The Disclosure Scorecard / who tells you the dose
Which brands tell you how much active is in the bottle?
A serum can name an ingredient without telling you how much of it you're getting — and the amount is what decides whether it works. We checked 10 skincare brands for one thing: do they publish the concentration of their headline active? 6 state it outright. One publishes nothing but the ingredient order.
This isn't about good vs bad products — plenty of excellent formulas don't disclose. It's about whether you can verify the dose and the value before you pay. The brands that publish are the ones the Actives Index can rank.
Publishes its headline active % 6
You can compute the price per gram of active with no estimation.
| Brand | Where the % lives | What we found | Verified |
|---|---|---|---|
| The Ordinary | In the product name | Every active and % is in the name ("Niacinamide 10% + Zinc 1%"). | Live · theordinary.com |
| Naturium | Name + copy | Name and body copy both state the figure ("12% niacinamide and 2% zinc PCA"). | Live · naturium.com |
| The Inkey List | Name + key ingredients + FAQ | Headline active % in the name and restated in the FAQ. | Live · theinkeylist.com |
| Geek & Gorgeous | Copy + on-page graphic | Explicit % in copy and a graphic ("ascorbic acid – 15%"); some names encode strength. | Live · geekandgorgeous.com |
| Paula's Choice | Name (headline active) | Headline active % is in the name ("2% BHA"); supporting ingredients are not quantified. | Live · paulaschoice.com |
| Medik8 | Name + copy (retinal line) | Strength code in the name plus an explicit % ("Crystal Retinal 24 contains 0.24% retinaldehyde"). | Live · medik8.com |
Usually publishes 2
Quantified for the hero actives (often antioxidants/acids), in the ingredients section rather than the name.
| Brand | Where the % lives | What we found | Verified |
|---|---|---|---|
| SkinCeuticals | Key-ingredients section | Antioxidant actives are quantified ("15% Pure Vitamin C, 1% Vitamin E, 0.5% Ferulic Acid"). | Secondary · dermstore.com (brand site bot-blocked) |
| Drunk Elephant | Key-ingredients section | Quantified in the ingredients section, never the name ("15% l-ascorbic acid, 0.5% ferulic, 1% tocopherol"). | Live · drunkelephant.com |
Sometimes publishes 1
One active may be quantified; proprietary or supporting actives are not.
| Brand | Where the % lives | What we found | Verified |
|---|---|---|---|
| La Roche-Posay | Subtitle / name | Some products quantify one active ("Melasyl + 10% Niacinamide"); proprietary actives never quantified. | Secondary · laroche-posay.us (direct fetch bot-blocked) |
Does not publish concentrations 1
Excellent products can live here — but you cannot verify the dose or the value.
| Brand | Where the % lives | What we found | Verified |
|---|---|---|---|
| CeraVe | Nowhere on the page | Lists actives by name with no figures ("encapsulated retinol", "ceramides, HA, niacinamide") — only the raw INCI order. | Live · cerave.com |
Method & caveats
We checked each brand's own product pages for whether the headline active's concentration is published — in the product name, the key-ingredients section, or anywhere on the page. Disclosure is active-specific: vitamin C and exfoliating acids are almost always quantified; niacinamide usually; retinoids at indie and derm brands but rarely at mass brands; per-peptide concentrations essentially nowhere in the industry.
Grades reflect a census taken 2026-06-11 and brands update their sites — treat this as a point-in-time read, not a permanent label. Rows marked Secondary were confirmed through a retailer or search result because the brand's own site blocked automated access; they are lower-confidence than the Live rows and we re-verify before relying on them. Non-disclosure is common and legal; it simply means the price per gram of active can't be computed without estimation. See the ingredient dossiers for what each active does and the concentration that actually works.