Last updated: June 2026
Editorial Policy
J-Beauty Decoded is a translation publication. We read Japanese beauty sources — review platforms, ingredient databases, and beauty press — and translate what matters into English. This page explains how we choose sources, how translation works, and how we attribute the original material.
What we translate
Our coverage draws on Japanese-language primary sources that have no English edition:
- @cosme (cosme.net) — Japan's largest beauty-review platform. We translate review consensus, ranking data, and the annual @cosme Best Cosmetics Awards.
- LIPS (lipscosme.com) — a major Japanese beauty community whose reviews skew younger than @cosme. We use it to cross-check @cosme consensus.
- Kakaku.com — Japan's price-comparison platform, used for pricing and availability data.
- MAQUIA and Japanese beauty press — for editor picks, dermatologist commentary, and trend coverage.
How sources are selected
- We prioritize platforms with large review volumes over individual opinions. A product's @cosme score reflects thousands of ratings, not one tester.
- We prefer sources that publish their methodology (ranking criteria, review counts, tester panels) so claims can be checked.
- We do not translate sponsored placements or advertorial content as if it were editorial. When a Japanese source marks content as PR (PR表記), we either skip it or label it.
How translation works
We use AI translation tools (including large language models) to read and draft translations from Japanese, with editorial review before publication. Specifically:
- AI does the heavy lifting: reading Japanese source pages, drafting English translations, and summarizing review consensus across many posts.
- Editorial review covers the claims: product names, ingredient names (INCI), prices, and ratings are checked against the original source before publishing.
- Ingredient terminology is standardized: Japanese ingredient names are mapped to their INCI equivalents so readers can compare against Western labels.
- Translation is interpretation. Where a Japanese phrase has no clean English equivalent (texture words like もちもち are the classic case), we explain rather than force a one-word translation.
Attribution
Every article that draws on a Japanese source cites that source, with a link to the original Japanese page where one exists. We treat the original platforms as the authority — we are the translation layer, not the origin of the data.
Independence and affiliate disclosure
- No brand pays for coverage, placement, or scores. Rankings reflect the Japanese source data, not commercial relationships.
- Some outbound links are affiliate links and may earn us a commission at no cost to you. This never changes what we cover or how we rank it. See our affiliate disclosure.
Corrections
Japanese pricing, formulations, and rankings change. If you find an error — a mistranslation, an outdated price, a discontinued product — email us and we will verify against the original source and correct the article, noting the update date.