1. No brand, no product, no affiliate link
We name no brand and no product, in any article, in any list, in any aside, as an example or as something to avoid. There are no affiliate links anywhere on this site and there will not be. We describe ingredient classes by function only.
2. No diagnosis and no treatment
We describe the physics of a structure under load. We do not tell a reader what a rash is, what a persistent patch might be, or what to put on anything. We name recognised phenomena so that a reader knows something is worth showing to a clinician, and we describe the management of none of them.
3. Published referral lines, never softened
Every relevant article carries a block stating where description stops. Broken skin that is not closing, weeping, crusting, spreading, hot, swollen or increasingly painful goes to a pharmacist or a GP. Anything systemic after cold exposure goes to 999. That text is not adjusted for tone, length or commercial reasons.
4. No invented number
No percentages, no measured values, no thresholds, no quantities to apply and no durations presented as though they were measurements. Where a number would help, we say there is not a defensible one and give a direction.
5. Frameworks are labelled as ours
Every stressor and response block, every layer view and every table that presents an ordering of our own carries a note saying that it is a framework written by this publication, that it is not a measurement and that it is not taken from a study. Without exception.
6. Sources we are confident exist
We cite the NHS, NICE and its Clinical Knowledge Summaries, the British Association of Dermatologists, the Primary Care Dermatology Society, Cochrane, PubMed indexed literature, the Health and Safety Executive, the Met Office, the RNLI, the Advertising Standards Authority and government guidance. We do not cite sources we cannot verify, and we do not cite a study to support a claim it does not make.
7. No ranking of anyone
No best of lists, no ratings, no scores, no comparisons of providers. Our register is alphabetical, labelled as paid and carries only checkable facts. A ranking implies an assessment, we have carried out none, and a ranking without an assessment is an opinion dressed as a conclusion.
8. Commercial separation
Neither a register listing nor a newsletter sponsorship can influence a word of guidance. Paying buys a listing or a labelled sponsor line and nothing else: no mention in an article, no editorial link, no sight of anything before publication, no veto, no removal of accurate material and no category exclusivity over what we write about.
9. One subject, done properly
Sun protection is not our subject and appears only in passing. Pool water chemistry is not our subject. Nutrition, supplements and recovery claims are not our subject. We would rather cover a narrow thing well than a wide thing badly.
10. Corrections in public
Errors are corrected with a visible note rather than quietly. Accurate material is not removed at anyone's request. There are no advertisers who could ask, which is a consequence of the funding model rather than a virtue.