We follow the plant, not the pitch.
At a glance
Our choice, not theirs
Editors choose every story. No brand pays for one or reads it first.
Paid work, plainly marked
Anything paid for, sent free or linked for commission is marked as such.
A plant proves itself
Botanical claims are weighed on evidence, not on how natural they sound.
Mistakes, put right
We correct errors openly and note what changed.
- Editorial independence
- Reporting with care
- Access, gifts and samples
- Partner and sponsored content
- Reviews and recommendations
- Corrections and updates
- Conflicts of interest
- Tools and transparency
Editorial independence
Every story in Rooting Moss is chosen by our editors, because the plant, the place or the person behind it is worth a slow read. Coverage is not for sale. A brand cannot pay for a story, a place in a field guide or a mention in The weekly forage, and it cannot pay to stay out of one. Nobody outside the desk sees a story, its questions or its headline before it is published.
Partnerships are kept well away from editorial. Whoever speaks to brands about advertising can explain what we offer, but cannot promise coverage and has no hand in what the editors write.
- Editorial coverage is never part of a commercial agreement.
- Quotes, copy and headlines are not sent to brands for approval.
- Advertisers are covered, or not, on the same footing as everyone else.
Reporting with care
A plant extract is interesting because of what it does in skin, not because it is a plant, and we write with that in mind. We keep a founder's beliefs apart from what has been shown, and we say which is which. Natural is not the same as gentle: essential oils and plant extracts can irritate and sensitise, and we say so when it matters. We give a plant its botanical name as well as its common one, so you can find it on an ingredient list.
Rooting Moss is for information only and is not medical advice. Patch test anything new, check with a qualified professional before using herbal remedies, and see a dermatologist about a reaction that lingers or spreads.
- No story says a botanical treats, cures or prevents a skin condition.
- Clean and natural are explained, never left to do the work on their own.
- A founder's own skin is their experience, not our evidence.
Access, gifts and samples
Brands send samples, invitations to their farms and, now and then, a gift. We accept product samples and nothing that comes with conditions. A sample does not secure a story, and no story waits on one.
When a sample, a farm visit or an event shapes a story, the story says so, including who paid for the travel. We do not exchange gentle coverage for access, an early look at a harvest or an exclusive.
- A sample is never a down payment on a story.
- Gifts beyond the product are politely declined or returned.
- Visits funded by a brand are disclosed in the stories they inform.
Partner and sponsored content
Rooting Moss publishes sponsored features, sponsored field guides and newsletter placements. Each one is paid for by a brand, and each says so at the top of the page with the label "Sponsored" or "In partnership with", followed by the brand's name. Sponsored pages are prepared apart from our editorial stories and are never presented as our own reporting.
They keep the same rules as the rest of the magazine: the same care with botanical claims, the same honesty about tradeoffs, the same corrections policy. A claim our editors would not make does not appear on a sponsored page either.
- Sponsored work is labelled before the first paragraph.
- Sponsors cannot buy a place in an editorial story or field guide.
- The same care with plant claims applies on paid pages.
Reviews and recommendations
Whatever appears in Shop the story or on the apothecary shelves is there because it belongs to the piece: the formula a founder is known for, the oil an interview turns on. Prices and sizes come from the brand on the day we publish, and they change. A link to a shop may be an affiliate link, in which case a purchase can earn us a small commission without adding to your bill. A commission is never the reason something appears here.
We describe a formula through its ingredient list and its maker's account, and we attribute every claim to whoever made it. When an editor has used a product, the story says so. When it does not, read the description as a description, not a trial.
- Nothing on the apothecary shelves is there because a brand paid.
- We link to the maker's own shop wherever we can.
- A description is not a test unless the story says the product was tested.
Corrections and updates
Mistakes happen, and we correct ours in the open. The fix is made in the story and noted at its foot, with what changed and when. We do not quietly rewrite a story to bury an error.
Prices, sizes and links are updated as they change, without a note. Anything of substance is noted, including the wrong plant, the wrong part of the plant or the wrong place of origin. If you are a founder or a brand and something we attributed to you is inaccurate or out of date, write to us, and we will correct the story, bring it up to date or, where that is fairer, remove it.
- Corrections carry a date and a short explanation.
- Small fixes, such as typos and links, are made without a note.
- Every founder who writes to us about a story gets a reply from an editor.
Conflicts of interest
No one at Rooting Moss covers a brand, farm or supplier they own a share of, advise, work for or are close to. When a conflict exists, that person steps away from the story. When one cannot be avoided, it is disclosed in the story itself.
Rooting Moss is one of several magazines published by VOL Collective. A founder may appear in more than one of them, told each time from that magazine's angle. If VOL Collective has a commercial relationship with a brand we write about, the story says so.
- Editors declare any financial tie before they take on a story.
- Contributors disclose paid work for skincare brands.
- Family ties and friendships with founders count as conflicts too.
Tools and transparency
We try to leave a clear trail. Each story is signed and dated, figures are attributed where they appear, an editors' note gives context when a claim needs it, and every field guide ends with its sources. Photographs carry a credit.
The tools we use to check a claim are public, so you can follow the same trail: the ingredient list and its botanical names; the European Commission's CosIng database of cosmetic ingredients; the certifiers behind organic and wild-harvest claims, such as COSMOS and FairWild; and the published studies on an extract, read in full wherever we can.
- Field guides list every source they draw on.
- Before-and-after pictures are not part of how we show a result.
- We revise this page whenever our practice changes.
Tell us where we got the plant wrong.
Seen an error, a missing source or a conflict we did not declare? Write to the editors. Every message is read with care, and if anything changes, we will write back to say what.
