SkinSAFE: Skincare Scanner 4+

Better since update - but still needs improvement

I appreciate that the app now tells you which ingredients in a product are unsafe for you instead of just telling you the product is unsafe.

I do wish they would do a better job of auditing / combining submissions. I search for facial cleaners for example and it looks like there are 150 results that are safe for me when in reality there may be a third of that. The same products are listed over and over again, some because one is the 3 oz versus the 8 oz and some because an extra word was added in a submission (I.e. hydrating facial cleanser versus facial cleanser) even though it is the same product. Very frustrating to scroll through all the duplicates.

Ideally they would allow for custom lists as well. After scrolling through all those duplicates, if I find a product I want to try I would like to add it to a list so I don’t have to search for it again. The only two options currently are use daily or got a reaction. I use favorites for something I’ve used and like whether I am currently using or not.

Developer Response ,

Thank you for taking the time to share your valuable feedback with us. We understand your concerns and appreciate your patience as we continuously strive to improve the SkinSAFE app experience.

We acknowledge the issue of product duplicates and understand how this can be frustrating. As you rightly pointed out, some products have multiple variations, such as different sizes or slightly different names. Please keep in mind that sometimes the same product can have multiple formulations. To address this, we are flagging these variations at the product level to make it easier for you to pick the right version. We are actively working on refining our product database to minimize these duplicates and provide a more streamlined search experience.

We're excited to share that we're in the process of developing a more advanced search feature. This will prioritize the top 10 products that match your 'Safe for Me' preferences based on safety and availability. We believe this will significantly enhance your product search experience.

Regarding your suggestion for custom lists, we completely agree with you. Currently, we offer three types of lists: 'Favorites', 'Use Every Day', and 'I Reacted'. These can be directly tagged to a product from the search results. However, we understand the need for more personalized options. Therefore, we're working on introducing the ability to create custom lists you can name according to your preference. This feature will allow you to save and categorize products more effectively, reducing the need for repeated searches.

We value your feedback as it helps us to improve and serve you better. Please continue to share your thoughts and suggestions with us. We're committed to making SkinSAFE the best possible resource for your skincare needs.

Glitchy and Expensive for added features but valuable information

I’ve been using their website for a long time. I have many sensitivities. I decided to try the app. It’s a little frustrating to use the search feature. It often looses your search results when you go to a product and then back to your search results. Often when doing a search it defaults to saved products search. Annoying, my saved products I already know about. So it’s an added step to search skin safe products versus my activity. If I sort results it will go back to unsorted after looking at a product. All this is just a little annoying but I find the website and the app useful and VERY valuable. However I think $9/month or $60 a year is too much for features that used to be free. I will still keep the app and use it but for these reasons I don’t think it deserves 5 stars. I would only consider a one time price for this app. And not over $15. If glitches were fixed and price lowered it would deserve a 5. Again very valuable information.

Developer Response ,

Thank you for your dedication to SkinSAFE and for your insightful feedback. We apologize for any inconvenience the search feature has caused and want to assure you that we're actively working to enhance its functionality for a smoother, more intuitive experience.



We also want to remind you of our Free version of SkinSAFE, which includes the SAFE for Me™ tool, allowing users to identify products that meet their individual needs without any cost. We believe in providing valuable information accessible to everyone and will keep your thoughts in mind as we assess our pricing structure for additional features.



We're here to support your needs for safe skincare and appreciate your recognition of the valuable information SkinSAFE provides. Please stay tuned for updates, and we hope to earn that 5-star review from you soon.

Will there be a new update soon?

I was suggested to use this by my dermatologist after doing patch testing that tested for my skin allergies. They helped me upload all results to my account. I noticed that the app hasn’t been updated in 4 years. It’s screen ratio isn’t even set up for recent iPhones as it doesn’t take up the whole screen. I’ve been on the actual website and it looks great there, but you can’t scan barcodes from there. I am really looking forward to an update for this app before it goes out of compatibility for a new iOS. It would also be nice to see on the app itself if a product is actually safe for me or not like it shows on the website. Currently, it shows the ingredients and other safety factors but does not show the icon that specifically says safe or not safe for me. I told my dermatologist that the app has not been updated in 4 years and there’s a chance it will stop being compatible with new phones on a new iOS. I hope that there’s an update before that.