider alternatives if sensitive.” If all you want is the bottom line, this is it.

2. The “Best For” Panel

The top three conditions where this product scores highest, with short reasons. At a glance, you see what the product is actually for — as opposed to what the brand says it’s for.

3. Ingredient Flags

Three quick lists: what the product contains that might concern you (fragrance, essential oils, drying alcohols, silicones, coconut derivatives), what it’s free from (parabens, sulfates, fragrance), and notable actives with their concentrations when disclosed (“Niacinamide 10%,” “Retinol 0.5%,” “Vitamin C 15%”). This is the section that saves people with allergies, sensitivities, or specific preferences the most time.

4. Condition-Specific Evaluations

For each relevant condition, you get a full 120–180 word explanation of how the product performs, key considerations, a synthesis of what real users with that condition are saying, and practical usage guidance (when to apply, what to pair with, what to avoid combining).

5. Structured Data You Can Actually Use

Package options with pricing, clinical evidence rating, dermatologist recommendation status, certifications (fragrance-free, non-comedogenic, National Eczema Association accepted, etc.), routine position (first step, serum step, last step), and a percentile rank showing where the product falls among all products in its category.

Three Ways People Will Actually Use This

The best way to explain the system is to show it in action. Here are three realistic scenarios.

Scenario 1: “I just got diagnosed with rosacea and my entire routine is a landmine.”

Rosacea is one of the most punishing conditions to build a routine around, because the ingredients most of mainstream skincare is built on — fragrance, essential oils, alcohol, physical exfoliants, strong actives — are precisely the triggers. A well-meaning friend’s recommendation can send you into a flare that lasts weeks.

Here’s how you’d use Skincare Intel:

1. Start at the Rosacea condition page. The top of the page shows the highest-scoring products across every category for rosacea-prone skin.
2. Filter by category. You need a cleanser, a moisturizer, and a sunscreen — all three are what we call “universal products,” evaluated against all ten conditions. Cross-reference the top performers for rosacea in each category.
3. Before you buy, check the Ingredient Flags on each product. If a product scores an 89 for rosacea but the contains field flags “Essential Oils (Lavender)” — and lavender is a known trigger for you — you have the information to skip it and go to the next-highest scorer.
4. Read the user feedback section for the rosacea condition specifically. You’ll find language from real people with rosacea, not people with dry-but-otherwise-calm skin who found the product “a bit rich.”

Within fifteen minutes, you have a starter routine built on products that are actually appropriate for your skin, with the ingredient logic transparent at every step.

Scenario 2: “I want to start using retinol but everything I’ve tried has wrecked my face.”

Retinol is one of the most evidence-backed actives in skincare — and one of the most misused. The problem isn’t that retinol doesn’t work. It’s that people buy a 1% formula when they should be on 0.1%, pair it with an AHA on the same night, and then wonder why their skin is shedding.

The workflow:

1. Go to the Anti-Aging Treatment category, or directly to the Retinol ingredient page. The ingredient page explains what retinol is, how it works, what concentrations are appropriate for beginners, and what to avoid combining it with.
2. From there, you see every retinol product in our database, scored against the conditions that retinol most affects: Aging/Mature, Acne-Prone, Hyperpigmentation, and — critically — Sensitive and Dry/Dehydrated. If you have sensitive skin, the score for the Sensitive condition is the one that matters to you, not the Aging/Mature score.
3. Click into a product. Read the usage guidance for your condition — it’ll tell you how often to apply, what to pair with (or avoid pairing with), and how to build tolerance.
4. Check the conflicts_with field, which flags ingredient interactions and usage warnings. Most retinol failures are preventable interaction failures.

You end up picking a product your skin can actually tolerate, used the way it’s meant to be used.

Scenario 3: “I want to buy my mom a nice skincare gift and I have no idea what she needs.”

This is a surprisingly common use case — and one where the category and best-of pages shine.

1. Start at the Best Of hub for curated, scored recommendations across use cases.
2. Or browse by brand if she’s loyal to a specific label. Every brand page includes founding details, HQ, brand philosophy, what they’re known for, and every product from that brand in our database with its scores.
3. Filter by price tier. If you’re looking at Premium or Luxury, you can find the Premium tier options across categories.
4. Pick something well-scored for her likely condition — Aging/Mature and Dry/Dehydrated are common starting points for gift-givers — and you’ve got a thoughtful, evidence-backed gift instead of a guess.

The Ingredient Layer

One of the things we’re most proud of is the ingredient layer. Every ingredient in our active-ingredient map — and there are over 2,600 name variants covering 51 canonical actives — is linked on every product page.

That means when you’re reading a product’s INCI list or key actives, the active ingredients are clickable. Click “Niacinamide” and you land on the Niacinamide ingredient page, which explains what it does, what concentrations are effective, what conditions it helps with, what it pairs well with, what it doesn’t, and every product in our database that features it — ranked.

Click “Salicylic Acid,” “Hyaluronic Acid,” “Vitamin C,” or “Azelaic Acid” and you get the same treatment. It turns every product page into the beginning of a research trail, instead of a dead end.

The full list is at the Ingredients hub.

Honest Limitations

In the spirit of the evidence-based mission: here’s what Skincare Intel isn’t.

It isn’t a dermatologist. If you have a persistent skin condition, a suspected allergy, cystic acne that isn’t responding to OTC options, or any concern about a mole or lesion — see a professional. Skincare Intel is designed to help you make better product decisions, not to replace clinical care.

It isn’t a real-time price tracker. Prices shift. We update package data regularly, but always confirm on the retailer’s page before purchasing.

It isn’t infallible on scoring. We use the best evidence available, but skincare science evolves, and individual skin is individual. A 95/100 product for your condition is an excellent starting bet, not a guarantee. Patch test. Introduce one thing at a time.

It isn’t sponsored. We don’t take money from brands to move scores. If a score changes, it’s because evidence or user feedback changed.

What’s Next

The initial launch covers over a thousand products across 268 brands, with full condition-specific scoring, the ingredient layer, editorial content for every condition, category, ingredient, and brand, and full search and filtering. It’s meant to be useful from day one.

What’s coming: deeper routine-building tools, personalization based on a short skin profile, expanded body-care coverage, and ongoing additions to the database as new products and reformulations emerge. The scoring model itself will continue to evolve — V4.9.2 isn’t the last version, and every refinement gets documented openly on the Methodology page.

If you want to understand our philosophy in more depth, visit the About page. If you want to just start exploring, the homepage is the fastest way in.

Skincare should be a set of informed decisions, not a series of hopeful guesses. That’s what we built this for.

Welcome to Skincare Intel.