About GlowRecs

GlowRecs is an independent editorial project that turns publicly posted Reddit beauty discussions into structured product rankings. We don't take PR samples, we don't accept paid placements, and we don't move a product up or down in any list because a brand asked us to. We score by what real people on Reddit have said — and we publish the formula.

What we are

A small editorial team operating as GlowRecs Research (the same byline you see on each guide and pillar post). Our index covers 165 products across six categories — skincare, fragrance, hair, body, makeup, and tools — and we publish roughly 60 long-form buyer guides built from the same underlying data set. Every ranking is reproducible from a snapshot of real Reddit threads we have already read and labelled.

The site has no advertisers, no sponsorships, and no commercial team. The only people who shape what's on it are the redditors who originally posted the discussions, and the GlowRecs editorial team that aggregates and structures them.

How recommendations are made

For each product, we collect every Reddit comment we can find on a fixed list of ~40 beauty subreddits. We classify each comment by sentiment, count the unique users behind the comments (a single person posting five times is still one voice), and compute a score with a Wilson 95 % confidence interval so that a small but lopsided sample doesn't outrank a large balanced one. The verdict label — Holy Grail, Highly Recommended, Top Pick, Recommended, Mixed Reviews, Early Signal — is a function of the score and the sample size. Nothing else is in the formula.

Every cited opinion on the site is attributed to its original Reddit author. If you'd like the full mechanics, the methodology page has the math, the subreddit list, the dataset schema, and the licence under which the aggregated data is published.

What we don't do

• We don't review products ourselves. Nothing on GlowRecs is "what we tried in the lab" or "our personal favourite." Every claim is a Reddit-aggregated claim with attributable evidence behind it.
• We don't accept PR samples or sponsorships. Brands that ask are politely declined — see the contact page.
• We don't move rankings for commercial reasons. The formula is the formula. If a brand-direct affiliate program ever pays a higher commission than Amazon, that does not promote the product — it only changes which retailer the buy-button points to.
• We don't give medical or dermatological advice. We're not doctors. For ingredient suitability, allergic reactions, or active skin conditions, please see a licensed professional. See the terms page for the limits of what's on the site.
• We don't track you across the web. No retargeting pixels, no advertising trackers, no social-media embeds. Only basic analytics — see the privacy policy.

How affiliate monetization works

GlowRecs is currently a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program. Most outbound buy buttons on the site go to Amazon, and we earn a small commission when a reader clicks through and goes on to make a purchase. The commission rate varies by product category and is set by Amazon, not by us. We don't see your shipping address, your payment, or what else was in your cart.

We expect, over time, to add additional affiliate relationships — for example with mainstream beauty retailers or brand-direct storefronts — in cases where the landing-page experience is better than what Amazon offers for that specific product. When that happens, the affiliate disclosure page and the privacy page will both be updated and the new partner will be named. No affiliate relationship has ever affected, or will ever affect, the ranking of a product on this site. That's a hard rule, and it's why the methodology page is mathematically open.

Corrections, takedowns, and questions

If you're a redditor whose comment is cited here and you want it removed or attributed differently, write in and we'll act on it within 48 hours. If a fact, price, formula, or claim is wrong, write in with a source and we'll fix it. The address is on the contact page.

Byline used on all guides: GlowRecs Research · Reddit Beauty Aggregator.
Related: Methodology · Affiliate disclosure · Privacy · Terms · Contact