How we curate

HemNote guides are built the same way every time — a repeatable, source-based process rather than a personal opinion. Here's exactly how it works.

What we cover

We publish across four categories: fashion (clothing brands, from fast fashion to premium labels), activewear (performance and athleisure brands), footwear (sneakers, boots, and everyday shoes), andbeauty (skincare, makeup, and personal care brands). Within each category we maintain brand guides, head-to-head comparisons, seasonal edits, and deal roundups.

How a brand guide gets made

Every guide starts from the same source list:

• The brand's official site — current product lines, pricing, and stated positioning.
• Published sizing charts and fit notes, where the brand provides them.
• The brand's own shipping, returns, and exchange policies.
• Aggregate public sentiment: patterns we can observe across large volumes of feedback on Trustpilot, Better Business Bureau complaint records, and shopper discussion on Reddit and similar forums.

We treat that last category as tendencies, not quotes. If we mention that shoppers commonly report an item running small, or that a brand is known for slow refund processing, that's a pattern we found across many public reports — never a single review dressed up as fact, and never an invented testimonial.

What we don't do

• We don't accept payment to rank a brand higher or write a more favorable verdict.
• We don't publish discount codes we haven't confirmed are live and public.
• We don't claim to have tried on, worn, or physically tested any product. Every guide is built from public information, not hands-on review.
• We don't run stock-photo "meet the team" pages or invent credentials for made-up staff.

How affiliate links work

Some links on HemNote are affiliate links — when you click through and buy something, we may earn a commission from the retailer. That relationship never influences a guide's content or ranking. Full detail is on our Affiliate Disclosure page.

Update cadence

Guides are living documents. We revisit brand guides on a monthly cadence to check pricing, policies, and sentiment for drift, and we update the page's date whenever something material changes. Deal pages are checked more frequently, since promotions expire quickly.

Questions about how a specific guide was put together? Emailhello@hemnote.com.