Never let it be said that we do not take out duties seriously as judges of the FreeFrom Skincare Awards!
Here is Ruth (of What Allergy?) testing out the lipsticks and me trying the chocolate (yes, I said chocolate) face mask!!
To be honest, it was rather nice wandering around with a permanent smell of chocolate wafting round one’s nose. However, I can see why cleaning chocolate machines is such an issue – it took a good several applicants of flannel and warm water to get it off!!
I think Sue (gluten-free beer Sue) was wise to be a little more sparing with her grey mask…
However, it was certainly not all masks and lipsticks! We had a really excellent entry this year of oils, creams, cleansers, scrubs, butters and salves or all sorts, all of which had already been out for a month long work out with our Ultimate Natural Beauty Bible testers.
Their reports then come back to Alex who enters them into the world’s most complicated spread sheet. In allocating products for testing he has to take account not only of the individual products but of the individual sensitivities and preferences of each tester. Are they prepared to test something made from snail slime? (Yes, I am serious….) Have they got enough bits of body to test several body butters so that they can compare? Do we have enough pregnant or lactating mums to test nipple balms and stretch mark creams – or enough men with beards to test the beard oil? However, by some miracle he comes out at the end with a shortlist which will be published early next week. We then put those to our expert judges who look at the ingredients, the labelling and the allergen declarations and who sniff, smell, rub and polish all over again – which is what we have been doing this week.
And here is Alex with Ruth and Sarah (beauty blogger SugarPuffish) trying decipher some of the very small labelling on one of the entries. (I must admit that we did have an issue with legibility on a number of this year’s products – the information may have been there but you needed the sun, 24/20 vision and a magnifying glass to be able to read it…)
For more on the FreeFrom Skincare Awards, check out the awards site here – check out the shortlist here and for a more measured report onto judging proceedings, see Alex’s blog here. The winners will be announced and the awards presented at the Love Natural Love Organic show at Olympia on July 3rd.
Oh dear! I vaguely remember posing for that one. Great photos. Watch out, there’s a camera about. Great blog Michelle and thanks again for having me as a judge. I always learn so much and love getting to actually touch and try out the products and see how they all compare. Great fun.
Well, you not only make a great judge but a wonderful lipstick model!!! Thanks again for your input – as always!!
I’ve never had such soft clean skin as after that ‘Take Off’ day! In fact my grey mask came off really easily and it was great to see so many well-performing products that don’t have nasty chemicals in them. None of these companies have a fraction of the R and D funds that the big brands have and yet they manage to make products that are free of allergens. Rock on, FF Skincare!
Looks like the out-takers from a Frankenstein movie..!
Great pics ladies, looks like you had great fun judging too!