We're among the finalists - wish us luck!

This year we are participating in the prestigious Free From Skincare Awards! As they themselves state on their page, these are the awards dedicated to "free from" cosmetics and skin and hair products.

We are participating with two of our products. One is the licorice extract micellar facial toner in the "Toners, Waters, and Sprays" category, alongside 5 other brands. The competitors here are:

• AEOS, Refreshing Hydrating Mist
• Blur London, Rebalancing Toner
• Casa Mencarelli, Honey & Orange Toner – Acqua Di Miele
• Lykkegaard Care, Micellar 3in1 Face Tonic
• Rhug Wild Beauty, Rebalancing Skin Tonic With Meadowsweet
And us: Witchcraft Botanicals, Toning Liquorice Micellar Mist

Our other finalist is the pea peptide eye contour cream, of course, in the "Eye Care" category. In this category, we are also participating alongside 5 other brands.

Here they are:

• Amphora Aromatics, Organic & Natural Fix All Eye Cream
• Biorythme, Window To The Soul, Natural Bi-Phase Eye Remover
• La Femme Verte, Sea Buckthorn Joyous Eye Serum
• Rhug Wild Beauty, Nourishing Eye Cream With Elderflower
• Solo Skin London, Eye Oil
and us: Witchcraft Botanicals, Peptide Brightening Eye Cream

We chose to participate with these two products because they have the purest and gentlest formulas for the skin. This makes them suitable for people with sensitive skin who, however, need and want to be cared for throughout the day.

Here's more about the #FFSA23 awards themselves

The Free From Skin Care Awards celebrate and encourage manufacturers of skin care products that create cosmetics free from certain allergens, fragrances, and other ingredients. These are ingredients that are often associated with skin and health problems, as well as ethical and environmental concerns, and which some consumers avoid because they have to or because they want to.

The testing and evaluation process for the Free From Skincare Awards consists of four stages.

Stage 1

Entry forms are checked to ensure that the products entered meet the criteria.

Stage 2

Once applications are accepted, a full-sized sample of each is sent for a month of in-depth testing of its qualities and efficacy to four experienced testers, carefully selected from a pool of around 100, all of whom are passionate about natural beauty and "free from" skin care and who may also have sensitive/problem skin or specific allergies or ingredient requirements to consider.

Testers try the products for four weeks, evaluating how the products perform their function and how they benefit the part of the body on which they are used.

Stage 3

Products that reach the final go on to week-long assessment sessions, usually held in May.

Judging panels consist of beauty writers, skin care professionals, allergy experts, brand owners, beauty bloggers, cosmetic formulators, and consumers with problem skin or an interest in "free from" skin care. Typically, five or six judges sit on each panel.

Judges evaluate products based on many attributes, including:

1/ Innovation, versatility, formula quality, skin-benefiting ingredients…

2/ Suitability for consumers with different restricted lifestyles (e.g., vegetarian, vegan, kosher/halal) or those who avoid certain ingredients (e.g., food allergens, fragrances).

3/ Labeling qualities: transparency in ingredient source declarations; user-friendliness; legibility and visibility of ingredients, product properties, and instructions. Also: responsible use of any "free from" statements.

4/ Value for money, packaging/presentation, eco/green/charitable qualities, etc.

Subsequently, by combining feedback from testers and judges, bronze, silver, and gold "medals" will be awarded in each category.

Stage 4

Once the category winners are determined, all that remains is the announcement and awards ceremony!