Our Mission and Values

Dr. Brandith Irwin of SkinTour - AboutWhy We Created SkinTour

I created SkinTour, because I wanted to give people really accurate, trustworthy, and expert information on skin care and anti-aging. I wanted to share my medical knowledge of skin care and cosmetic dermatology and my experience with many patients, treatments, and technologies.

The internet has some wonderful qualities, but many people have told me that they don’t know what information they can trust.

The Most Important Thing about Our Site

All of the content on our site comes from me and my staff at our medical clinic in Seattle. The content is the product of my medical training, research and study, and our experience in treating thousands of people for medical and cosmetic dermatology issues.

A few select articles come from other dermatologists who have a particular specialty and who have no financial interests in cosmetic or device companies. I will always tell you when an article is by another dermatologist.

We do not buy content from anywhere else. We don’t reward other people to put up content for us by offering to give them more exposure. We do not take money to list other websites or other doctors. If we post the content, it is because we know that content.

The Second Most Important Thing about this Site

I think patients and consumers of skin care and cosmetic products and treatments need a medically trained and unbiased advocate. Surprisingly, there aren’t many out there. Have you ever wondered why you almost never hear doctors speaking negatively about a product or cosmetic device or treatment?

The problem is that many doctors, particularly ones who are well-known, have financial ties to the companies who sell skin care products or treatments.

I have been very careful to keep my independence. I am not on the boards of any of these companies; I do not take “research” stipends to do “studies;” I do not receive any honoraria or similar payments. I get no special payments for recommending products or treatments. The staff at my medical practice in Seattle will occasionally get a free sample of something to try, but I have no financial interest in any of the companies who sell skin care and anti-aging products and services.

My independence is my most precious asset. It allows me to speak honestly about what works and what doesn’t.

Some of you may have read the books on cosmetics by Paula Begoun, like Don’t Go To the Cosmetics Counter Without Me. She is a staunch advocate for consumers. Here’s what she said about me:

“Dr. Brandith Irwin is one of the few independent voices in the medical world today who can help consumers make educated decisions aobut procedures and medical options so they can stay as young as they can for as long as they can.”

My Goal for the Site

My goal is not to become a big, sprawling site, but to have the best, most trustworthy, unbiased information on skin care and anti-aging. My staff and I personally test every product that I recommend on this site. I give my opinions even if they are negative about particular products or treatments.

We want to put our resources into giving you good information so that you can make good decisions about your own skin care and anti-aging directions.

How We Pay for This Site

This site has been expensive to create and maintain, and from the start I wanted to do a test with some skin care product selections. I hear from so many women and men that they don’t know what products to use.

We considered selling the products ourselves right here on SkinTour. But we ultimately decided to focus on what we are best-suited for, which is to provide really good content.

So we are asking SkinCareRx.com, an online seller of skin care products in Salt Lake City, to handle the shopping cart and check-out for all products. This allows them to do what they do very well, which is to run a great online product store. We link our users to SkinCareRx.com, and they pay us a commission on sales made to users who linked from SkinTour.

Please remember that I have picked only those products that I think are best at what they do and that I and my staff have tested. I don’t have any special deals with any skin care companies mentioned on SkinTour, nor do I get any special payments from any of the product companies.

If we cannot support the site from the sales of products, we may have to add advertising.

Diversity in the Images on the Site.

One of the things I am most proud of on this site is the way in which the Anti-Aging Tour™ reflects the wonderful diversity of skin colors and ages.

I also wanted the Skin Care Test to reflect images of all different skin types and colors. We had imagined that it would be easy, in today’s era of stock photography, to find lots of images of skin and skin conditions. But to find ones that were the right size, the right resolution, the right lighting, the right part of the face, neck, or chest, and that could be licensed for a reasonable fee to a site like ours, was almost impossible. It gave me new understanding for why people don’t trust before and after photos!

One of our goals for the site is to include more information for all types of skin and skin color. We cannot answer emails from you, but we do welcome any feedback you have on diversity and any other issue.

Contact us at support@SkinTour.com

Video Transcription

Dr. Brandith Irwin: Welcome to SkinTour. I’m Dr. Brandith Irwin and I’m board-certified in dermatology. For many years my patients asked me where they could get reliable skincare information on the web. So I created this site after I created my second book, The Surgery Free Makeover, so that everyone would have a really reliable place to go for skincare advice and advice about cosmetic dermatology. I’ve written every word on this site and I’ve tested every product and I have no financial ties to these companies. So welcome to SkinTour and thank you for visiting.

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