HOW DO WE TEST

At Upenya, every claim starts with evidence.

We create products for teen and acne-prone skin — then test them to make sure they’re safe, gentle, and effective.
What you read on our site reflects what we’ve measured on real people.

What our testing involves

✔️ Real people, real use
Teens and young adults use the product exactly as directed - usually for 4 weeks.

✔️ Two ways we measure:

What they feel: Short surveys about how their skin looks and feels.
What we see: Lab tools (like cameras and skin probes) track visible spots and skin hydration — so we measure real changes, not guesses.

Safety checks

✔️ Skin tolerance testing
For leave-on products, we run patch tests on adult skin under dermatologist supervision to check for irritation.

✔️ At-home care advice
If you have sensitive skin, always patch-test first. Stop use if any irritation occurs.

Our Testing Principles

✔️ Compliant & transparent
We follow the EU Common Criteria for cosmetic claims and the South African advertising code.

✔️ Independent testing
All studies are done by external labs using validated tools and standard methods.

✔️ Real users, real conditions
We test on teens and young adults under normal, everyday use.

✔️ Honest results
We publish plain-language summaries — clearly showing what we tested, how long, who took part, and what we found.

Every product comes with a downloadable 1-page summary that shows exactly how we tested it.

You'll see:

What we tested
Who took part
How we measured
What we found
Any limits

No fluff — just the facts.

Why don’t we share full lab reports?

Full reports often contain personal data and technical language that’s hard to understand.

Instead, we provide clear, 1-page summaries with all the key facts — in plain English — so you get the information that matters, without the confusion.