How we review products

Our product guides follow the same steps every time: collect the seller's own documents, check each claim against independent research, then score the product on six criteria. Here is each step, and the rules we never break.

1. What we collect

For every product we save copies of the official sales page, the label or ingredient panel, the terms and refund policy, the checkout page, and the video captions if the product is sold through a video. These are our record of what the seller actually says, with the date we read them. We only report a product fact if one of these documents states it.

2. How we check the claims

Each ingredient or method is checked against published research, starting with systematic reviews and randomized trials in people, then fact sheets from government health agencies such as the NIH Office of Dietary Supplements. We compare the doses on the label with the doses that were studied. Benefits the seller describes stay labelled as the seller's claims unless independent evidence supports them.

We also read the fine print: billing, shipping, who processes the payment, how long the refund window is and what it covers. Where two of the seller's own documents disagree, we say so.

3. How the editorial score works

Each product is scored from 1 to 5 on six criteria, in half steps. The overall score is the plain average of the six, rounded to one decimal place. We do not weight the criteria: readers care about different things, and an unweighted average is easy to check against the reasoning on the review page.

The score is our editorial judgement. It is not built from customer ratings, the seller's own star average, anecdotes or how convincing the sales page is, and we do not publish customer ratings or review counts.

Digital products such as audio tracks, sketches and readings have no ingredient list. For them the first criterion becomes "What's included": what you actually receive for the price, and how plainly the seller describes it. The other five criteria work the same way.

The six criteria
Criterion	What we look at
Ingredients	Whether the formula makes sense for what it is sold for, and anything in it that should not be.
Evidence	Human research behind the ingredients or method, at the amounts used, and any trial of the product itself.
Transparency	Doses, counts and company details on the label and site, and claims kept within the law.
Value	Real cost per day or per use, shipping included, against similar products.
Guarantee	Length of the refund window, what it covers and how easy it is to use.
Ease of ordering	One official store, clear one-time pricing, no hidden subscription, common payment methods.

What a score means
Score	Meaning, on any criterion
5	As good as this category gets, with no real weakness.
4	Strong, with a small reservation.
3	Acceptable, but with a gap you should know about before you buy.
2	Weak. A real reason for caution.
1	Poor, or the information is missing.

4. Rankings and comparisons

Our best-of lists rank products in one category by their editorial score, with ties listed alphabetically. Comparison pages put two products from the same category side by side using the same facts and the same criteria. A product only appears in a list once its full guide is published.

5. Rules we never break

No invented reviews, testimonials, star ratings or review counts.
No stock photos presented as customers, and no people presented as experts we cannot identify.
No paid placement. Affiliate commissions do not change a score or a ranking.
Real dates. A page shows the day it first went live, and an updated date when something material changes.
Order links go to the seller's official store, never to a marketplace listing, and are marked as affiliate links.
No promises of results. Supplements follow the FDA's rules for dietary supplements, not the approval process for medicines, and are not meant to diagnose, treat, cure or prevent disease.

6. Updates and corrections

Prices, packages and refund terms change. We recheck them when we update a guide and note the change. If you see something out of date or wrong, let us know.