Ownership & conflicts of interest

The Aesthetic Index is privately owned by its founder and operated by The Aesthetic Index LLC, a Florida limited liability company he manages. It is not owned by, funded by, or operated on behalf of any device manufacturer, private equity firm, group practice, or medspa chain. We are not a dealer or broker of the equipment we cover, and we do not take commissions on device sales.

How we make money — advertising, clearly labeled sponsorship, and optional manufacturer tools — is set out in our methodology.

Our founder also owns DNA Distribution, which distributes certain aesthetic devices in North America. When DNA Distribution distributes a device, the founder has a direct financial interest in that device selling. That applies to these brands:

• Cryoskin Revolution
• icoone

We do not receive payment from The Aesthetic Index for covering these devices, and coverage is not conditional on any distribution agreement. The conflict is the ownership itself, which is why it is disclosed on the page rather than managed privately.

This relationship never influences regulatory data, owner and operator reviews, rankings, or editorial methodology. Commercial relationships do not permit alteration or suppression of owner and operator review data. Published aggregation thresholds and methodology apply identically to every device, regardless of commercial relationship. The same rules apply to any future commercial relationship: advertising, premium listings, lead purchasing, and financing partnerships never affect scores or editorial content.

Digital Niche Agency

The founder also owns Digital Niche Agency, a boutique marketing agency that runs consumer advertising for medspas and clinics. Some of its clients operate devices profiled on this site, and its client list changes from month to month. The agency is paid by those clinics, not by any manufacturer, distributor or lender, and it has no role in what this site publishes.

Every profile below carries the disclosure box adjacent to its main content:

• Cryoskin Revolution — Pro Design Plus SAS (Cryoskin Paris) — distributed in North America by DNA Distribution
• icoone Laser and icoone Micro-Facial — I-Tech Industries — DNA Distribution is the exclusive Florida distributor and an authorized U.S. distributor
• Cryoskin 2.0 / 3.0 / 4.0 (discontinued) — brand-relationship note only; DNA Distribution does not sell these models

The same disclosure appears on every affected device, manufacturer and chain page, and on every comparison that includes one of these devices. Founder-affiliated devices also carry the marker "Founder-affiliated distribution — disclosed" on their rows in category listings and the A–Z device index, linking to this page. If DNA Distribution takes on or drops a brand, this list and the on-page disclosures are updated in the same change.

Reviews of devices distributed by the founder's company are moderated under the same published rules as every other review, are labeled as founder-distributed on the page, and are never eligible for a gift card.

For these brands and their direct competitors, the founder does not set or adjust rankings or scoring, and does not allocate buyer leads. The founder writes and edits every profile. For devices distributed by DNA Distribution, The Aesthetic Index publishes no editorial verdict, recommendation, ranking, badge or best-fit copy. Founder-distributed and competing devices both carry the Device user rating under the same rules — the mean of published owner and operator overall scores, starting with the first scored review and labeled Small sample below 10. Each page retains its distribution or competitor disclosure. The founder may write only the documented record: regulatory status with sources, prices with sources, consumables with arithmetic, and caveats.

"Direct competitors" means devices in the same category solving the same buyer problem — for the brands above, that includes competing non-invasive body contouring, cryotherapy and lymphatic/microstimulation platforms. The rule covers ranking and shortlist order, comparison outcomes, and which manufacturer receives a lead.

Review moderation rules are published in our owner review policy, and verification rules in our methodology.

Because DNA Distribution sells devices in the body-contouring category, profiles for competing devices in that category (including Neveskin, Pagani Cryo T-Shock, Baldan T-Shape 2, Endospheres) are held to our strictest even-handedness standard: the founder does not set rankings or scoring and does not allocate leads for these brands, and corrections from these manufacturers receive priority handling.

These profiles carry a competitor disclosure stating that the founder's company sells a device in the same category, so you can weigh the coverage knowing that. They keep their Device user rating, because that number is the mean of what their owners rated them. Devices the founder's company distributes carry the distribution-interest disclosure and publish owner ratings under the same rules. A review does not imply the reviewer bought through the founder's company; any reported seller relationship is disclosed separately.

Devices distributed by DNA Distribution are permanently ineligible for sponsored or featured placement anywhere on this site. They cannot be bought into a top-of-category slot, a homepage promotion, a newsletter feature, or any other paid position — at any price.

Separately, and for all brands: sponsorship never affects FDA data, reviews, rankings, or editorial content, and every paid placement is labeled.

Our founder also owns DNA Distribution, which distributes Cryoskin Revolution and icoone in North America. That is disclosed on every affected device and chain page. These are the plain-language rules that govern what happens next.

If you believe our coverage of a DNA Distribution brand — or of a competitor — reads more favorably or less favorably than the evidence supports, tell us and we will re-check it. Use our contact page and select the corrections topic.

The founder is the only editor. Corrections on founder-linked or competing brands follow the same published rule as every other correction, are logged in the public conflict log with the primary source, and the manufacturer's reply publishes unedited. Substantive changes to a profile are logged in that device's change history so you can see what changed and when. Factual errors are corrected promptly and dated. Manufacturers may dispute factual inaccuracies or authenticity with supporting evidence, but may not demand removal or alteration of a reviewer's opinion, rating, or sentiment merely because they disagree with it.

Our sourcing and verification standards are set out in our methodology.