A reader emailed last week to ask the obvious question: how can Glow's editorial be considered independent when its founder also founded Australian Glow, a brand that appears in some of our rankings? It's a fair question and worth answering publicly.
The structural answer: Australian Glow products are tested and scored by editors other than me, with all scoring conducted blind to brand origin. The publication has, twice, scored Australian Glow products lower than I personally believe is fair. I have not asked for either to be revised.
The honest answer underneath that: yes, knowing I founded Australian Glow does affect how I read its rankings here. I have to actively suppress the brand-side instinct to argue with the editor verdict. The editorial wall exists not because I'm a saint but because I know my own bias and need a structural defence against it.
If a future Glow ranking ever scored an Australian Glow product first in its category, I would expect this column to be a lot longer. So far it has not happened. The brand has placed in three of our category rankings, never first.