Ugly Truths

Ugly Truths is our investigative series exposing the broken state of online ingredient data in personal care products. We uncover systemic flaws, algorithmic biases, and manipulative practices, and propose solutions to clean up the informational environment around cosmetics, health, and beauty.

Safety first: We don't recommend generating any website, especially one about cosmetic ingredients.

You're a customer who comes across an intriguing peptide on the box of your dental care application and decides to look it up on Google. Google's "helpful" AI assistant suggests it's a potent anti-aging peptide for the skin based on a claim from a highly ranked, yet "fluffy" website.

A database meant for regulation became the backbone of many of the hollow cosmetic websites.

"Skin Conditioning" is not a definition at all, but a catch‑all label applied to hydration, smoothing, protection, barrier reinforcement, and many other functions.

How would you feel if you want to find information about a particular thing, but the search engine or an AI chatbot returns a result about something related, not exactly what you want to find? It is frustrating, the system thinks it knows better what you need.