ComfiSkin vs @cosme
@cosme is Japan’s biggest beauty review and ranking platform, and about three-quarters of its revenue comes from selling the products it ranks. ComfiSkin sells nothing, and checks any product against your skin.
- Selling products (shops and online)¥61.7bn
- Marketing support for brands¥12.1bn
- Total¥81.8bn
The short answer
@cosme ranks beauty products and sells them too: retail made ¥61.7bn of its owner’s ¥81.8bn revenue last year, and marketing services for brands another ¥12.1bn. Its stated plan is to gather user data through its shops and “monetize” it through brand services. You pay a premium membership to see rankings past 20th place, and in September 2026 a misconfigured link exposed data on 10,997 members.
What that means: the ranking, the shop and the brand-marketing business are one company, and your data is part of the plan. ComfiSkin sells nothing, shows no ads and keeps your notes on your phone.
Side by side
| ComfiSkin | @cosme | |
|---|---|---|
| Sells the products it rates | Never | Yes, about 75% of revenue1 |
| Plans to monetise your data | No | Yes, through brand services, says its report1 |
| Full results without paying | Yes | Rankings past 20th need premium2 |
| Ads | None | Yes3 |
| Data exposure | None, and your notes stay on your phone | September 2026, 10,997 members4 |
| Physical stores | No | Yes, 30+ |
The ranking and the shop are the same company
@cosme’s owner, istyle, reported ¥81.8bn in revenue for the year to June 2026. ¥61.7bn of it, about 75%, came from retail: selling beauty products online and in its own stores. Marketing support for brands brought in another ¥12.1bn. Its stated strategy is to grow retail to gather more user data, then “monetize” it through its brand marketing business (translated).1
To its credit, @cosme labels whether a reviewer bought the product or received it free.5 But when the platform that ranks products also sells them and sells marketing to their makers, every ranking sits inside a sales machine. ComfiSkin sells nothing and has no brand customers.
What that means for you: the site telling you what’s best also profits from what you buy, and from what brands pay to reach you.
Pay to see past 20th place
@cosme’s premium membership costs ¥380 and unlocks “21位以降のランキング”, the rankings from 21st place onward (translated).2 The app also shows ads.3 Paying members complain too: “I’m paying, but it’s pointless if nothing loads” (translated).6
ComfiSkin has no premium tier. Every answer, for every product, is free.
What that means for you: the free version shows you the top of the list, where the biggest sellers live. ComfiSkin shows you what suits you.
Members’ data, exposed
On 2 September 2026, a misconfigured file link exposed information on 10,997 @cosme members, and the company reported it to Japan’s Personal Information Protection Commission.4 @cosme has also said fake-review and ranking-manipulation sellers target its platform, and re-checked all its reviews in January 2025.7
ComfiSkin keeps your skin profile and notes on your phone, so there’s no member database to expose.
What that means for you: a big platform is a big target, for leaks and for people trying to game its rankings.
What to do if you use @cosme
- Check whether each reviewer bought the product or got it free. @cosme labels it.
- Remember the site sells what it ranks. Compare prices elsewhere before buying.
- Check the product against your skin in ComfiSkin, in English, with nothing to sell you.
Sources
- istyle Inc., annual results for the year to June 2026. eir-parts.net
- @cosme on the Japanese App Store: premium membership. apps.apple.com
- @cosme on Google Play. play.google.com
- ITmedia, on the @cosme member data exposure, September 2026. itmedia.co.jp
- @cosme, review guidelines. cosme.net
- Apple’s public feed of the 50 most recent Japanese App Store reviews of @cosme, read 11 October 2026 (translated). itunes.apple.com
- istyle, notice on review checks, January 2025. istyle.co.jp
More comparisons
Advice from someone with nothing to sell
Check any product against your skin, in English.
- Free, all of itNo plans, trials or paywalls. Every feature, for everyone.
- No sign-upNo account, no email, no password to lose.
- No ads, no trackingNothing about you is sold, shared or followed around the web.
- Your notes stay on your phoneWith a password-protected backup that only you control.
- Never asks for your faceIt reads the label, not you.
- Answers for your skinYour skin type, concerns, avoid list and routine, every time.