How I Test & Rank

Testing

Every product on this site has been used by me. For skincare that means at least six weeks, one new product at a time, with the rest of the routine unchanged. For anything with a long life — luggage, furniture, tools — it means months, and the review is written after the honeymoon rather than during it.

Where testing conditions matter, they are stated on the page: how long, in what climate, against what.

Ranking

Rankings are mine and they are subjective. What they are not is influenced by commission rate, brand relationship, or advertising spend. The rank a product holds is unrelated to what it earns, and in several cases the number one on a list earns nothing at all.

Lists get re-ordered when I change my mind. The Updated date at the top of each article is real.

Money

Best by Lauren may earn a commission when you shop through certain links. Every product here was bought with my own money or tested for at least six weeks. No brand has paid to be included, and nothing is ranked higher because it pays more.

Affiliate links are marked to search engines as sponsored, as they should be. If a product was gifted, the page says so. If a piece were ever paid for by a brand, it would be labelled as an advertisement at the top — this has not happened and I do not intend it to.

The awards

There is no submission process, no entry fee and no sponsorship. A category is awarded only when I have used enough things in it to have an opinion worth publishing, and award seals are not licensed for packaging or advertising use.

Corrections

If something here is wrong — a price, a claim, a link that goes somewhere it should not — tell me at [email protected] and I will fix it and note the change. Prices are checked on the date shown on each article and they move; the retailer's page is always the truth.

Photography

Almost every photograph on this site is mine. Where an image is supplied by a brand or a third party it is credited in the caption.