Your result
What each part means.
Part 01
The score
How well this product suits your skin, scored from 0 to 100 by Pick’s Product Fit Analysis.
Part 02
How it fits you
Your score is the average of two parts, unless a ceiling holds it lower: the formula, scored the same for everyone, and your profile, scored against your answers.
Part 03
The formula
What the label lists, by type and in label order, with each ingredient’s role explained.
Part 04
When to use it
Where it fits in your morning or evening routine, and how often to use it.
Part 05
Where it sits
How it ranks for you against others of its kind, all scored the same way.
What moves it
It moves both ways.
Your answers can raise or lower the score, so it reflects how well a product suits you, not just what’s in it.
Raises the score
- A recognized main active, found in the ingredient list+25
- An active strength that matches your experience+20
- The main active is among the first 5 ingredients+15
- The main active’s role suits your skin type+8
Lowers the score
- A strong active, if you’re a beginner−30
- Fragrance in a leave-on product, with the Fragile or Sensitive filter on−30
- Drying alcohol among the first 5 ingredients of a leave-on product−15
- Fragrance in a leave-on product−10
What caps it
Some things set a ceiling.
Some results cap the score at a set level, however many points the product earns elsewhere.
Very Low
0–19
Low
20–39
Average
40–59
Good
60–79
Very Good
80–100
- A filter you switched on rules out the main activeMax 19 · Very Low
- An ingredient on your Ingredients I avoid list, found in the ingredient listMax 19 · Very Low
- Your profile score is below 25Max 39 · Low
- 3 or more essential oils in a leave-on, or one that can be hard on skinMax 59 · Average
Limits
What a label can’t tell.
How much is in the bottle
Brands rarely print ingredient amounts, so Pick never estimates them.
Order at the end of the list
Ingredients under 1% can be listed in any order, so their position is only a rough guide.
How your skin will respond
Pick scores the label against your answers. It doesn’t test products.
Questions
The short answers.
How does Pick score a skincare product?
Pick’s Product Fit Analysis reads a product’s ingredient list from photos, then scores it out of 100 with fixed, published rules. Half the score is the formula — the main active and where it sits on the list, the moisturizing base, fragrance, essential oils and drying alcohol. Half is the fit to you — your experience with actives, skin type, skin tone and any filters you switch on in Your Preferences. Some rules set a ceiling: an ingredient a chosen filter rules out keeps the score low whatever else is true.
Is the Pick score the same for everyone?
No. The formula half is the same for everyone, but the profile half changes with your answers, so one product can suit one person well and another poorly. A strong active, for example, lifts the score for someone experienced with actives and lowers it for a beginner.
Does the same product always get the same score?
Yes, under the same rules, if the label is read the same way and your answers are the same. When Pick scores a product, AI is used only to read the label from your photos; the score itself comes from fixed rules.
Does Pick know how much of an ingredient is in a product?
No. Brands rarely print how much of an ingredient a product contains, so Pick never guesses an amount. It scores what the list shows — which ingredients are there and roughly where. Ingredients under 1% can be listed in any order, so their position is only a clue.
Can a brand pay for a better score?
No. The score comes only from the product’s label and your answers, using the rules on this page. Shop links, including those that earn us a commission, never change it.
How often do the rules change?
We update the rules as we learn more. Before a change goes live, we check it against rankings of real products made by an AI model we run — not by a person, and without seeing any score — to see whether Pick agrees with them more or less often. This page always shows the current rules, and the date below changes when they do.
Is Pick’s score medical advice?
No. Pick is a cosmetic tool: it reads what is printed on a label and matches it to the answers you give. It does not diagnose, treat, cure or prevent any condition, and it is not a medical device.
What are all the rules?
The formula
Out of 100. Starts at 50 for a cleanser, moisturizer or sunscreen, and at 45 for a serum or other targeted product.
- Built around a recognized active that is on the list
- +25
- …and it sits in the first 5 ingredients
- +15
- Each additional active
- Listed, no points
- An everyday product with no targeted actives
- +10
- An everyday product’s moisturizing base, per job it covers — drawing water in, softening and keeping moisture in, lipids like the skin’s own — up to +15
- +5 each
- Fragrance in a leave-on product
- −10
- 3 or more essential oils, or one that can be hard on skin — mint, eucalyptus, bergamot, lemon or lime (instead of the fragrance rule)
- −10
- Drying alcohol in the first 5 ingredients of a leave-on product
- −15
Your profile
Out of 100, starting at 50. Strength is judged on the product’s strongest active. A texture counts only when the front of the pack names it. A cleanser is scored on one cleanser rule: the first that applies.
- Experienced, and its strongest active is strong or moderate
- +20
- Intermediate, and its strongest active is moderate
- +20
- Beginner, and nothing in it is stronger than gentle
- +10
- Beginner, and it has a strong active
- −30
- Beginner, and its strongest active is moderate
- −10
- Intermediate, and it has a strong active (not a sunscreen)
- −10
- Its main active’s job suits your skin type — moisturizing on dry skin, oil-soluble on oily
- +8
- An active used less often on your skin type
- −15
- An active used less often on deeper skin tones
- −15
- A filter you chose asks for care with the main active, or one in the first 5 ingredients. Each further one −10, to −30 in all
- −20
- Fragile or Sensitive, and a leave-on has fragrance
- −30
- Fragile or Sensitive, and a leave-on has drying alcohol near the top
- −30
- Fragile or Sensitive, and a rinse-off has fragrance
- −15
- Fragrance in an eye product
- −15
- Dry skin, and a leave-on has drying alcohol near the top
- −20
- Oily skin, and it is a face oil
- −20
- Moisturizers — a rich cream, balm or butter on oily skin
- −20
- Moisturizers — a gel, jelly or water cream on dry skin
- −10
- Moisturizers — the matching texture: rich on dry skin, gel-style on oily
- +10
- Cleansers — one of the stronger cleansing agents, with Fragile or Sensitive
- −15
- Cleansers — one of the stronger cleansing agents, on dry skin
- −20
- Cleansers — gentle cleansing agents only, on dry skin
- +10
- Cleansers — a cream, milk, balm or oil cleanser on oily skin
- −20
- Cleansers — the matching texture: cream on dry skin, foam or gel on oily
- +10
- Filters on, and nothing flagged
- Noted, no points
The ceilings
The highest score a product can reach while one of these applies. If several apply, the lowest counts.
- A filter you chose rules out the main active or one in the first 5 ingredients — or Maternity & Nursing rules out any active
- Max 19 · Very Low
- A filter you chose rules out a minor active
- Max 39 · Low
- Anything on your Ingredients I avoid list, anywhere on the ingredient list
- Max 19 · Very Low
- Fragile or Sensitive, and a leave-on has fragrance in its first 10 ingredients, drying alcohol near the top, an essential oil that can be hard on skin, or 5 or more essential oils
- Max 19 · Very Low
- Fragile or Sensitive, and a leave-on has fragrance further down
- Max 39 · Low
- Maternity & Nursing asks for care with the main active, or one in the first 5 ingredients
- Max 59 · Average
- Another filter asks for care with the main active, or one in the first 5 ingredients
- Max 79 · Good
- Maternity & Nursing asks for care with a minor active
- Max 79 · Good
- A leave-on with 3 or more essential oils, or one that can be hard on skin
- Max 59 · Average
- A leave-on with 5 or more essential oils
- Max 59 · Average
- A rinse-off with 3 or more essential oils, or one that can be hard on skin
- Max 79 · Good
- A rinse-off with 5 or more essential oils
- Max 59 · Average
- Your profile score is below 25, not counting filter cautions
- Max 39 · Low
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