How We Make Money — Fashion and Beauty Publishing Transparency
Quick answer: Sixated makes money from clearly labelled advertising, sponsored content, product features and affiliate links. These revenue streams keep our fashion, beauty and lifestyle coverage free to read. None of them influences our editorial picks — our recommendations are never for sale, and every paid or gifted placement is disclosed. Read our affiliate disclosure.
Key takeaways
- Revenue streams: advertising, sponsored content, product features and affiliate links.
- Always labelled: every paid or gifted placement is disclosed under FTC guidelines.
- Independence: money never decides our picks or recommendations.
- Affiliate links: we may earn a commission at no extra cost to you; they don’t change our verdicts.
- Why it matters: transparency is how we keep reader trust while keeping content free.
How Sixated is funded
Sixated is a free publication, and producing honest fashion, beauty, wellness and lifestyle guides costs money. We fund that work through a small number of clearly labelled commercial activities rather than a paywall. This page explains each one in plain terms, because you deserve to know how a site that recommends products pays its way — and to be sure that how we earn does not quietly shape what we tell you to buy.
We think transparency here is a feature, not a legal box to tick. Plenty of sites that recommend products are vague about how they earn, which leaves readers guessing whether a glowing write-up is genuine or bought. We would rather tell you exactly how the money works so you can weigh our recommendations with full knowledge — and hold us to the standards we set out below.
Advertising
We sell clearly labelled advertising to fashion, beauty and lifestyle brands, retailers and their agencies. Advertising buys placement and reach beside relevant content; it does not buy influence over our editorial. Advertisers do not see or shape our independent coverage in advance, and paid placements are always marked as such so you can tell media from journalism. This is the most familiar way media businesses are funded, and the clear separation between the ads you see and the guides you read is what keeps it honest.
Sponsored content
Brands can fund sponsored content — a labelled, in-depth article written or reviewed to our standards. Because it is clearly disclosed as sponsored, you always know when you are reading brand-funded material. Sponsorship pays for the article; it does not earn a place in our independent picks, which stay separate.
Product features
We also offer clearly labelled paid product features. A paid feature guarantees a disclosed placement of a product; it does not guarantee an independent endorsement. Separately, brands can submit products for free editorial consideration, which is assessed purely on merit under our review methodology. Keeping these two routes distinct — one paid and labelled, one earned and independent — is deliberate, and we never blur them.
Taken together, these streams are enough to fund honest, independent work without asking readers to pay and without letting any single advertiser call the shots. If our mix of revenue ever changes in a way that affects readers, we will update this page. In the meantime, the principle stays the same: we earn in the open, we label everything commercial, and our recommendations answer to our readers rather than our revenue.
Affiliate links
Some of our guides include affiliate links. If you buy through one, we may earn a commission at no additional cost to you. Affiliate relationships help fund our work, but they do not change our verdicts: we pick and rank products the same way whether or not a link earns a commission, and we will happily recommend a product with no affiliate programme over one that pays us if it is the better choice. Full details are in our affiliate disclosure.
Affiliate links are common across product journalism, and used honestly they align our interests with yours: we only earn if you find something worth buying, so it pays us to recommend well. The risk is when a site lets commission dictate its picks, and that is the line we refuse to cross. Where a guide contains affiliate links, we note it near the relevant content so you always know the relationship exists.
How money is kept away from our picks
The most important part of this page is what our revenue does not touch. Our editorial picks and recommendations are never for sale. Advertisers, sponsors and affiliate partners have no say in what we recommend, no advance sight of independent coverage, and no ability to buy a better ranking. Commercial and editorial decisions are made separately, and a gifted product never guarantees a spot in our guides. If a commercial request would compromise that, we turn it down.
In practice, the people who choose our picks work to our review methodology, not to a sales target. A product’s place in a guide depends on how it performs against the criteria for that guide — not on whether its maker advertises with us, sponsors an article, or runs an affiliate programme. We are comfortable recommending a product from a brand that spends nothing with us over one that spends a great deal, and we do exactly that whenever it is the better choice for the reader.
What we don’t do
We don’t sell undisclosed or disguised paid links, we don’t disguise advertising or sponsorship as independent editorial, and we don’t run claims we cannot substantiate. Every paid or gifted placement is labelled. These are firm lines, not aspirations — they are the reason our recommendations are worth reading. If any of this is ever unclear on a given page, the fault is ours to fix, and we would rather you told us than assumed the worst.
Why trust Sixated
Sixated is an independent fashion, beauty and lifestyle publication run by a named editorial team working to published standards. You can read more about us, meet the people behind our picks, and review our editorial policy and review methodology to see exactly how our six curated picks are chosen and tested. Any commercial relationship is set out in our affiliate disclosure, and every paid or gifted placement is labelled in line with the FTC endorsement guidelines. Our picks and recommendations are never for sale, and a gifted product never guarantees a spot in our guides.
Frequently asked questions
How does Sixated make money?
Through clearly labelled advertising, sponsored content, paid product features and affiliate links, all disclosed and none influencing our editorial picks.
Do affiliate links cost me anything?
No. If you buy through an affiliate link we may earn a commission at no extra cost to you, and it does not change our recommendation.
Do advertisers influence your recommendations?
No. Our picks and recommendations are never for sale, and advertisers have no say in or advance sight of independent coverage.
How do I know what is paid?
Every paid or gifted placement is clearly labelled in line with the FTC endorsement guidelines, so it is easy to tell commercial from editorial.
Does a gifted product guarantee coverage?
No. Gifting is welcome for honest consideration but never guarantees inclusion or a favourable place in a guide, and it is always disclosed.
Can a brand pay for a better ranking?
No. Rankings reflect our independent assessment under our review methodology and cannot be bought.
Where can I read more about your commercial rules?
See our affiliate disclosure and advertising disclosure, plus our editorial policy.