ComfiSkin vs EWG Skin Deep
EWG rates cosmetics with hazard scores that ignore how much of an ingredient is actually in your product, and it charges brands for its EWG VERIFIED badge. ComfiSkin takes no money from brands and tells you whether a product suits your skin.
The short answer
EWG’s scores tell you what an ingredient could do in theory, not what it does in your moisturiser at the amount used. Most toxicologists surveyed say EWG overstates chemical risks. It once raised the alarm about a sunscreen ingredient that dermatologists found no convincing evidence against. And it sells a “VERIFIED” badge to the brands it judges.
What that means: a scary EWG number isn’t evidence of danger, and the badge on a bottle is partly a paid-for logo. Following either can cost you money and steer you away from products that protect you. Use ComfiSkin to see what a product actually means for your skin.
Side by side
| ComfiSkin | EWG Healthy Living | |
|---|---|---|
| What the result tells you | Whether the product suits your skin, with each ingredient explained | How hazardous its ingredients could be in theory, from 1 to 10 |
| Does it take money from brands it rates? | No, never | Yes, through EWG VERIFIED fees1 |
| Comparing two products | Free | Paywalled, $19.995 |
| Listing ingredients you avoid | Free | Paywalled5 |
| Does it check your products work together? | Yes, across your week | No |
| Covers tap water and cleaning products | No | Yes |
A hazard isn’t a risk, and EWG blurs the two
A kitchen knife is a hazard. Chopping carrots with one is a small risk. EWG’s scores rate the knife: what an ingredient could do at some dose, in some test, not how much of it is in your cream or how you use it. A Penn dermatologist put it plainly to Asparagus Magazine: toxicity “depends on the amount”.2
79%of toxicologists surveyed said EWG, along with two other advocacy groups, overstates the health risks of chemicals.3
That isn’t harmless caution. In 2010 EWG warned about retinyl palmitate, a form of vitamin A, in sunscreens. A commentary in the Journal of the American Academy of Dermatology found “no convincing evidence” it causes cancer there.4 By then the scare was out. Frightening people off sunscreen is about the worst thing a skincare warning can do, because sunburn and sun damage are real, proven harms.
ComfiSkin explains what each ingredient is doing in your product, in plain words, and judges the product against your skin, not against a worst-case lab scenario.
What that means for you: avoiding products because of an EWG score can mean skipping the ones that protect you, sunscreen included, over risks the science doesn’t back up.
It raises the alarm, then sells the reassurance
Brands that want the EWG VERIFIED mark on their packaging pay for it: an application fee and a yearly licensing fee, according to EWG’s own FAQ.1 Asparagus Magazine reported a $250 application fee and yearly fees “ranging from hundreds to thousands of dollars”, and estimated that about $2 million of EWG’s roughly $13 million revenue in 2020 came from licensing and consulting tied to the badge.2
Follow the logic. Hazard scores make shoppers nervous. Nervous shoppers look for reassurance. A seal saying a product meets EWG’s standards provides it, and brands pay EWG for the seal. The same organisation sets the fear and sells the comfort. Even if every rating is made in good faith, that’s a conflict you’d never accept from anyone else.
ComfiSkin has no badge, takes no fees and has no deals with any brand it rates. Nobody can pay to look better in it.
What that means for you: when you pay more for a product because it carries the badge, part of what you’re paying for is the badge.
The useful parts cost extra, and it tracks you
The Healthy Living app is free to scan, but comparing products and setting your own ingredient preferences need a $19.99 Premium upgrade. Its App Store label also lists location and identifiers as data used to track you.5 In ComfiSkin, comparing products and keeping an avoid list are free, there are no ads, and there’s nothing to track you for.
What that means for you: with EWG, the features you’d actually use cost money and your location comes along for the ride. With ComfiSkin, neither.
What to do if you use EWG
- Read a high number as “look closer”, not “dangerous”. It describes what an ingredient could do, not what it does in this product.
- Never skip sunscreen because of a score. Sun damage is a proven harm. Find one you like and use it.
- Don’t pay extra for the badge. Scan the product in ComfiSkin to see whether it suits your skin, whoever paid for what.
Sources
- EWG VERIFIED, frequently asked questions, “How much does it cost to get EWG Verified?”. verified-portal.ewg.org
- Asparagus Magazine, “Know Logo: Environmental Working Group’s clean beauty certification, EWG Verified”, June 2022. asparagusmagazine.com
- Environmental Protection, “Survey: experts view toxicity risks differently”, 3 June 2009. eponline.com
- The Hospitalist, “Editorial refutes EWG’s sunscreen finding”, on Wang et al., Journal of the American Academy of Dermatology, 2010. the-hospitalist.org
- EWG’s Healthy Living on the US App Store: in-app purchases, release notes and App Privacy label. apps.apple.com
More comparisons
Check a product against your skin
No hazard scores, no paid badges.
- 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.