Comparison

EWG Skin Deep vs ClearaScan: Hazard Scores vs Your Own List

EWG Skin Deep rates products on a hazard score; ClearaScan checks against your personal triggers. Here's how they differ, and the UK angle.

The core difference

EWG Skin Deep is a large US database that rates products and ingredients on a hazard score. ClearaScan does not score hazard; it flags the specific ingredients you have chosen to avoid.

Where EWG is strong

It has high name recognition, a big database, and lots of educational content, widely cited by US wellness media.

Where it falls short

Its content is US-regulation-centric (FDA, Prop 65), so it is less aligned with UK and EU labelling, and its hazard-score model is debated in the scientific community. A hazard score also is not the same as “contains your trigger.”

Where ClearaScan fits

Reading a label by eye, or using a free ingredient-checker, will tell you what is in a product. What it will not do is check it against the specific ingredients you react to.

To close that gap, a personal-list app like ClearaScan lets you save the ingredients you react to once and scan any product to flag only your triggers. It also keeps a Reaction Journal for flare-ups, a shared Care Circle so family or carers can scan for you, and a Trusted Products list for items you have cleared, and it is currently in early access. (Disclosure: our editor co-founded ClearaScan, and we are not paid to mention the others.)

The verdict

EWG is a general hazard reference (with a US lean); ClearaScan answers the personal question of whether a product contains the ingredients you react to.

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A note on this content. The Sensitive Skin Lab publishes general educational information, not medical advice. If you suspect you have an allergy or sensitivity, consult a qualified dermatologist or allergist. Product formulations and labels change without notice, so always check the ingredients on the product itself.