How we research — and what we won't claim
We don't run a testing lab. We're not going to pretend we do. Here's exactly what "researched" means on this site, and how we decide what to publish.
Who We Are
The Velvet Pick launched in August 2026 to cover women's pleasure products the way we wished someone would: without the recycled "best of" copy, without inventing test results to sound authoritative, and without pretending every affiliate program pays the same so rankings can stay honest about it when they don't.
We publish under the The Velvet Pick editorial byline rather than individual names, which is standard practice in this category. Our recommendations are not paid for, sponsored, or influenced by which brand offers the better commission.
How We Research
Every product on this site — whether we can link to it yet or not — goes through the same three steps before it's published.
Read the primary source
We start with the brand's own product page, spec sheet, and app documentation — not a competitor's roundup.
Cross-reference
Prices, materials, and feature claims get checked against retailer listings for consistency before we treat them as fact.
Publish the gap honestly
If a number isn't independently verifiable — exact noise level, battery life under real use — we leave it out rather than estimate it.
What We Will and Won't Claim
We will: report specs, prices, and features that are stated on the brand's own product page or verifiable app documentation. We'll tell you plainly when a product only has a partial write-up because we haven't signed an affiliate relationship with the brand yet.
We won't: publish a specific noise-level rating, an exact battery-life figure, or a star rating we generated ourselves without a real testing process behind it. We won't make medical claims about any product. We won't call a link "affiliate" or claim a commission when there isn't one — products without a real affiliate relationship yet link to the brand's own official product page, clearly marked as a plain, non-affiliate link, instead of a paid one we don't have.
Where Each Product Stands Today
Live — affiliate link and full spec write-up:
Research queue — affiliate application in progress, direct link to the brand's official page only:
Affiliate Links & Editorial Independence
The Velvet Pick earns a commission when you buy through a link marked as an affiliate link, at no extra cost to you. We currently participate in the Lovense affiliate program. We do not currently have an affiliate relationship with Womanizer, Satisfyer, or Dame — applications are in progress. Until they're approved, those three products link directly to the brand's own official product page instead — not an affiliate link, and we earn nothing from it.
Affiliate status does not determine what we publish about a product— it determines whether we can show you a link and a full, verified spec sheet yet. A product without a live link isn't ranked lower because of the missing commission; it's incomplete because we haven't finished verifying it.
A Note on Content & Age
This site is intended for adults 18 years and older. We write about pleasure products in plain, editorial language and do not publish explicit imagery. We don't make medical claims — if a question touches on health, we'd rather point you to a qualified professional than guess.
Questions, corrections, or product suggestions: hello@thevelvetpick.com
For privacy inquiries: privacy@thevelvetpick.com