FeelGood Labs Product authentication, explained
About this resource

Why we publish this, and who writes it

FeelGood Labs is an editorial resource on product authentication: how an item can be shown to be genuine, unopened and as described, and what each kind of evidence can and cannot establish on its own.

This is a publication, not a verification service. Nothing is sold on this page, no account can be opened here, no order can be placed here, and nothing on this site is an offer. We verify no items, examine no packaging, issue no certificates and hold no records for anyone. The practices described are those of the field in general, not services we perform.

Why this exists

Almost every feature that is meant to answer "is this real" is designed to be reassuring at a glance: a foil that shimmers, a code that returns a green tick, a seal that looks unbroken. Reassurance at a glance is exactly what a copy is built to produce. The questions that would actually settle the matter are always the same handful. Genuine, intact or as described, and which of those the evidence speaks to. Lot or serial. What the verification page says about earlier scans. Whether the seal matches a known original. Whether the lot on the document is the lot on the item. Those are easier to explain once, properly and in public, than one conversation at a time.

So the site is written as a reference rather than a reassurance. The position behind it is a plain one: a claim of authenticity is worth what someone else can independently check. "Verified" on its own cannot be checked by anybody. A serial number, a scan history and a lot that matches its paperwork can be, by anyone, without asking permission from whoever made the claim.

What we publish, and what we do not

Everything here is descriptive: the three separate questions hidden inside "is it real"; the difference between a lot code and a serial number; how a scan-to-verify system works and how a copied code defeats it; what visible, hidden and forensic security features are each for; why tamper evidence records an opening rather than preventing one; how packaging itself can be compared against a reference sample; what a chain of custody is and where it breaks; how to confirm a document with the organisation that issued it; and the limits that no authentication step can cross.

We publish no claims of any kind about any product, material or substance. We describe, recommend, compare and evaluate nothing that is sold anywhere, we give no usage guidance of any sort, and nothing here is professional advice. Examples used in the writing are illustrative of common practice in general, not descriptions of any particular maker, pack or scheme.

Who it is written for

The resource is intended for adult readers aged 21 and over.

Corrections

If something here is wrong, out of date, or reads as more certain than the evidence supports, tell us and we will correct it. Packaging technology and common practice move, and a reference that is not maintained stops being a reference.

Published by

FeelGood Labs
editor@feelgoodpeps.com

This resource is written for adult readers aged 21 and over.