Advertising Disclosure — Sponsored Content and Affiliate Links
Quick answer: This advertising disclosure explains how Sixated labels commercial content — advertising, sponsored content, paid product features and affiliate links — in line with the FTC endorsement guidelines. Some links may earn us a commission at no cost to you. None of it influences our independent picks, which are never for sale. Contact us with any questions.
Key takeaways
- Scope: how we disclose advertising, sponsored content, product features and affiliate links.
- Standard: labelling follows the FTC endorsement guidelines.
- Affiliate links: we may earn a commission at no extra cost to you.
- Independence: commercial relationships never influence our editorial picks.
- Questions: reach us any time through our contact page.
Why we publish this disclosure
Sixated recommends fashion, beauty, wellness and lifestyle products, and we earn money in ways that touch some of that content. Honesty about how requires being explicit, so this page sets out exactly what our commercial relationships are and how we mark them. Our aim is that you never have to guess whether something is paid: if money or a gift is involved, it is labelled, and if it isn’t, our recommendation is independent.
Clear disclosure is also what the FTC’s guidance on endorsements asks of publishers, and we treat it as a baseline rather than a ceiling. Reading this page should leave you able to look at any piece of our content and know immediately whether it is independent editorial, paid, or supported by a gifted product — and to understand what that does and does not mean for how far you can trust it.
Affiliate links
Some guides on Sixated contain affiliate links. If you click one and make a purchase, we may earn a commission from the retailer at no additional cost to you. These commissions help fund our work. They do not influence which products we choose or how we rank them — our assessments follow our review methodology whether or not a link earns anything, and we will recommend a product with no affiliate programme over one that pays us when it is the better choice.
Sponsored content
When a brand funds an article, we publish it as clearly labelled sponsored content. The label makes plain that the piece is brand-funded, even though it is written or reviewed to our editorial standards. Sponsorship pays for the article itself; it does not buy a place among our independent editorial picks. If a sponsored piece mentions or compares products, we hold those references to the same honesty we expect of our own guides, and the sponsorship label stays visible so the context is never in doubt.
Advertising
We display clearly labelled advertising from fashion, beauty and lifestyle brands and retailers. Advertising is separate from our editorial: advertisers do not choose, see in advance, or shape our independent coverage. Paid placements are marked so you can distinguish them from journalism. Where a campaign is more involved than a standard placement, the same principle applies — it is labelled, and it stays outside our editorial decisions.
Product features and gifting
Brands can book a clearly labelled paid product feature, which is disclosed as commercial. We also receive products as gifts or samples for honest consideration. Whenever a product was gifted, we say so — and gifting never guarantees inclusion in a guide or a better place within it. A gifted product never guarantees a spot in our guides.
We treat a loaned or gifted sample the same way whether or not we end up featuring it: it is assessed on its merits, and the reader is told about the arrangement wherever the product appears. This matters most in beauty and fashion, where sampling is routine and readers rightly want to know whether a positive write-up followed a free product. Our answer is always the same — the gift is disclosed, and it changes what we say about a product not at all.
How we label commercial content
We follow the principle behind the FTC endorsement guidelines: disclosures should be clear, near the relevant content, and easy to understand. In practice that means labelling sponsored articles and paid features as such, noting affiliate relationships in the guides that use them, and marking advertising as advertising. If you are ever unsure whether something is commercial, the absence of a label means it is independent editorial — and you can always ask.
We avoid vague or buried disclosures. A label that no one can find does not do its job, so we place them where you will actually see them and word them plainly rather than hiding behind jargon. If we ever get a disclosure wrong or unclear, we would rather hear about it and fix it — tell us through our contact page and we will review it.
How this protects our independence
Disclosure is only half the promise; the other half is that commercial arrangements do not decide what we recommend. Our editorial picks and recommendations are never for sale. Advertisers, sponsors and affiliate partners cannot buy a ranking, an endorsement or advance influence over independent coverage. We keep commercial and editorial decisions separate precisely so that a recommendation on Sixated means what it says.
Put simply, a label tells you when something is commercial, and our independence tells you that even our commercial content is handled honestly and our editorial is not for sale at all. Both need to be true for a recommendation to be worth anything, so we hold ourselves to both. If you read our guides with these two facts in mind, you will always know exactly how much weight to give what you are reading.
What we don’t do
We don’t sell undisclosed or disguised paid links, we don’t present advertising or sponsorship as independent editorial, and we don’t publish claims we cannot substantiate. Every paid or gifted placement is disclosed. For the fuller picture of our funding, see how we make money.
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
What is this advertising disclosure?
It explains how Sixated labels advertising, sponsored content, product features and affiliate links, in line with the FTC endorsement guidelines.
Do affiliate links cost me more?
No. If you buy through an affiliate link we may earn a commission at no additional cost to you, and it never changes our recommendation.
How do I know if content is sponsored?
Sponsored articles and paid features are clearly labelled. If there is no label, the content is independent editorial.
Do advertisers or sponsors affect your picks?
No. Our picks and recommendations are never for sale, and commercial partners have no influence over independent coverage.
Does receiving a free product guarantee a review?
No. Gifted products are considered honestly and disclosed, but gifting never guarantees inclusion or a favourable place in a guide.
How are affiliate relationships shown?
We note affiliate relationships within the guides that use them, so the disclosure sits near the relevant content.
Where can I learn more about how you earn?
See how we make money and our affiliate disclosure for the full detail.
Who do I contact with questions?
Reach us any time through our contact page or at partners@sixated.com.