Short version: NeedSkincare is a free skincare publication. Read the guides, follow the links if you want, email us if something's wrong. We're not your doctor, we don't guarantee results, and we earn affiliate commissions from some links without it ever changing a recommendation.
Who these terms are between
These Terms of Use are an agreement between you (the reader) and NeedSkincare.com ("NeedSkincare", "we", "us"), an independent skincare publication operated by Afthab Rahman from Kerala, India. By using this site you agree to these terms. If you don't agree, please don't use the site.
What we are (and aren't)
NeedSkincare is an independent publication — we research ingredients, compare products head-to-head, and publish honest reviews. We are not a medical practice, a clinic, a pharmacy, or a regulated health service. Nothing on this site is medical advice. If you have a skin condition that hurts, persists, spreads, bleeds, or changes — see a dermatologist.
Using the site
You may read everything on this site, share links to our guides, and quote short excerpts with attribution (typically a sentence or two with a link back). You agree not to:
- Republish or repost our articles in whole, or substantially in whole, on another site or platform.
- Use our content to train a commercial AI model without separate written permission. (Our llms.txt invites general research use; large-scale ingestion is different.)
- Scrape the site at a rate that affects its availability for other readers, or in any way that violates our robots.txt directives.
- Submit deliberately false personal data when subscribing to the newsletter, attempt to impersonate someone else, or misuse the unsubscribe / data-access flows described in our privacy policy.
- Use the site or any feature on it to do anything illegal, harassing, or harmful to others.
Affiliate links and recommendations
We earn commissions from some of the retailer links on this site. This is disclosed clearly on every guide that contains affiliate links and described in full in our affiliate disclosure. The short version: our picks are chosen before any retailer link is attached, commissions never decide a verdict, and we'll happily recommend the cheaper option when it wins.
Newsletter
The newsletter is opt-in only and uses a double opt-in flow (you confirm your subscription via a link we email you). You can unsubscribe at any time using the link in any newsletter, or by emailing hello@needskincare.com. How we handle your email is covered in the privacy policy.
Intellectual property
All articles, comparisons, ingredient breakdowns, photos produced by us, the NeedSkincare name and logo, and the design of the site are owned by NeedSkincare and protected by copyright and trademark law. We licence them to you for personal, non-commercial reading. Third-party trademarks (CeraVe, Cetaphil, Paula's Choice, The Ordinary, Amazon, iHerb, etc.) belong to their respective owners and are used only to identify the products and retailers we discuss.
Links to other sites
We link to retailers (Amazon, iHerb, ShareASale partners and others — see the affiliate disclosure for the full list), to brand pages, and to research sources. We don't control those sites. Their content, prices, availability, terms, and privacy practices are theirs, not ours. Following an outbound link is your decision and your responsibility.
No warranty, no guarantee
The site and everything on it is provided "as is" without warranties of any kind, express or implied. We try hard to be accurate and up to date, but skincare science evolves, formulas reformulate, and retailer availability changes. We make no guarantee that:
- Any specific product will work for your skin, even if we recommend it. Skin is personal — patch test new actives, start slow, and stop if it stings.
- Information on the site is complete, current, or free of errors at the moment you read it.
- Retailer prices, stock, or shipping windows match what we describe (Amazon prices in particular change constantly, which is why we don't publish them).
- The site will be available without interruption.
Limitation of liability
To the maximum extent permitted by law, NeedSkincare and Afthab Rahman are not liable for any indirect, incidental, special, consequential, or punitive damages arising from your use of the site, including (but not limited to) any adverse skin reaction, loss of profit, loss of data, or third-party claims. Where liability cannot legally be excluded, it is limited to the amount you paid to access the site — which, for a free publication, is nothing.
Nothing in this section limits your statutory consumer rights under the laws of your country of residence — including the UK Consumer Rights Act, the EU Consumer Sales Directive, and the Australian Consumer Law.
Indemnity
You agree to indemnify and hold harmless NeedSkincare and Afthab Rahman from any claim that arises out of your breach of these terms or your misuse of the site, including reasonable legal fees.
Termination
We can take down articles, restrict access to specific features, or shut the site down entirely at any time without notice. You can stop using the site at any time. Sections that by their nature should survive termination (intellectual property, disclaimers, limitation of liability, governing law) will survive.
Governing law
These terms are governed by the laws of India, where the publisher is based. Disputes that can't be resolved by email will be subject to the exclusive jurisdiction of the courts of Kerala, India. Readers based in the EU, UK, Australia, or California retain the protection of any mandatory consumer-protection law of their home jurisdiction.
Changes to these terms
If we change these terms in a material way, we'll update the "Last updated" date at the top of this page and, where the change matters to existing newsletter subscribers, email them before the change takes effect. Continuing to use the site after a change means you accept the updated terms.
Contact
Questions about these terms, takedown requests, or anything that isn't clear: hello@needskincare.com. See also our privacy policy, affiliate disclosure, and about page.