Beautiful pages, and a clear line around the paid ones.
At a glance
Our taste, our call
What we cover is chosen by editors, never bought and never previewed.
Paid pages, clearly dressed
Sponsored pages, affiliate links and gifted products are always marked.
Feel, then fact
We describe how a formula feels, then say plainly what it does.
We show the seam
Mistakes are corrected in the open, with a dated note.
- Editorial independence
- Reporting with care
- Access, gifts and samples
- Partner and sponsored content
- Reviews and recommendations
- Corrections and updates
- Conflicts of interest
- Tools and transparency
Editorial independence
Second Skin covers a founder, a formula or an object because our editors think it is worth your time and your shelf space. A brand cannot pay its way into a story, a texture guide or Texture Notes, or pay its way out. Founders do not preview the story, the questions or the headline.
Partnerships live in a different room from editorial. They can show a brand the formats we offer, and that is where their part ends: no promises of coverage, no say over the words.
- A story is never part of the package a brand buys.
- Founders see the story when you do, not before.
- An advertiser's formula is described as frankly as any other.
Reporting with care
We treat pleasure as a real reason to buy, and we still say what a formula does and does not do. We describe before we judge: the slip, the sink, the finish, then one plain sentence on what the product is for. A beautiful jar can hold an ordinary formula, and when it does, we say so. A founder's skin story is told as their experience, not as proof that the product will work for you.
None of this is medical advice. Patch test anything new, and see a dermatologist about a reaction that lasts, spreads or stings.
- No product is described as treating, curing or preventing a skin condition.
- Nobody is shamed for their skin, their shelf or their budget.
- Refillable and recyclable are explained, not just repeated.
Access, gifts and samples
Brands send samples, objects and beautifully wrapped boxes. We accept samples of the product itself, with no strings attached, and nothing more. A lovely box does not buy a story, and no story depends on one.
If a sample, an event or a trip shaped what we wrote, we say so in the piece. Kind words are never the price of an early look or an exclusive.
- However pretty the packaging, a sample promises nothing.
- Gifts beyond the product are declined or sent back.
- A brand-paid trip or event is disclosed wherever it shaped a story.
Partner and sponsored content
Second Skin makes room for sponsored features, sponsored texture guides and paid placements in Texture Notes. You will find the label at the top, "Sponsored" or "In partnership with", with the brand's name beside it. They are made away from our editorial pages and are never styled to pass as our own work.
Sponsored pages follow the same rules as the rest of the magazine: the same honesty about what a formula does, no treatment claims, the same corrections policy. If a sponsor asks for a line we would not write ourselves, we leave it out.
- Sponsored work is labelled at the top, where you will see it.
- Our editorial texture guides cannot be bought.
- A sponsored page plays by the same claims rules as the rest.
Reviews and recommendations
Shop the textures and our shelves hold the things a story is actually about: the balm a founder is known for, the bottle an interview turns on. Prices and sizes are whatever the brand listed when we published, and they move. Some shop links may be affiliate links, and if you buy through one we may earn a little, while you pay the usual price. It never shapes what we pick or how we describe it.
When we describe how a formula feels, we say whose impression it is: an editor's, the founder's or the brand's. If a story does not say an editor has used a product, read the description as the maker's, not as our review.
- A place in Shop the textures is never paid for.
- Affiliate links leave the price exactly where it was.
- A texture note is not a review unless the story says we tried it.
Corrections and updates
When we get something wrong, we fix it in plain sight. The story is corrected, and a short note at the end says what changed and when. We would rather show the seam than hide it.
Prices, links and stock change, and we update them as they do. A reformulated texture, a discontinued refill or new packaging is a change of substance, and it gets a note. Founders and brands, if a line we attributed to you is wrong or no longer true, tell us; we will mend it, update it or, if that is fairer, take the story down.
- Each correction comes with a date and a reason.
- Small slips, a typo or a broken link, are mended without a note.
- Founders who write to us get an answer from an editor.
Conflicts of interest
If one of our editors owns part of a brand, advises it, designs for it, works for it or is close to the people behind it, someone else takes the story. A conflict that cannot be avoided is disclosed on the page.
Second Skin has sister magazines at VOL Collective, its publisher, and a founder can appear in more than one of them, each time seen through that title's eyes. If VOL Collective works commercially with a brand we cover, the story tells you.
- Ties to a brand are declared before an editor picks up the story.
- Facialists, designers and other contributors disclose paid work for brands.
- Design or packaging work for a brand counts as a tie, paid or not.
Tools and transparency
We like to show the workings. Stories come signed and dated, figures are credited where they appear, an editors' note adds context when a claim needs it, and texture guides end with their sources. Captions credit every photograph, product shots included.
The tools behind our claims are open to anyone: the full ingredient list, which tells you more about a texture than the front of the jar; the brand's own directions for use; the How2Recycle label and your local recycling rules, for packaging claims; and the published studies behind any claim about what a formula does.
- Texture guides list every source at the end.
- Before-and-after pairs have no place on our pages.
- We update this page as our practices change.
Tell us where we got the feel wrong.
Noticed a mistake, an uncredited photograph or a conflict we did not declare? Drop the editors a line. Every note is read, and if we make a change, we will tell you.
