Editorial Policy
Last updated September 11, 2026
This policy explains how we decide what to cover, how commercial relationships work, what we won't do, and how we handle mistakes. It's the canonical source for those rules. Our About and Methodology pages link back here instead of restating it in their own words, so there's one version of each commitment, not three slightly different ones.
Our editorial independence
We may have commercial relationships with brands and retailers, advertising, sponsored content, affiliate commissions, brand partnerships. Brands can sponsor visibility. They cannot buy a verdict. A company can pay to advertise or sponsor clearly labeled content, but not for a higher spot in a comparison, a better evidence label, or the removal of a finding that's accurate. Our comparisons and evidence labels are never for sale.
Sponsored content and brand partnerships
Sponsored content and features from brands we're commercially connected to sit apart from our independent catalog. They're always labeled as what they are, and they never carry a comparison verdict, an evidence label, or a spot in the ranked catalog, that system is reserved for independent coverage. A sponsor or partner can share factual information the same way any brand can, just without any of that.
That includes cases where the site owner has a closer commercial tie to a brand than a standard affiliate relationship, holding exclusive distribution rights, for instance. Where that's the case, it's disclosed right at the feature itself, not buried in this policy.
How commissions work
Some links on this site are affiliate links. If you buy through them, we may earn a commission at no extra cost to you. FMC Global, which publishes this site, is also the authorized US distributor of ONCLO.
Brands can also offer readers discount codes. A code never changes the price-per-mL data we show or which product wins a comparison, it's an extra on top of our research, not a substitute for it.
Commission never decides which products we cover, which one wins a comparison, how a product is described, or which order retailers appear in, whether or not that specific link happens to earn us anything. See our Affiliate Disclosure page for the full detail.
How we decide what to cover
We're not trying to catalog every Korean skincare product on the market. Products get added based on category relevance, real Korean-market signals (Olive Young Award data, Hwahae review presence), and whether US retailers actually carry them. We put research effort where there's something real to buy and compare, not where the payout is bigger. Products get swapped out when we find a clearer, better-evidenced pick for the same slot.
Being in the catalog isn't a recommendation, and being left out isn't a knock against a product. The actual call gets made in the individual comparisons and evidence labels. An Olive Young Award reflects Olive Young's purchase data, not our verdict. A Popular in Korea entry compares domestic buying signals against Western attention, it's not a universal quality ranking. A New & Trending entry is a watchlist item, not yet established.
Products on our Awards page get extra checks. We confirm each award on the program's own published results, match the awarded product and size to the exact version we link, check whether the formula has changed since, confirm Korean manufacture, and show at least one independent retailer that carried it live and in stock on the day we checked. The full list of six checks is on the Awards page.
What brands can and cannot do
Brands can give us factual information about their products, answer questions on ingredients or availability, flag a factual error for us to look into, sponsor clearly labeled content or ads, and offer readers discount codes.
They cannot pay for coverage, a favorable review, or a higher spot in our independent catalog and comparisons. They can't require a positive review in exchange for anything, demand we remove something that's factually accurate, or sign off on a comparison before it goes live.
Research and consulting work
Separate from what readers see, we may take on paid research or market-intelligence work for brands and other companies, competitive analysis, category research, that kind of thing. It's a commercial service, labeled as one, and never passed off as independent consumer coverage.
What we won't do
- We won't present a manufacturer's claim as our own finding.
- We won't write a review as if we tested a product firsthand when we haven't.
- We won't remove a factually accurate negative finding because a brand asks us to. If a brand shows us credible evidence that something we published is wrong or outdated, we'll look into it and fix it.
- We won't fabricate a tester credential, a lab result, or a source.
- We won't let affiliate commission or advertising revenue decide which product wins a comparison.
Corrections and updates
We treat factual corrections differently from routine updates. Prices, availability, and formulation details get refreshed as part of normal upkeep, that's not a correction. When we find a real error in our own published analysis, we fix it and note the correction on the page instead of quietly editing it away.
Found something wrong? Tell us what's inaccurate, outdated, or misleading, we look into every credible report. See our Corrections page to report it.
We don't sell our comparisons or evidence labels.
We may earn from affiliates, sponsorships, and brand partnerships, and we say so.
We separate research from hands-on testing, and paid content from independent coverage.
Can a brand pay K-Beauty Intel to say its product is the best?
No.
Brands can sponsor visibility. They cannot buy a verdict.
What we can accept, and what we can't
| Relationship | We may accept it | Can it change a verdict? |
|---|---|---|
| Affiliate commissions | Yes | No |
| Sponsored content | Yes | No |
| Owned or distributed brand features | Yes | No |
| Reader discount codes from brands | Yes | No |
| Paid research or market-intelligence work | Yes | No |
| Higher ranking in an independent comparison | — | No |
| A guaranteed positive review | — | No |
| Removal of an accurate negative finding | — | No |
| Approval of content before it publishes | — | No |
What our disclosure labels mean
"We may earn a commission if you buy through this link, at no extra cost to you."
"This content was produced as part of a paid partnership."
"This assessment comes from pricing, ingredients, and published information, not personal use."
"Someone on our team actually used this product."
An advertisement is not a recommendation.
Paid advertising or sponsorship means a company paid for exposure here. It doesn't mean we independently recommend the product, and it never comes with a comparison verdict or evidence label.
Frequently asked
Can a brand pay to win a comparison?
No. Our comparisons and evidence labels aren't for sale, no matter what advertising, sponsorship, or affiliate relationship exists with a brand or retailer.
How do you make money?
Mostly affiliate commissions on retailer links. We may also run clearly labeled sponsored content, feature brands we're commercially connected to, and take on paid research work for companies. None of it touches an independent verdict.
What happens if a brand sends you a free product?
It gets evaluated the same as anything else in our catalog. A free product doesn't buy coverage, a good review, or a particular ranking.
What if a brand disagrees with something we published?
They can flag it with evidence and we'll look into it. They can't demand we remove something that's accurate, and they don't get to see or approve content before it publishes.
How this works in practice
How prices, ingredients, and comparisons are actually researched.
Who operates this site and why it exists.
How official Olive Young purchase data gets used, separate from our own verdict.
How domestic buying signals get separated from Western hype.
Questions about this policy: see our Contact page.