ComfiSkin vs Think Dirty
Think Dirty sorts beauty products into “clean” and “dirty”, then charges you to use the scanner and your own avoid list. It’s an app that does better the more worried you are. ComfiSkin tells you what’s in a product and whether it suits your skin, for free.
THINK DIRTY
Data used to track you
Ingredients: Purchases, Location, Contact info, Search history, Identifiers, Usage data, Diagnostics.
Also listed: Pollfish survey SDK, which may share data with third parties for commercial purposes.
From its App Store label and privacy policy
The short answer
Think Dirty runs on fear. It labels products “dirty” for the ingredients they contain, not the amounts or your skin, then puts the live scanner and your personal avoid list behind a paywall that runs up to $199. And while you scan, it tracks seven kinds of data about you.
What that means: you’d be paying an app to make you anxious about products that are probably fine, and handing over your data for the privilege. ComfiSkin tells you what’s actually in them and whether they suit you, for free.
Side by side
| ComfiSkin | Think Dirty | |
|---|---|---|
| What you see after scanning | What each ingredient does, in plain words, and whether the product suits your skin | A spot on a 0 to 10 “Dirty Meter”, the same for everybody |
| Can you scan without paying? | Yes, always | The live scanner is paid1 |
| Can you list ingredients you avoid? | Yes, free | Only if you pay1 |
| Ads | None | Yes, on Android5 |
| Tracks you across other apps | No | Seven kinds of data, including location and purchases1 |
| What it costs | Nothing | From a $2.99 trial up to $199 for lifetime access1 |
| Rates household, baby and pet products | No | Yes |
“Dirty” is a scare word, not a skin problem
Think Dirty puts every product somewhere between clean and dirty. It reads quickly, but it answers the wrong question. A single flagged ingredient can drag a product down the scale even if it makes up a sliver of the formula. One reviewer described exactly that, and said the “cleaner” swaps the app pushed were obscure and hard to find.4
The real harm is where it nudges you. Products sold as “clean” aren’t safer by default, and they can be harsher. Plant extracts and essential oils are among the most common causes of skin allergies, and a natural-sounding label doesn’t change that. So a product that scores “clean” can be the one that leaves you red and itchy, while the “dirty” one you binned was doing your skin good.
ComfiSkin doesn’t do clean or dirty. It explains what each ingredient is there for, puts the ones you avoid at the top, and tells you whether the product suits your skin type and concerns. If a cream works for you, it can stay on your shelf.
What that means for you: follow the dirty label and you could swap a cream your skin loves for one that sets off a reaction.
First it scares you, then it charges you
Think Dirty’s App Store listing marks the live scanner and personal ingredient preferences as paid features. Plans run from a $2.99 trial and monthly Premium up to $48.99 a year for All Access, or $199 once for “All Access, forever!”.1 Long-time users are furious: when we checked, 31 of its 50 most recent App Store reviews gave one or two stars, most of them about the paywall.2
“Have to pay to view ingredients or ratings.”
“This app used to be free to use…”
Look at the sequence: the app tells you your bathroom is dirty, then charges you for the tools that would calm you down. That’s a business that does better the more anxious you feel. ComfiSkin is free, so it gains nothing from your worry. Scanning, search, your avoid list, routines and reminders cost nothing, ever.
What that means for you: the basic job of reading a label now comes with a bill of up to $199. With ComfiSkin, it doesn’t.
It follows you around, too
On the App Store, Think Dirty lists seven kinds of data it uses to track you across other companies’ apps and websites: purchases, location, contact info, search history, identifiers, usage data and diagnostics.1 Its privacy policy also names a survey company, Pollfish, which it says may share data with third parties for commercial purposes.3 That’s an extraordinary amount of interest in you for an app about shampoo.
ComfiSkin shows no ads, so it has nothing to track you for. Your skin profile, shelf and notes stay on your phone, and nobody is building a picture of where you go or what you buy.
What that means for you: an app you use to check shampoo can build a profile of where you go, what you buy and what you search for. ComfiSkin can’t, because it doesn’t want to.
What to do if you use Think Dirty
- Don’t throw out a product because it’s labelled “dirty”. If it works and your skin is calm, keep using it.
- Look at what was flagged, and why. A long chemical name isn’t a warning sign. Some of the gentlest ingredients have the scariest names.
- Check it against your skin instead. Scan it in ComfiSkin, add the ingredients you avoid, and see whether it suits you. No subscription needed.
Sources
- Think Dirty on the US App Store: features, in-app purchases and App Privacy label. apps.apple.com
- Apple’s public feed of the 50 most recent US App Store reviews of Think Dirty, read 11 October 2026. itunes.apple.com
- Think Dirty privacy policy. thinkdirtyapp.com
- App Store review of Think Dirty (Canada), 3 February 2020. apps.apple.com
- Think Dirty on Google Play. play.google.com
More comparisons
Check a product against your skin
No clean or dirty labels, just what’s in it and whether it suits you.
- 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.