How every entry earns its place.
A repeatable process stands behind each ingredient page — from a controlled patch test to a peer-reviewed evidence trail. Here's exactly what happens before anything reaches you.
- 01
Patch-test protocol
Before any suitability claim, an ingredient is assessed under a controlled patch test: a defined concentration, a fixed observation window, and a documented reaction — irritation, sensitisation, or none. This grounds our sensitive-skin and reactivity guidance in observation, not assumption.
- 02
4-week real-world trial
Lab behaviour and shelf behaviour differ. We trial ingredients the way people actually use them — a realistic routine over four weeks — noting tolerance, layering conflicts, and how quickly (or slowly) visible change appears. It keeps our concentration and pairing advice practical.
- 03
PubMed cross-referencing
Every mechanistic and efficacy claim is traced to primary literature on PubMed. We cite only high-confidence PMIDs and omit weak or preliminary evidence entirely — an empty reference list is more honest than a padded one.
- 04
Independent editorial review
Each draft is reviewed for accuracy, over-claiming, and safety before it publishes. Anything that can't be defended against the primary research is cut — a shorter, honest page beats a confident wrong one.
The metrics on every page
EWG safety score
A 1–10 hazard indicator (lower is safer) surfaced on every entry, framed with context rather than treated as a verdict.
Comedogenic rating
A 0–5 pore-clogging likelihood, important for acne-prone readers and often misunderstood.
Effective vs. max-safe %
The concentration where an ingredient starts working, and the ceiling beyond which risk rises without added benefit.
Pregnancy safety
Reported conservatively: yes / with caution / avoid / not established — defaulting to caution whenever evidence is unsettled.
Revelika is educational, not medical advice. Skin is individual — what the research supports in aggregate may not hold for you. When evidence is uncertain we say so, we default to caution on safety, and we cite the primary research so you can weigh the source yourself.
Every claim is cross-referenced against primary literature on PubMed and graded conservatively before it reaches the page.