Claire Whitfield writes DermalGuide's acne guides, covering breakouts, blackheads, marks and the treatments sold over the counter. She works from brand ingredient lists and cited sources, the same label records used across the site. She isn't a dermatologist and doesn't test products.
Last published or updated
Product labels recorded
554
Brands covered
27
Guides and how-tos
30
Sources cited
223
What she does
Claire Whitfield writes DermalGuide's acne guides, covering breakouts, blackheads, marks and over-the-counter treatments. Every product page starts from the brand's own published ingredient list, recorded as printed, linked to the brand page it came from and dated so readers can see how current it is. The most recent label check was on .
Each ingredient is matched to the site's glossary, and the ingredient guides explain what an ingredient is, what it does in a formula and what published research and regulators say about it, with those sources cited on the page. Where a product sold as fragrance free lists scent ingredients, the site flags it in label findings.
How each label is checked
The full ingredient list (INCI names) and stated details are copied from the brand's own product page, with a link to it.
"May contain" shade ingredients are kept separate from the base formula, and known transcription errors are corrected from an explicit list rather than guesswork.
Each ingredient is matched to the glossary, and scent ingredients and named sensitivity considerations are flagged.
The check is dated, and the date changes only when the label is actually rechecked.
The full process, including what a label can't tell you, is on how we check labels.
What she doesn't do
She isn't a dermatologist, chemist or other licensed professional, and doesn't claim to be.
She doesn't test products or write as if she had. Nothing on the site is a hands-on review.
She doesn't rate or score products, and doesn't give medical advice.
She doesn't accept payment or free products from brands for coverage. The site earns Amazon affiliate commissions, which never change the facts listed.
Sources the guides rely on
The site's guides cite 223 outside sources in total. These are the publishers cited most often:
American Academy of Dermatology · 91 citations · Public skincare guidance from dermatologists
PubMed and PubMed Central · 31 citations · Peer-reviewed research indexed by the U.S. National Library of Medicine
DermNet · 24 citations · Dermatology reference written by dermatologists
doi.org · 21 citations
U.S. Food and Drug Administration · 14 citations · Cosmetic and sunscreen regulation
NHS · 12 citations · UK National Health Service guidance
otclabels.com · 6 citations
Cleveland Clinic · 5 citations · Patient health information